The Australian coach of the Iraq national team, Graham Arnold, on Monday chose his final squad for the 2026 World Cup, scheduled to be held in North America starting June 11, without any surprises.
Arnold was chosen among experienced players who represented Iraq in most of the stages of the Asian and international qualifiers and playoffs.
The Australian coach excluded seven players from the initial squad after the end of the Girona camp in Spain, which concluded with a 1-0 victory over Andorra on Friday. They are goalkeeper Kamil Saadi, Ahmed Hassan McKenzie, Maitham Jabbar, Dario Namo, Peter Corgis, Hassan Abdel Karim, and Youssef Nasraoui.
But Kamil Saadi will remain with the national team as a reserve goalkeeper in case any injuries occur.
Arnold kept the four strikers he chose in his initial squad.
The team’s delegation heads to the city of La Coruna to face European champion Spain on Thursday in the second friendly stop in the camp that concludes there, before heading to the American city of Chicago, which will host its final preparatory match against Venezuela on June 9.
Iraq, which is participating in the World Finals for the second time after the first in 1986, is playing in Group Nine alongside France, Senegal and Norway.
Iraq squad
Goalkeepers: Ahmed Basil, Jalal Hassan, Fahd Talib
For defense: Ahmed Yahya, Mirkhas Doski, Akam Hashem, Rebin Sulaqa, Zaid Tahseen, Manaf Younis, Hussein Ali, Mustafa Saadoun, France Boutros.
For midfield: Aimar Shear, Zidane Iqbal, Kevin Yacoub, Amir Al-Ammari, Zaid Ismail, Ali Jassim, Marco Faraj, Ahmed Qasim, Ibrahim Bayesh, Youssef Al-Amin.
For attack: Muhannad Ali, Ayman Hussein, Ali Youssef, Ali Al Hammadi.
