Iraq World Cup 2026 team guide

This article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network , a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June The plan A year ago, when Graham Arnold was appointed head coach , no one believed he could take Iraq to the World Cup. Morale was at an all-time low after losing 2-1 to Palestine, relinquishing the lead late on. The Lions of Mesopotamia had been on course to qualify from their group, but after picking up a point from two games Jesús Casas was sacked. In his first meeting, the Australian wrote the word “believe” on the board, asking players if they had faith they could qualify. The 62-year-old has deployed a 4-3-3 formation and lately a bold 4-4-2 with two out-and-out strikers. Players slowly bought in to what Arnold was trying to do, prioritising team discipline and working on changing the mindset, with the target being to reach the World Cup . The moment a whole nation began to believe was when Iraq were awarded a penalty via the video assistant referee in the final minute of stoppage time against the UAE in Basra in November. At 1-1, Iraq needed victory to advance to the Inter-Confederation playoff. It came down to the last kick. …