Iran knocked four-time champions Japan out of the Asian Cup with a 2-1 victory in their quarter-final clash after skipper Alireza Jahanbakhsh converted a penalty in stoppage time at Education City Stadium in Qatar.
With the match level at 1-1 and headed to extra time, Iran won a penalty in the fourth minute of added time and Jahanbakhsh stepped up to blast the ball into the top corner.
When the final whistle blew, the Iran bench emptied onto the pitch and an emotional Jahanbakhsh dropped to the turf in relief while many players wept tears of joy.
Iran, who are seeking their own record-tying fourth Asian Cup title, had not beaten Japan in 19 years while their victory also extended Amir Ghalenoei's unbeaten streak to 16 matches since he took charge in March.
After a cagey start to a physical contest, Japan had taken the lead through Hidemasa Morita, who made a run past four defenders before beating Alireza Beiranvand in goal to silence the vocal Iran support.
But the volume went up when Iran equalised 10 minutes into the second half after a sublime move where Sardar Azmoun played the ball through to Mohammad Mohebi, who ran around his marker before slipping his shot past Suzuki into the bottom corner.
Japan had dominated possession in the first half but it was Iran who controlled proceedings after the equaliser as they initiated wave after wave of attacks and the pressure finally paid off in second-half added time.
Japan's Ko Itakura made a mess of a clearance in the 94th minute and as he tried to recover, he tripped Hossein Kanani in the box and the referee immediately pointed to the spot, with Jahanbakhsh converting to whip their fans into a frenzy.
Iran will play defending champions and hosts Qatar, who beat Uzbekistan 3-2 on penalties after a thrilling quarter-final ended 1-1 after extra time at Al Bayt Stadium.
With nearly 59,000 fans in attendance, Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham stood strong to save three penalties in the shootout before Pedro Miguel converted the decisive spot kick to send Qatar through to the semi-finals once again.
Qatar had taken the lead shortly before the half-hour mark when captain Hassan Al Haydos dribbled into the box and his attempted cross took a deflection which went through the gloves of Utkir Yusupov into his own net to go down as an own goal.
But Uzbekistan did not give up and took the game to Qatar, having several attempts on goal before the 59th minute when Odiljon Hamrobekov managed to take a shot that brushed the fingers of Barsham in goal before finding the net.
Neither side could find a breakthrough in 90 minutes while Uzbekistan survived a late rally from Qatar in extra time to force penalties, where Uzbekistan's Rustam Ashurmatov and Qatar's 2019 top scorer Almoez Ali had their efforts saved.
Qatar had their hearts in their mouths when Al-Mahdi Ali Mukhtar skied his effort but Barsham turned saviour to seal their progress and give the hosts a memorable night in the desert.
