Iraq national football team

Early years and successes

As early as 1923, an Iraqi team known as Baghdad XI, controlled by the Baghdad Football Association, started to play matches against British Army teams. The Baghdad FA soon disbanded though, and it wasn't until 8 October 1948 that the Iraq Football Association was founded. The Iraq FA joined FIFA in 1950 and on 2 May 1951, Iraq played their first match: a 1–1 draw to a team named Basra XI. This was not a FIFA 'A' international game though. Iraq's first ever official international game came in the opening game of the 1957 Pan Arab Games in Beirut where Iraq drew 3–3 to Morocco with goals from Ammo Baba, Youra Eshaya and Fakhri Mohammed Salman. Iraq were eventually knocked out in the group stage of that tournament.

In 1962, Iraq appointed their first foreign manager, Romanian coach Cornel Drăgușin. Iraq won their first trophy in 1964 when they hosted and won the Arab Nations Cup, winning three and drawing one of their four games. The next year, they participated in the Pan Arab Games for the second time, but were once again knocked out in the group stage. The following year, they lost the final of the 1966 Tripoli Fair Tournament to Morocco, but also retained their Arab Nations Cup title that year, beating Syria 2–1 in the final. In 1967, Iraq claimed the Tripoli Fair Tournament title with two wins and one draw, and two years later they finished fifth at the Jaam-e-Doosti (Friendship) Cup, hosted in Iran. In 1972, Iraq hosted, and reached the final of, the Palestine Cup of Nations, losing the decisive match to Egypt. That year, Iraq also played at their first ever AFC Asian Cup but failed to win a game in the tournament. In March 1973, Iraq played their first ever FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. They finished second in their group, a point behind Australia, therefore failing to qualify for the next round. In the remaining years of the 1970s, Iraq reached the second round of the Asian Games (1974), lost the Palestine Cup of Nations final (1975), lost the Gulf Cup of Nations final (1976), finished fourth at the AFC Asian Cup (1976), lost two consecutive Merdeka Tournament finals (1977 and 1978), finished fourth in the Asian Games (1978) and finally hosted and won the Gulf Cup of Nations (1979). The 1976 Asian Cup would be the last Asian Cup that Iraq appeared in for the next 20 years, as they withdrew from the next four editions.

1980s – First World Cup appearance and many trophies

The 1980s was arguably Iraq's most successful period in their history. They started the decade off disappointingly, being knocked out in the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification first round of qualifiers for the 1982 FIFA World Cup. In 1981, they won the Merdeka Tournament for the first time, and followed that up by winning the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games, meanwhile the reserve team finished third at the 1983 Marah Halim Cup. In 1984, Iraq won both the Gulf Cup of Nations and the Merlion Cup, and the following year they finished fourth at the 1985 President's Cup Football Tournament, won the 1985 Arab Nations Cup and also won the gold medal at the Pan Arab Games.

After all this success, Iraq topped it off by qualifying for the 1986 FIFA World Cup with a win over Syria. This was the first and last time to date that Iraq have achieved this. Having finished in a lowly sixth place at the 1986 Gulf Cup of Nations, Iraq were unfancied in the 1986 FIFA World Cup; however Iraq lost all three of their games in the tournament by just one goal, and would have drawn the opening game against Paraguay had the referee not disallowed a legitimate Iraqi goal. Iraq's only goal in the tournament was scored by Ahmed Radhi, the second-highest goalscorer in Iraq's history with 62 goals, behind Hussein Saeed who scored 78 goals.

In the following years, Iraq reached the quarter-finals of the 1986 Asian Games, won the 1988 Gulf Cup of Nations, reached the quarter-finals of the 1988 President's Cup Football Tournament, won the 1988 Arab Nations Cup, were knocked out at the first round of 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification and won the 1989 Peace and Friendship Cup. Overall, Iraq won nine competitions in the 1980s and played in their only ever World Cup, leading many to believe that this was the Golden Era of Iraqi football. However, things weren't as great off the pitch as they were on it. Uday Hussein, the son of Saddam Hussein, tortured players who played poorly and punished players for losing matches by sending them to prison, making them bathe in raw sewage and shaving their heads among many other awful punishments.

