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E F G H
Last World Cup berth still up for grabs
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- The last berth in the 32-team field for next year's World Cup of soccer went unclaimed Saturday when Iran and Australia played to a 1-1 tie.The two will play again next Saturday in Melbourne to decide which team will go to France to complete the field in the championship tournament.
Iran faces a must-win situation. A scoreless tie would mean that Australia, which scored a goal against the Iranians in their field, will get the final spot.
Neither side was able to dominate Saturday's game.
Harry Kewell scored for Australia in the 18th minute. The 19-year-old striker controlled the ball with his first touch before drilling a shot past Iran goalkeeper Ahmadreza Abedzadeh.
The early goal silenced the overflow crowd at Tehran's 100,000-seat Azadi Stadium, among them thousands who had camped out all night.
The Iranians tied the score on a goal by Asian player of the year Khodadad Azizi in the 39th minute.
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GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan