Ali Daei, the world's all-time highest international goalscorer, has been sacked as Iran coach after his team's 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia in World Cup qualifying, state media reported on Sunday.
The hugely-popular Daei, a former Bayern Munich striker, was dismissed after his side let slip a 1-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining, the IRNA news agency reported, without giving details.
The Saudis' win in Tehran gave them a World Cup lifeline but pushed the Iranians down to fourth place in Group 2 with six points from their five games played.
With a top two finish and automatic qualification looking unlikely, three-times qualifiers Iran now face a dogfight to clinch a playoff berth.
In a post-match news conference on Saturday, Daei vowed to push on with the campaign and refused to step down.
"I'm happy with the players' performance and I'm not going to resign," Daei said.
"We conceded those two goals because of our mistakes but I can understand how difficult it is for everybody."
He added: "What we have to do is try harder and claim as many points as we can in the forthcoming games."
Playing in a packed Azadi stadium, the Saudis battled hard throughout the match and blocked out the jeers of the hostile crowd to score twice in eight minutes after going behind to Masoud Shojaei's impressive 57th-minute strike.
They will see the result as justice following their disallowed goal and rejected penalty appeal in the first half, both of which appeared legitimate.
Naif Hazadi and Osama al-Harbi scored in the last 11 minutes in an amazing comeback to give the Saudis a chance to reach their fifth successive finals.
North Korea lead the group on 10 points, ahead of South Korea, who have played one less game, on eight.
Saudi Arabia have seven points and take on bottom side UAE, who have one point, on Wednesday. The top two teams in each group advance, with the third-placed side entering playoffs for the final berth.
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