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Iran goalkeeper awarded Guinness World Record for longest throw in a football match

November 28, 2021 at 4:09 pm

Iran’s goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand celebrates their win in the 2022 Qatar football World Cup Asian Qualifiers match between Iraq and Iran, at the al-Janoub Stadium in the Qatari city of Al Wakrah, on 7 September 2021. [KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images]

Iranian goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand has been given a Guinness World Record, five years after making history for making the longest throw ever in an official football match.

Beiranvand who currently plays for the Portuguese club Boavista on loan from Royal Antwerp achieved the feat back in October 2016 while playing for his country during a FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifying match against South Korea at Tehran’s Azadi stadium, which Iran went on to win 1-0. He was given the award on Thursday, which was announced on Boavista’s Twitter account.

The 29-year-old threw the ball a record-breaking 61.26 metres, covering three-quarters of the pitch which reached past the opposition’s defence and in the path of forward Vahid Amiri who failed to make a shot on target.

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The keeper is known for his remarkable throws at the international level, most recently launching a ball over 80 yards against Syria during a qualifying match for next year’s World Cup in Qatar, which Team Melli as they are known, went on to win1-0.

He previously caught the world’s attention in 2018 during the World Cup after he saved a penalty shot from Portugal’s superstar Cristiano Ronaldo which resulted in a 1-1 draw. Beiranvand’s life before professional football is also no less remarkable, according to The Guardian, he was once homeless after running away from home to chase his dreams of becoming a footballer, having worked in a dress factory, a car washer and as a street cleaner. He told The Guardian in 2018 “I suffered many difficulties to make my dreams come true but I have no intention of forgetting them because they made me the person I am now.”

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