The thoughts of Ian McCourt:  One goal would probably do it. A singular, solitary, stinking, measly goal. That's all. And it doesn't have to be one that leaves half the nation needing jaw realignment surgery. That would be nice – of course it would be nice – but it can be bundled over the line via the knee, shin or nose for all Iran give two hoots about. For you see, Carlos Queiroz's side can still qualify for the next round of the World Cup except to do so, they just have to do something they haven't done since Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh drew them level with a header against Angola in 2006. And that's score a World Cup goal. One singular, solitary, stinking, measly goal would probably do it.  Here's the bad news. Scoring goals has not quite been Iran's forte – they bagged just 8 in 8 games in their final qualification group and four of those came in a win over Lebanon. Here's the good news: defending very much has been. (Hence the one-goal theory.) And were it not for a moment of footballing genius from Lionel Messi, Iran would have pulled off one of the greatest (and most deserved) upsets of this World Cup, and perhaps many others, as well as one of the best defensive displays in Brazil.  For that defensive organisation, they must thank Queiroz, he of the brain behind Manchester United's defensive solidity in their jaunts around Europe. Against Argentina, they tirelessly worked together in formation closing down space and denying the opposition time on the ball. Their strong tackling disrupted Argentina's rhythm and they refused to allow the enemy into the areas where they could be hurt. They forced La Albiceleste into long-range, off target efforts – Messi scored with Argentina's 21st and final shot; it was only their 4th on target – and on another day with another referee, could have had a penalty from Pablo Zabaleta's challenge. How that would have changed things.Given what he done for them, the Iranians will be sad to see Queiroz say toodle pip. "If Queiroz leaves,” cried Reza Ghoochannejhad, “Iranian football will be the loser. It would be a bad thing. Queiroz has been in Iranian football for three years and knows all the players. I cannot believe he won’t be there after the World Cup. I hope he stays with the team.” He will leave of course – due to a lack of financial support from the Iranian government – but he could leave on quite the high note. One singular, solitary, stinking, measly goal would probably do it.As for Bosnia-Hercegovina, they have fled the World Cup with all the speed of a bank robber leaving the crime scene when he hears police sirens wailing in the distance. And they are none too happy about it either. Most of the anger has centred on the man in the middle for the defeat to Nigeria, New Zealand's Peter O'Leary. "We should have won the game,” lamented Edin Dzeko. “But the referee was shameful. We are going home, we are sad because of that. But this referee should be going home, too. He changed the game. That’s why we lost. It was obviously a foul on our captain [in the buildup to Peter Odemwingie's goal] and before, when I scored the goal, it was never offside.” That picture with Vincent Enyeama soon added fuel to an already burgeoning fire and by the time you read this preamble, over 20,000 Bosnia fans will have signed a petition to have O'Leary removed from the tournament, set up stocks and have rotten tomatoes flung at him by passers-by. Of course, O'Leary is not the only reason they lost and is not the only reason Bosnia are doing one home. The World Cup debutants could not cope with the speed and movement of Nigeria. Nor their desire to leave the field of play with three points in their pocket, as Safet Susic conceded afterwards: "They wanted to win probably that much more than us." Susic needs to shoulder some of the blame too, as his tactical gamble failed to pay off big time. Wrote Jonathan Wilson in his match report:  Susic had dropped a strong hint that his team would return to the 4-4-2 that saw them through qualifying, with Vedad Ibisevic returning alongside Edin Dzeko, but instead he opted for a strangely lopsided 4-2-3-1, with the Lazio winger Senad Lulic deployed at left-back to overlap Zvjezdan Misimovic as Miralem Pjanic moved forward to take up a central playmaking role ... The enhanced attacking thrust, though, was more than offset by a loss of defensive stability. Bosnia were dreadfully vulnerable on their left.  And which side did Nigeria's goal come down? Exactly. Still Bosnia have (in qualfying at least) proved themselves to be a decent side and with a touch more proper refereeing, they might still have had something to play for this evening. One thing is for sure, they will certainly not roll over and let Iran tickle their belly. This is going to be a tight affair and you could see just one goal separating the sides. One singular, solitary, stinking, measly goal.
Minute-by-minute report: Bosnia-Herzegovina got the win their efforts in Brazil deserved. Iran at last got a goal. But both teams are going home