1990s – Friendly cup wins and return to the Asian Cup

In the 1992 Jordan International Tournament, Iraq recorded their biggest ever win: a 13–0 demolition of Ethiopia. Iraq reached the final of the tournament but lost 2–0 to Jordan. The following year, Iraq participated in qualifiers for the 1994 FIFA World Cup and reached the final round but finished fourth in the group, therefore did not qualify for the finals. By drawing their last game with Japan 2–2, they denied the Japanese a place in the finals in a match referred to by the Japanese media as the Agony of Doha. Iraq were banned from participating in many tournaments due to the invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the Gulf War which led to them participating in a number of friendly tournaments instead. Iraq won both the 1995 Nehru Cup and the 1995 Merdeka Tournament and the following year they participated in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup, their first Asian Cup campaign for 20 years. They reached the quarter-finals but lost to the United Arab Emirates thanks to a golden goal scored by Abdulrahman Ibrahim. In 1996, Iraq were ranked 139th in the world, which is their worst FIFA ranking in their history. Iraq retained their Nehru Cup title in 1997 and that year they also participated in qualifiers for the 1998 FIFA World Cup but were knocked out at the first round following two defeats to Kazakhstan. Iraq reached the final of the 1999 Pan Arab Games; they were losing 4–0 in the final against Jordan with just 20 minutes of the game remaining but produced a stunning comeback to score four goals in the space of fourteen minutes to take the game to extra time and eventually a penalty shootout which Iraq lost 3–1 to take the silver medal. In 1999 Iraq also participated in the International Friendship Cup and won the cup ahead of the United Arab Emirates, Estonia and Turkmenistan.

2000s – Asian Cup win and Confederations Cup appearance

Iraq started the 2000s by finishing in third place in the first ever WAFF Championship in 2000. That year Iraq also played in the 2000 AFC Asian Cup but were knocked out at the quarter-final stage again, this time by Japan in another 4–1 loss. Iraq reached the second round of 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification but lost five of their eight-second round games and therefore failed to make the finals. Iraq won their first ever WAFF Championship in 2002, beating Jordan 3–2 in the final after extra time despite being two goals down. In this game, Younis Mahmoud scored his first official goal for Iraq right at the end of normal time to take the match to extra time; Mahmoud would go on to become Iraq's most-capped player ever. In 2004, Iraq finished fourth in the WAFF Championship, reached the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup, were knocked out at the second round of 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and were knocked out in the group stage of the Gulf Cup of Nations. In 2004, Iraq were ranked as high as 39th in the World Rankings which is their highest ranking position in their history. The following year, Iraq participated in the West Asian Games for the first time and won the gold medal by beating Syria in the final via a penalty shootout, with goalkeeper Noor Sabri saving two penalties and scoring one himself. In 2007, Iraq were knocked out at the group stage of the Gulf Cup of Nations. The exit from the Gulf Cup happened in very controversial circumstances as Iraq attempted to make an agreement with Saudi Arabia to draw the final game which would put both teams through to the next round; the Iraq manager Akram Salman told the Iraqi players not to win the game but the Saudi Arabian players were unaware of any agreement and went on to win the game and knock Iraq out of the cup. A few months later, Iraq reached the final of the WAFF Championship but lost 2–1 to Iran.

In July 2007, Iraq, led by Brazilian coach Jorvan Vieira, also played in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. The squad was made mainly of players that had finished fourth at the 2004 Olympic Games and finished second at the 2006 Asian Games. Jorvan Vieira only had two months to prepare his team for the tournament, and the team suffered from very poor facilities. The Iraq FA struggled to provide the team with enough kits for the tournament and each player only had one kit that they had to take around with them everywhere they went. Midway through the tournament, Iraq ran out of kits and had to make an emergency order from Umbro for a new set of kits that had a different design to the previous one. Meanwhile, Iraq had not been able to play any previous games in their own country for security reasons and most of the players had had family members killed in the war. The team, a mixture of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds, started the tournament with a 1–1 draw against joint-hosts Thailand before producing one of the upsets of the tournament: a 3–1 win over tournament favourites Australia (which included a free-kick goal by Nashat Akram) whose team consisted of many Premier League players. A draw with Oman followed to put Iraq into the quarter-finals where two Younis Mahmoud goals put Iraq into the semi-finals for the second time in their history. They produced another big upset by knocking out Asian giants South Korea (who had thrashed Iraq 3–0 in a pre-tournament friendly) in the semis via a penalty shootout in which Noor Sabri made a crucial save. After the game, a suicide bomber killed 30 football fans who were celebrating the semi-final win over South Korea and this almost led to the Iraqi team withdrawing from the final, but they decided to go on in honour of the dead and produced yet another upset by defeating Saudi Arabia 1–0 in the final, a game that they dominated from start to finish and that was won by a Younis Mahmoud header. This tournament win is seen as one of the greatest upsets in international history as a war-torn country became international champions in what is described as one of sport's greatest 'fairytales'.

