Wales goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey became the first player to be sent off at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, seeing red late in their Group A game against Iran for a horror challenge on Mehdi Taremi.
The 35-year-old was dismissed with four minutes remaining, coming racing out of goal to wipe out Taremi, with the Iran forward bearing down on goal.
There were shades of the notorious challenge by West Germany's Harald 'Toni' Schumacher against France's Patrick Battiston in the 1982 World Cup semifinal about Hennessey's challenge – although unlike the luckless Battiston, who was taken to hospital unconscious on a stretcher and lost several teeth, Taremi was able to recover and play on.
Having initially shown Hennessey a yellow card, referee Mario Escobar of Guatemala upgraded his decision to red after a VAR review, leaving Wales with 10 men for the final stages.
(Watch the challenge in the USA)
A red card is given to Wayne Hennessey after this challenge 🟥 pic.twitter.com/frfbiOt0we
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2022
(Watch the challenge in UK)
A RED CARD 🟥
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 25, 2022
Wales are down to 10 men 👥
Wayne Hennessey has been sent off after he wipes out Iran's Mehdi Taremi.
📺📻📲 Watch on @BBCiPlayer, listen on @BBCSounds & get more on the @BBCSport app#BBCFootball #BBCWorldCup
Iran made their numerical advantage tell deep into added time when substitute Roozbeh Cheshmi scored and then Ramin Rezaeian added a killer second.
After being beaten twice, replacement goalkeeper Danny Ward is now set to start in the third and final Group A game against England on Tuesday.
Hennessey is only the third goalkeeper ever to receive a red card at the World Cup, after Itumeleng Khune for South Africa against Uruguay in 2010 and Italy's Gianluca Pagliuca against Norway in 1994.
Wales have one point after two Group A matches, with England and United States facing off in the other second-round Group B fixture.
