{"id":986,"date":"2026-05-20T13:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingarcade.net\/?p=986"},"modified":"2026-05-20T13:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T13:42:10","slug":"iraq-world-cup-2026-squad-announcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingarcade.net\/bng\/iraq-world-cup-2026-squad-announcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq Announce World Cup Squad After Historic 40-Year Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iraq have officially announced their preliminary squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026 as the Middle Eastern nation prepares for its first appearance at football\u2019s biggest tournament in 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iraqi national team last played at the FIFA World Cup in 1986. After decades of waiting, they have now secured qualification for the 2026 tournament and are preparing for a challenging group-stage campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The squad includes several key players, including midfielder Amir Al Ammari, winger Ali Jasim and striker Aymen Hussein, who scored the decisive goal in Iraq\u2019s intercontinental playoff victory over Bolivia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Jalal Hassan has also returned to the squad after missing the playoff match due to injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest surprises in the squad announcement is the inclusion of three newcomers with European youth football backgrounds. Full-back Dario Namo, midfielder Jusef Nasrawe and attacking midfielder Ahmed Qasem have previously represented Finland, Germany and Sweden at youth level before receiving call-ups to Iraq\u2019s senior national team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iraq have been placed in a difficult World Cup group alongside two-time champions France, Norway and Senegal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their World Cup journey will begin on June 16 against Norway at Boston Stadium. Iraq will then face France on June 22 before taking on Senegal in their final group-stage match on June 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iraq Preliminary World Cup Squad<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Goalkeepers:<\/strong>
Ahmed Basil, Jalal Hassan, Kumel Saadi, Fahad Talib<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defenders:<\/strong>
Hussein Ali, Merchas Doski, Akam Hashem, Maytham Jabbar, Ahmed Maknzi, Dario Namo, Frans Putros, Mustafa Saadoun, Rebin Sulaka, Zaid Tahseen, Ahmed Yahya, Manaf Younis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Midfielders:<\/strong>
Hasan Abdulkarim, Amir Al Ammari, Youssef Amin, Ibrahim Bayesh, Marco Farji, Peter Gwargis, Zidane Iqbal, Zaid Ismail, Ali Jasim, Karar Nabil, Jusef Nasrawe, Ahmed Qasem, Aymar Sher, Kevin Yakub<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forwards:<\/strong>
Mohanad Ali, Aymen Hussein, Ali Al Hamadi, Ali Youssef<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iraq have announced their preliminary squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026 after qualifying for the tournament for the first time in 40 years.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,27],"tags":[190,358,356,357],"class_list":["post-986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-sports","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-football-news","tag-iraq","tag-raq-world-cup-squad"],"yoast_head":"\nIraq Announce World Cup Squad After Historic 40-Year Return - livingarcade.net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Iraq have revealed their preliminary squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup after securing a historic return to football\u2019s biggest stage for the first time since 1986.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/livingarcade.net\/bng\/iraq-world-cup-2026-squad-announcement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq Announce World Cup Squad After Historic 40-Year Return - 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