The following year, despite being the continent's champions, Iraq failed to advance to the final round of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as a 1–0 defeat to Qatar saw them finish in third in their third round group. Following this, the Iraq FA decided to disband the team but they were soon brought back together for the 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations. Iraq failed to win a game in the tournament though and were knocked out at the group stage.

A few months later, Iraq participated in only their second FIFA tournament ever: the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, which they qualified for by winning the 2007 AFC Asian Cup. They started the tournament with a 0–0 draw with hosts South Africa, before losing to UEFA Euro 2008 winners Spain by a very respectable one goal to nil in a match where they were expected to get beaten very easily. A 2–0 win over New Zealand would have seen Iraq qualify for the semi-finals of the Festival of Champions but they drew the game 0–0 and were knocked out. Iraq had similar problems in this tournament with their kits as players were seen wearing different name and number fonts in the different games. On 20 November 2009, the FIFA Emergency Committee suspended the Iraq FA due to government interference; the suspension was lifted on 19 March 2010.

2010s – Cup final defeats and an Asian Cup semi-final

In both the 2010 WAFF Championship and 2010 Gulf Cup of Nations, Iraq were knocked out in the semi-finals, while under the management of Wolfgang Sidka, Iraq were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, failing to retain their title. After this tournament, Iraq announced the appointment of Brazilian football legend Zico as manager of the team and his first tournament in charge was the 2011 Pan Arab Games where Iraq were knocked out at the group stage.

The following years saw Iraq finish third at the 2012 Arab Nations Cup and lose the finals of both the 2012 WAFF Championship and 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations to Syria and the United Arab Emirates respectively after the resignation of Zico. Iraq reached the fourth round of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers but finished bottom of their group. Iraq decided to send their U23 team to the 2014 WAFF Championship, but they sent their first team to the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations where Iraq finished bottom of their group, leading to the sacking of Hakeem Shaker and the appointment of Radhi Shenaishil as manager. Despite poor preparations, Shenaishil led Iraq to the semi-finals of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup before they lost to South Korea and the United Arab Emirates to finish the tournament in fourth. Their run included an amazing 3–3 draw with Iran in the quarter-final, which Iraq then won in a penalty shootout. Younis Mahmoud also became the first player to score in four different Asian Cups. After this great success, Shenaishil returned to managing Qatar SC and Iraq appointed Akram Salman as manager but he was soon sacked after losing the 2015 Kirin Challenge Cup final 4–0 to Japan. Yahya Alwan was appointed and he led Iraq to direct qualification for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup as well as qualification to the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Despite this, he was replaced by Radhi Shenaishil due to Iraq's poor performances in the qualifiers, although Iraq still qualified to the last round. Iraq have been drawn with Thailand, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Australia in their third round group.

Group B

Home matches in Iraq

Iraq played their home games on neutral territory in the 1980s due to the Iraq-Iran war, but still qualified for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and three Olympic Games (Moscow, Los Angeles and Seoul). In qualification for the 2002 World Cup, Iraq played at home against Iran, Bahrain, and Thailand in the Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad, but Saudi Arabia refused to play against the nation because of the tensions between that country and the regime of Saddam Hussein. In 2003, the war in Iraq forced Iraq to play their home matches outside the country for security reasons, and so fixtures were held in Jordan, Syria, Qatar or the UAE.

Due to the Iraq war and post war events, Iraq was unable to host home matches in Iraq. In 2009 the Iraq Football Association (IFA) asked FIFA to end its ban imposed on hosting official matches in Iraq. Iraq resumed playing on home soil on 10 July 2009, winning a friendly 3–0 against Palestine in Franso Hariri Stadium, Arbil. Iraq played the same opponents three days later, in Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad, this time winning 4–0 in front of a crowd of over 50,000. The same month, the AFC Executive Committee approved the stadium at Arbil as a venue for matches involving the Iraqi national team, and clubs in continental tournaments.

On 2 September 2011, Iraq played a FIFA World Cup qualifier on home ground for the first time in years. They played against Jordan in front of a crowd of 24,000 people in the Franso Hariri Stadium in Arbil. However, on 23 September 2011, FIFA banned Iraq from playing their qualifiers at home yet again due to fears over security and a breach of safety regulations in the match with Jordan. The Franso Hariri Stadium went on to host the 2012 AFC Cup Final.

