Just one previous World Cup — Mexico 1986. 2026 ends a 40-year wait and is only Iraq's second finals; both reached via the same host nation never repeating elsewhere.
Born in Iraq, raised in England and the first Iraqi to reach the Premier League with Ipswich. Scored the play-off opener against Bolivia that booked the ticket to North America.
Captain and talisman of the 2007 Asian Cup triumph; headed the winning goal in the final
The benchmark Iraqi marksman of the 1980s; led the line at Mexico 1986
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Graham Arnold (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Younis Mahmoud #10 | FW | 2002–2016 | 148 | 57 | Record cap-holder. His 2007 final header turned a war-weary nation, briefly, into one street party. |
| Hussein Saeed #10 | FW | 1976–1990 | 137 | 78 | The all-time top scorer and 1980s totem; later ran the very association he once terrorised defences for. |
| Ahmed Radhi #9 | FW | 1982–1997 | 121 | 62 | Scorer of Iraq's only World Cup goal (1986). Asia's Footballer of the Year, 1988. |
| Adnan Dirjal #4 | DF | 1981–1990 | 122 | 14 | Elegant defender of the 1986 generation and later a national-team coach. Mr Dependable. |
| Ali Kadhim #9 | FW | 1973–1980 | 75 | 36 | 1970s spearhead and the man who first taught Asia that Iraq could score. |
| Nashat Akram #7 | MF | 2001–2012 | 90 | 16 | Silken playmaker of the 2007 winners; the metronome behind Mahmoud's goals. |
| Younis Khalef #5 | DF | 1976–1986 | 100 | 8 | Captain at Mexico 1986; led the debutants out for Iraq's maiden World Cup bow. |
| Noor Sabri #1 | GK | 2002–2016 | 102 | 0 | Long-serving goalkeeper and clean-sheet wall of the golden 2007 campaign. |
| Hawar Mulla Mohammed #11 | MF | 2002–2012 | 75 | 14 | Delivered the corner for the 2007 final winner — assist of a generation. |
| Emad Mohammed #18 | FW | 2001–2013 | 89 | 28 | Tireless forward of the 2000s; a reliable foil through Iraq's most-decorated decade. |
Forty years in the wilderness, and the Lions of Mesopotamia are back. This is a side built on hard miles — a play-off odyssey, a goalkeeper-captain past his hundredth cap, and a diaspora of talent scattered from Luton to Utrecht to Plzeň. No World Cup pedigree to speak of beyond one lonely 1986 goal, but a nation whose 2007 Asian Cup remains one of football's most moving triumphs. The Almanac files this one under 'heart'.