Graham Arnold’s team have overcome adversity on and off the pitch, but may benefit from the pressure being off them in a tough group

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

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. Iraq’s penalty taker, Amir Al-Ammari, had noticed the UAE’s goalkeeper often dived early and he waited until the last moment to make his decision, putting it to his right to score.

16 June v Norway, Boston (6pm local, 11pm BST, 17 June 8am AEST)

22 June v France, Philadelphia (5pm local, 10pm BST, 23 June 7am AEST)

26 June v Senegal, Toronto (3pm local, 8pm BST, 27 June 5am AEST)

Iraq were a game away from qualifying for their first World Cup in 40 years, with a final against Bolivia in Monterrey, their 21st qualifier, but things didn’t go smoothly. War broke out in the Middle East, with airspace closed and flights grounded. Unable to gather his squad, Arnold, stuck in a hotel in the UAE, demanded Fifa postpone the playoff, but the clouds cleared and after a 12-hour drive from Baghdad to Amman and a 17-hour flight to Mexico, Iraq reached their destination, 10 days before the game.

“Do it for your families and make yourselves proud,” Arnold said. Iraq scored 10 minutes in, but Bolivia equalised to make it 1-1 at half-time before Aymen Hussein netted to secure the 48th and final spot at the World Cup. Arnold said: “The players went through a hell of a lot of stress and a lot of pressure on their shoulders from 46 million people in Iraq to qualify for a World Cup for the first time in 40 years. Every one of those games was heartbreak or survival.”

Graham Arnold is the first Australian to lead two countries to a World Cup, having guided his home nation to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar through the playoffs. When Arnold stood down as Socceroos coach two years ago, feeling he “couldn’t do any more for the country”, no one expected him to turn up as Iraq’s coach. The Lions of Mesopotamia are in a group of death, or the “group of excitement” as the coach prefers to call it, with France, Norway and Senegal. “I say let’s go for it,” Arnold said. “All the pressure is on France to win it, the pressure’s on Norway and Senegal to get through – the pressure is not on Iraq. When we’re there, we’ve got nothing to lose, so we’re going to play without fear, shock the world and enjoy it while we’re doing it.”

The striker Aymen Hussein has gone from being compared to a motionless plank of wood, having his Sarutobi Sasuke ponytail mocked, facing ridicule from a political satirist, to scoring the goal that took Iraq to their first World Cup in 40 years. “It was a dream I’ve lived since childhood. The feelings of 46 million Iraqis were with me as we worked to achieve the dream we shared,” he said.

It was testament to a man who lost his father and brother in the turmoil after the 2003 US-led invasion. He had faced a barrage of criticism and was seen as a laughing stock for his misses. In one game Iraq’s coach came on to the pitch to instruct him not to take a penalty.

During the previous World Cup qualifying campaign, after a run of poor results, fans turned against the team, with the social media hashtag “This team doesn’t represent me”. Aymen was one of the players targeted, the forward confronting fans after one qualifier. But he turned things around. After scoring the winner in Monterrey, the striker was given a diplomatic passport, three 2026 Chevrolet Tahoe cars, a villa and an apartment, a 21-carat gold iPhone 17 Pro Max and a 200-square-metre plot of land. He is now among the top five all-time top Iraqi goalscorers and the highest-paid player in the Iraq Stars League at Al-Karma.

There is online footage of a tiny Marko Farji with the ball at his feet going past players and scoring. Those were his early years, training on a field with his father in his home city, Grimstad in Norway, where, at five years old, he “fell in love” with the game and attracted attention from Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City. A trial at City followed, but the feedback was that he was not strong enough and needed to toughen up mentally and physically. Being only 11, it hit him hard. Now older (22), wiser, and stronger, the winger had his breakthrough season, scoring nine goals for Strømsgodset in Norway’s Eliteserien and earning a €1.3m move to Serie A’s Venezia.

Italy’s 1994 and 1998 World Cup midfielder Demetrio Albertini was described as the player who made the great Milan team of the 90s tick and Amir Al-Ammari is similar in style and stature. Technically gifted, the Brøndby IF graduate took his time to find his natural role, for a long time seeing himself as a box-to-box midfielder. But the boy from Jönköping, where Abba’s Agnetha Fältskog also comes from, has matured into a metronomic modern No 6. His late, late penalty to ensure Iraq advanced to the playoff in Monterrey exorcised the demons of the 2023 Asian Cup round of 16 exit to Jordan, when his misplaced pass led to Iraq conceding the opening goal has constantly been at the back of his mind.

Fans from Iraq will travel to Foxborough, Philadelphia and Toronto to watch the games. Iraqi Americans live across the US, with a large number in Michigan, California and Illinois, while there are also many in Canada, especially in Ontario. Decades of conflict have scattered Iraqis around the globe and they will turn up at the World Cup from everywhere. Like the team they are a representation of the country’s past, present and future. After 40 years Iraqis are just happy to be back and be part of the world football community once again. If fans begin to chant, “Who told you to play Toba [football]” at opposition fans it will certainly mean things are going well for Iraq on the pitch, a popular taunt more than a chant. People may also hear: “With spirit, with blood, we redeem you, Iraq”. A chant under Saddam Hussein, with the name of the former leader now replaced with Iraq.

More than 30 years ago, the Iraq FA president Adnan Dirjal, then Iraq’s coach, declared that if Iraq qualified for the 1994 World Cup in the US “we know it will be the biggest slap the monster America will get”. They say politics and sports should never mix, but at the World Cup people will see for themselves how the two cannot be easily separated. Donald Trump has said the US war in Iraq in the 2000s was a mistake. For Iraq fans, like most, they only want their visa applications to be accepted, to peacefully get through US Customs and Border Protection at airports, have security at games and for there to be reasonable ticket prices.

Written by Hassanin Mubarak. Visit his substack here.

World Cup 2026: Guardian Experts’ Network

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/07/iraq-world-cup-2026-team-guide