On 22 March 2013, FIFA lifted a ban on international football friendlies in Iraqi stadiums. Four days later, Iraq played their first international friendly match in Baghdad since 2009 against Syria in front of a crowd of over 50,000 people in the Al-Shaab Stadium and won the game 2–1. Two months later, they played another friendly at the Al-Shaab Stadium, this time against Liberia. However, on 3 July 2013, FIFA barred Iraq from hosting international football friendlies due to a massive surge in nationwide violence, barely three months after world football's governing body gave Baghdad the go-ahead.

Fan chanting

Iraq national team supporters are known for chanting "O Victorious Baghdad" during the Iraqi team's matches.

Always remains High, O Victorious Baghdad, ( أتضلي دايما فوق، منصورة يا بغداد )
And to see your eternal Glory, O Victorious Baghdad. ( و نشوفج بعز دوم ، منصورة يا بغداد )
O Victorious Baghdad, O Victorious Baghdad, ( منصورة يا بغداد، منصورة يا بغداد )

Another famous chant is "the second goal is coming" ("هسه يجي الثاني"); this is usually chanted repeatedly after Iraq score a goal to motivate the players to score another.

Colours

Iraq's traditional home kit is white, with either green or black trimmings. Exceptions in the past include the 2014 Gulf Cup of Nations kit which featured gold designs instead. The away kit is traditionally green, with white trimmings. In the past, Iraq wore black third kits, with red or white trimmings, however they no longer do so. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Iraq's home kit was light blue, and their away kit was yellow; Iraq have not worn such kits since.

Kit manufacturer

The Iraqi national football team kit has previously been manufactured by brands such as Adidas, Puma, Nike, Diadora, Jack & Jones, Lotto, Umbro and Peak and its current manufacturer is Jako.

Team logo

Unlike most other national teams, Iraq kits usually have the country's flag on them rather than the football association's logo. The football association's logo did appear instead of the flag in 2002 and from 2014–2015. However, in some cases both the flag and the football association's logo have not featured on the kit and have been replaced with other logos. From 1985–1986, the coat of arms of Iraq featured in the centre of the kit, meanwhile in 2000, Iraq used a logo that featured the vertical black, white and red bands of the Iraq flag underneath the name Iraq written in Arabic in green text. in the 2005 West Asian Games, a logo featuring black and white bands underneath a red semicircle featured on the kit with the three stars of the flag shown in the white band. In the 2007 WAFF Championship and part of the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, Iraq reverted to using the logo that they had used in 2000.

FIFA World Cup

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

FIFA Confederations Cup

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Olympic Games

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

AFC Asian Cup

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Rivalries

Kuwait national football team

Iraq's rivalry with Kuwait is considered as the Arab world's greatest football rivalry of all time. The rivalry began in the mid-1970s and it was the decade from 1976 until 1986 that saw the golden age of football for arguably the finest teams the region has produced. Both nations imposed their complete domination on the Gulf region, and from the Gulf Cup's inception in 1970 until 1990, the tournament was won by only two teams: Kuwait, seven times (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1986, 1990), and Iraq, three times (1979, 1984, 1988), despite Iraq's absence in the first three editions and their withdrawal from two others.

Iraq and Kuwait took their increasingly bitter rivalry to a new level on 11 June 1976. The two met in the semi-final of the AFC Asian Cup in Tehran; Kuwait took the lead twice, but Iraq came roaring back twice. And then, in the 10th minute of extra time, Fathi Kameel scored the winner for Kuwait. In 1979, the year Iraq clinched their first Gulf Cup of Nations with the help of a 3–1 win over Kuwait, the two met in a qualifier for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow; both managed to qualify to the Olympic Games, and both made it to the quarter-finals there. Iraq also qualified for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and 1988 Games in Seoul. Iraq won the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games by defeating Kuwait 1–0 in the final, while Kuwait won the 1980 AFC Asian Cup, which they hosted. The nations also left their mark on the world stage. Kuwait qualified for the 1982 World Cup finals in Spain. Iraq matched that in Mexico 1986.

