Gareth Bale did not hide his disappointment as Wales face an early exit from the World Cup after going down to Iran.

Wales shocked by IranStaring at an early exitBale dejected after loss

WHAT HAPPENED? Wales, who went down to 10 men in the second half, were beaten 2-0 by a resurgent Iran to put their World Cup knockout qualification hopes in jeopardy. Bale expressed his disappointment after the loss and acknowledged that it will be difficult for the Dragons to qualify.

WHAT THEY SAID: “It’s gutting. We’re gutted, there’s no other way to say it. It’s difficult to take but we have to recover and try and go again. It’s gonna be difficult [to qualify] for sure, it depends on the other game,” he told beIN Sport after the loss.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The main talking point of the match was the red card to Wales’ keeper Wayne Hennessey who wiped out Mehdi Taremi far from his goal line and the LAFC attacker admitted that the sending off changed the complexion of the match. “I haven’t seen the red card so I don’t know [if it was a fair decision], but it changes the game completely,” he said.

IN TWO PHOTOS:

WHAT NEXT FOR WALES? Wales face a must-win game against England on Tuesday to keep their hopes alive in the tournament. However, they do not have their fortunes in their own hands and are dependent on other results as well.