Nordin Amrabat suffered a head injury which led to him being withdrawn in the 76th minute of Morocco’s dramatic 1-0 defeat to Iran at the World Cup.

The Watford winger appeared to lose consciousness after a collision on the right-hand touchline and was substituted, despite insisting he was fit to play on.

The game looked destined to end goalless, before Aziz Bouhaddouz turned into his own net in the fifth minute of second half added time to hand Iran their first World Cup win since 1998.

After drama in the opening two matches of the World Cup the two unfancied nations in Group B had their chance to shine in St Petersburg.

With European powerhouses Portugal and Spain making up the group, a positive result for either of the two lower-ranked countries in their clash could be vital.

Morocco started on the front foot and came close to going ahead as Juventus defender Medhi Benatia forced a smart stop out of Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.

Despite their near-domination of the first half, Morocco nearly went in behind at the interval as Sardar Azmoun broke in behind to test Munir Mohamedi, who then did well to keep out Alireza Jahanbakhsh's strike from the rebound.

But the teams would head in level at the break with neither able to provide a moment of class to break the deadlock.

The second half proved to be desperately short on quality as both sides toiled to create.

Amrabat was one of Morocco’s brighter sparks and provided a number of dangerous crosses before suffering his injury.

He was replaced by his brother, Sofyan, and it was the FC Utrecht man who gave away the free-kick from which Iran struck deep in stoppage time.

A dangerous cross from the left was met by the diving Bouhaddouz and he headed into his own net.

Morocco will look to bounce back from the defeat when they take on Portugal on Wednesday.