As Iraq and Kuwait traded Gulf titles in 1988 and 1990, few could have imagined that their rivalry on the football field would be replaced by an altogether more catastrophic one on the battlefield. Because of the Gulf War, football would never be the same again. Iraq and Kuwait were in complete avoidance and never met for more than a decade; in fact, the first footballing meeting of any sort between the countries was when Iraqi club Al-Shorta faced off against Al-Kuwait in the 2003 Arab Champions League. Kuwait's Blues had a relative recovery of sorts, winning the Gulf Cup in 1996 and 1998, before securing a record tenth title in 2010. Iraqi football, because of the torturer-in-chief Uday Hussein's reign of terror as head of the football association, would take far longer to recover. When it did, it was in glorious fashion, with the Lions of Mesopotamia winning the 2007 AFC Asian Cup.

Iran national football team

Iraq and Iran are rivals. The rivalry is not such a football-inspired ill-feeling between the two, but more of geography, religion and history.

Iran and Iraq are neighbouring countries, sharing a long history. In contemporary era, especially during the reign of Saddam Hussein, the two countries had bad relations and fought the Iran–Iraq War for 8 years. In 2001, for the first time in decades, an Iran-Iraq match was not held at a neutral venue. The rivalry between the two teams was escalated after the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. The two sides faced each other in the quarter-final with Iraq prevailing 7–6 on penalties after a sensational 3–3 draw in Canberra; the game was described as one of the best in the tournament's history. After the game, Iranian supporters voiced their anger at the referee's performance, even going as far to claim that he should receive a life ban for the sending off of an Iranian player, and also launched unfounded allegations against Iraqi player Alaa Abdul-Zahra claiming he was doping in an attempt to get Iraq kicked out of the tournament and themselves reinstated into the semi-finals; their complaint was immediately rejected by the AFC. Iraq eventually finished fourth in the tournament with Iran failing to make the semi-finals for the third straight time and the tensions between both sets of supporters have never been greater.

Recent results and fixtures

  Win   Draw   Loss

Current squad

The following 23 players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers:

Match date: 23 and 28 March 2017

Opposition:  Australia and  Saudi Arabia

Caps and goals correct as of: 15 November 2016, after the match against  United Arab Emirates.

Recent call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Iraq squad within the last 12 months.

Notes:

^SUS Player suspended

^INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury

^RET Retired from the national team

^PRE Preliminary squad / standby

^WD Player withdrew from the squad for non-injury related reasons

Previous squads

World Cups

1986 FIFA World Cup squad

Asian Cups

1972 Asian Cup squad

1976 Asian Cup squad

1996 Asian Cup squad

2000 Asian Cup squad

2004 Asian Cup squad

2007 Asian Cup squad

2011 Asian Cup squad

2015 Asian Cup squad

Confederations Cups

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup squad

Olympic Games

1980 Olympic Games squad

1984 Olympic Games squad

1988 Olympic Games squad

Friendly tournaments

2009 Gulf Cup of Nations squad

2012 Arab Nations Cup squad

2012 WAFF Championship squad

2013 Gulf Cup of Nations squad

2014 Gulf Cup of Nations squad

Most-capped players

As of 15 November 2016 Players in bold are still available for selection.

All-time top goalscorers

As of 15 November 2016 Players in bold are still available for selection

Trivia

Iraq holds the Asian record for having scored in 27 consecutive matches between 1992 and 1996.

Iraq are the only country to qualify to the World Cup without playing a single qualifying game at home.

AFC Competitions

AFC Asian Cup

Champions: 2007

Fourth place: 1976, 2015

Asian Games

Gold medal: 1982

Fourth place: 1978

WAFF Competitions

WAFF Championship

Champions: 2002

Runners-up: 2007, 2012

Third place: 2000, 2010

Fourth place: 2004

West Asian Games

Gold medal: 2005

UAFA Competitions

Arab Nations Cup

Champions: 1964, 1966, 1985, 1988

Third place: 2012

Palestine Cup of Nations

Runners-up: 1972, 1975

Fourth place: 1973

Pan Arab Games

Gold medal: 1985

Silver medal: 1999

GCF Competitions

Gulf Cup of Nations

Champions: 1979, 1984, 1988

Runners-up: 1976, 2013

Third place: 2010

Other Competition Wins

UAE International Cup

Champions: 2009

Peace Cup

Champions: 2003

International Friendship Cup

Champions: 1999

Nehru Cup

Champions: 1995, 1997

Merdeka Tournament

Champions: 1981, 1995

Peace and Friendship Cup

Champions: 1989

Merlion Cup

Champions: 1984

Tripoli Fair Tournament

Champions: 1967