Indonesia lost heavily to Iraq in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers

Coach Shin Tae-young and his team lost 1-5 when visiting Iraq and fell to the bottom of Group F, a group that also included two other representatives from Southeast Asia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Basra Stadium with a capacity of over 65,000 people was packed with spectators, creating a frenzied atmosphere in the stands. That "fire" was blown onto the field, the Iraqi players played a jubilant match, controlling the ball 75%, attacking continuously right from the opening whistle until the last second of the match, when they led their opponents by up to four goals.

Indonesia dropped deep, endured the match, sometimes did not hesitate to play tough, accepted fouls but could not stop Iraq's attacks. They only kept a clean sheet until the 20th minute of the match. Bashar Rasan opened the scoring party with a skillful break, eliminated captain Mangkualam and then finished with a tricky shot into the near corner. Goalkeeper Argawinata jumped as far as he could but could not touch the ball to save the home team.

Iraq climbed to the top of Group F after pouring in goals against Indonesia.

After the goal, Iraq's spirit was lifted and they attacked even more strongly. The home players' physique, physical strength and technique were all better, so they easily won in the contested situations, organizing diverse attacks with all kinds of attacks from the middle to the two wings, low balls and high balls. The pressure that Iraq created was very great, causing the Indonesian defense to make mistakes. In the 35th minute, experienced center back Jordi Amat headed the ball into his own net after a cross from Ali Jasim.

The first half was almost exclusively on the Indonesian side of the pitch, with TV viewers having little chance to see the Iraqi goalkeeper. It was not until the extra minute that Indonesia was able to launch their first sharp attack and they surprisingly scored a goal. The home defense played somewhat complacently, allowing the substitute Struik to dribble from the sideline, pass to Pattynama to shoot from a very tight angle, narrowing the gap to 1-2.

Pattynama's goal lifted Indonesia's spirits, creating a game that somewhat dominated Iraq in the first 15 minutes of the second half. But a moment of carelessness in defense caused Indonesia to concede a third goal. In the 60th minute, three away players hesitated to clear the ball, allowing Osama Rashid to take it and shoot through the legs of both center-backs Baggott and Jordi Amat to score.

Indonesia had a poor match against Iraq, losing in all indicators.

Leading 3-1, the Iraqi players showed no signs of stopping. They continued to attack strongly, with brave runs on both flanks. In the 81st minute, Ali Jasim performed a series of very flexible feints, eliminating the opponent's defenders and then crossed for Youssef Amyn to tap the ball into the goal with one touch.

In this match, Aymen Hussein was positioned as the highest striker of Iraq. His teammates tried to give him the ball a lot in search of a goal but failed. "Number 18" left the field in the 79th minute and his replacement Ali Al Zubaidi took only 9 minutes to score. From a pass in the middle of the field, "Number 9" broke the offside trap and ran down at high speed, dribbling past the goalkeeper before putting the ball into the empty net to seal the 5-1 victory.

This victory helped Iraq climb to the top of Group F. Coach Garcia's team also has three points but has a better goal difference than Vietnam, who started the match with a 2-0 win over the Philippines. In the second round of matches, Vietnam and Iraq will meet at My Dinh Stadium on November 21.

Nghia Hung

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