Iraq’s World Cup 2026 Squad Shocker: Graham Arnold’s Unexpected Picks Ahead of High-Stakes Play-Offs
Arnold’s squad for the play-off final is packed with international experience. Striker Aymen Hussein has more than 90 senior caps, and only eight of his fellow squad members arrive at the play-off final short of double figures. Leagues in Thailand, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Uzbekistan, Czech Republic, Poland, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Italy, Denmark, Norway and England are all represented.
Squad
Iraq World Cup 2026 squad: The March selection
- GK: Fahad Talib (Al-Talaba)
- GK: Ahmed Basil (Al-Shorta)
- GK: Kamel Al-Rekabe (Erbil)
- DF: Rebin Sulaka (Port)
- DF: Manaf Younis (Al-Shorta)
- DF: Merchas Doski (Viktoria Plzen)
- DF: Frans Putros (Persib)
- DF: Hussein Ali (Pogon Szczecin)
- DF: Zaid Tahseen (Pakhtakor)
- DF: Akam Hashim (Al-Zawraa)
- DF: Ahmed Maknzi (Al-Karma)
- MF: Ibraham Bayesh (Al-Dhafra)
- MF: Amir Al-Ammari (Cracovia)
- MF: Ali Jasim (Al-Najma)
- MF: Youssef Amyn (AEK Larnaca)
- MF: Zidane Iqbal (Utrecht)
- MF: Hasan Abdulkareem (Al-Zawraa)
- MF: Marko Farji (Venezia)
- MF: Kevin Yakob (AGF)
- MF: Aimar Sher (Sarpsborg)
- MF: Peter Gwargis (Duhok)
- MF: Zaid Ismail (Al-Talaba)
- FW: Aymen Hussein (Al-Karma)
- FW: Mohanad Ali (Dibba)
- FW: Ali Al-Hamadi (Luton Town)
- FW: Ali Yousif (Al-Talaba)
Fixtures and results
Fixtures
- March 31, 2026: Iraq vs Bolivia, Estadio BBVA, Guadalupe, Mexico
Recent WCQ results
- November 18, 2025: Iraq 2-1 United Arab Emirates, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
- November 13, 2025: United Arab Emirates 1-1 Iraq, Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE
- October 14: Saudi Arabia 0-0 Iraq, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- October 11: Iraq 1-0 Indonesia, King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
- June 10: Jordan 0-1 Iraq, Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan
- June 5: Iraq 0-2 South Korea, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
- March 25: Palestine 2-1 Iraq, Amman International Stadium, Amman, Jordan
- March 20: Iraq 2-2 Kuwait, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
- November 19, 2024: Oman 0-1 Iraq, Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex, Muscat
- November 14: Iraq 0-0 Jordan, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
- October 15: South Korea 3-2 Iraq, Yongin Mireu Stadium, Yongin, South Korea
- October 10: Iraq 1-0 Palestine, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
- September 10: Kuwait 0-0 Iraq, Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium, Kuwait City
- September 5: Iraq 1-0 Oman, Basra International Stadium, Basra, Iraq
Manager
Who is Iraq’s manager?
Graham Arnold knows the score. The former Australia forward started his coaching career in 1989 and took on his first international head coach role 20 years ago. That was the first of two spells in charge of the Australian national team, in between which he’s lent his services to clubs in the A-League and the J.League in Japan.
In his second spell as manager of the Socceroos, Arnold steered Australia to the round of 16 at World Cup 2022. There, they were defeated by eventual winners Argentina in Al-Rayyan.
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