Alireza Beiranvand in World Cup concussion controversy after collision

FIFA could use an independent concussion spotter.

Iranian national team goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand appeared to be in trouble during his country’s match against England on Monday morning, taking a blow to the head but initially being allowed to stay in the game.

Beiranvand was down, getting attention from doctors for over five minutes, and the backup keeper for Iran appeared ready to come into the game, but at least initially, Iran’s training staff allowed Beiranvand to stay in.

It was not hard to see, though, that the decision was questionable at best. On the FS1 broadcast, Landon Donovan immediately questioned the call and Beiranvand looked disoriented in his own net.

Once play resumed, Beiranvand almost immediately went to the ground, signaling that he wanted to be substituted out of the game.

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From there, he quickly made way for Hossein Hosseini.

England, through no fault of poor goalkeeping, went on to score three times in the first half, with goals coming from Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Raheem Sterling. It seemed easy for the English to break down the Iranian lines of defense, with the opposition sitting back and inviting pressure.

Depending whether he’s healthy by the time Iran faces the United States on Nov. 29 in the last game of the group stage, Beiranvand’s injury could end up having an impact for the Americans. In 11 games for Persepolis in the Iranian Pro League this season, Beiranvand has eight clean sheets. He also has experience with Boavista in the Portuguese League.

Against England, the Iranian strategy appeared to be wasting as much time as possible in a game where they were heavy underdogs, trying to stop the Three Lions to get into rhythm and play for a 0-0 draw. That turned out to be quite unsuccessful.

In Beiranvand’s case, though, there didn’t seem to be any time-wasting going on — he truly needed every minute, and was visibly injured.