Iraq - Vietnam's most formidable opponent in the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup - called up 25 players, including 10 who play in England, France, Germany, Portugal or the Netherlands.
Up front, 21-year-old striker Ali Al-Hamadi plays for AFC Wimbledon in the English Third Division. Meanwhile, Pashang Abdulla (29) of Degerfor and midfielder Amir Al-Ammari (26) of Halmstad play in the Swedish national championship.
Striker Ali Al-Hammadi of the Iraqi national team. Photo: IFA
Iraq's midfield includes Osama Rashid (31 years old, playing for Vizela in the Portuguese league), Youssef Amyn (20 years old, Eintracht Braunschweig, German First Division), Danilo Al-Saed (24 years old, Sandefjord, Danish First Division) and Ahmed Allee (27 years old, Rouen, French Second Division).
Iraq's defense has right-back Hussein Ali (21 years old, SC Heerenveen, Dutch National Championship), left-back Merchas Doski (23 years old, Slovacko, Slovakian National Championship) and center-back Rebin Sulaka (Brommapojkarna, Swedish National Championship).
Coach Jesus Casas's call-up list also includes players playing in Iran (2), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Thailand (1). The rest play domestically.
Iraq's squad includes four players who played in the 3-2 win over Vietnam in the 2019 Asian Cup group stage, notably goalkeeper Jalal Hassan, and two goal scorers, striker Mohanad Ali and defender Ali Adnan. Other players include defender Frans Putros, midfielders Osama Rashid and Bashar Resan. In addition, goalkeeper Ahmed Basil and striker Aymen Hussein played with Iraq against Vietnam in the quarter-finals of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship. That match ended in a 3-3 draw after 120 minutes before Iraq lost 3-5 in the penalty shootout.
Striker Aymen Hussein (No. 18) is one of the two top scorers for Iraq in this list with 17 goals in 66 matches. Photo: IFA
Other notable absentees from Iraq include former Man Utd player Zidane Iqbal, who is playing for Dutch club Utrecht, due to injury. Veteran players who have played over 50 matches for the national team are also absent, such as defender Dhurgham Ismail, midfielder Hussein Ali, Humam Tariq, Ahmed Yasin and Saad Abdul-Amir.
Iraq opens the second round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Indonesia at home on November 16, then the team visits Vietnam on November 21.
Iraq have met Vietnam four times in the past, winning three and drawing one. In the quarter-finals of the 2007 Asian Cup, Iraq beat Vietnam 2-0 and went on to win the championship. In the second qualifying round of the 2018 World Cup, Iraq drew 1-1 with Vietnam in the first leg at My Dinh before winning 1-0 in the second leg. The most recent meeting in the group stage of the 2019 Asian Cup, Vietnam took the lead twice but were equalized before Ali Adnan's direct free kick sealed a 3-2 victory for Iraq in the 90th minute.
Iraq national team head coach Jesus Casas. Photo: IFA
Iraq participated in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and qualified for the last two and three tournaments. In 2022, the team signed a contract with Spanish coach Jesus Garcia, who was assistant coach of Watford Club (England) in 2018 and assistant coach of the Spanish team from 2018 to 2022.
In 2023, the team drew 0-0 with Oman in their opening match, then won four straight matches to win the Arabian Gulf Cup. Iraq then played friendly matches, losing 0-2 to Russia and 0-1 to Colombia. In September, the West Asian team drew 2-2 with India and hosts Thailand, then won on penalties to win the King's Cup. Most recently, in a friendly tournament in Jordan, Iraq drew 0-0 with Qatar and lost on penalties, before drawing 2-2 with Jordan and winning on penalties to take third place.
Iraq team list
Goalkeepers (3) : Jalah Hassan (Al-Zawraa), Fahad Talib (Sanat Naft Abadan), Ahmed Basil (Al-Shorta)
Defenders (8) : Ali Adnan (Mes Rafsanjan), Saad Natiq (Abha), Rebin Sulaka (Brommapojkarna), Frans Putros (Port), Merchas Doski (Slovacko), Ahmed Yahya (Al-Shorta), Hussein Ali (SC Heerenveen), Mustafa Saadoun (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Midfielders (10) : Amjad Attwan (Zakho), Bashar Resan (Qatar SC), Ibrahim Bayesh (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Osama Rashid (Vizela), Amir Al-Ammari (Halmstad), Hasan Abdulkareem (Al-Zawraa), Ahmed Allee (Rouen), Danilo Al-Saed (Sandefjord), Ali Jasim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Youssef Amyn (Eintracht Braunschweig)
Strikers (4) : Aymen Hussein (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya), Mohanad Ali (Al-Shorta), Ali Al-Hamadi (AFC Wimbledon), Pashang Abdulla (Degerfors).
Hieu Luong
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