Khaberni - Australian Graham Arnold, the coach of the Iraqi football team, announced today, Monday, March 16, the final list for the "Lions of Mesopotamia" that will compete in the decisive global playoff qualifier for the 2026 World Cup finals set to be held in North America.
The list, which included 26 players, saw a notable absence of team captain and goalkeeper Jalal Hassan (35 years old) due to technical unpreparedness, in addition to defender Ahmad Yahya due to injury. The coach also excluded several other names including Osama Rashid, Bashar Resan, and Amjad Atwan.
Earlier, Adnan Darjal, the president of the Iraqi Football Association, confirmed that the delegation would depart at the end of this week to Monterrey, Mexico.
- March 26: Match against Bolivia and Suriname in the semi-finals of the playoff.
- March 31: Iraq will face the winner of the above match in the playoff final to snatch a World Cup slot.
List of Iraqi Team for the World Cup Playoff
The technical staff's selections for representing Iraq in this historic task are as follows:
- Goalkeepers: Kamil Saadi, Ahmed Basal, and Fahd Talib.
- Defense line: Rebin Solaga, Munaf Younis, Akam Hashim, Zaid Tahseen, Frans Batros, Hussein Ali, Merkhas Doski, and Ahmed Mackenzy.
- Midfield line: Hassan Abdulkarim, Eimar Sher, Peter Korkees, Zaid Ismail, Amir Al-Amari, Kevin Yaqoob, Zidane Iqbal, Yousif al-Ameen, Ibrahim Bayesh, and Marco Farag.
- Forward line: Ayman Hussein, Mohanad Ali, Ali Jasim, Ali al-Hamadi, and Ali Yousef.
The Iraqi team is striving to repeat the 1986 achievement, when Mexico witnessed their sole participation in the World Cup. The "Lions of Mesopotamia" hope that the Mexican stadiums will once again be the gateway to the finals, to be hosted next summer by the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
