Teams
Iraq become the final team to qualify for this summer’s World Cup, making it to their second ever tournament, forty years after their last appearance in 1986. They needed to play a lot of matches to make it all the way to the World Cup; after winning all 6 matches in the second stage of Asian qualifying, they finished third after 10 games in the third stage, putting them in stage 4 where they finished second after 2 games, then they defeated UAE over a two legged tie and finally, they defeated Bolivia 2-1 in Mexico to gain the final spot. Iraq lost all three of their matches in the World Cup that they qualified for in 1986 and they will definitely be trying to carry their momentum into the tournament.
Philadelphia Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
There are not a host of household names in the Iraqi squad, but they are going to be relying on this man to find the back of the net this summer. Hussein was top scorer in qualifying for Iraq, and his nine goals was six more than the next highest player. Even in his last international tournament, the AFC Asian Cup in 2023, he scored six goals in four games to lead his nation to the Round of 16. Hussein currently plays for Al Karma in the Iraqi Stars League, moving from Al Wakra last summer. With a record of over 0.75 goals per game domestically over the last ten years, he certainly has experience finding the net.
