2026 World Cup | Who are France’s opponents, Iraq?

2026 World Cup | Who are France’s opponents, Iraq?

France’s second opponent at the 2026 FIFA World Cup are Iraq. We look at the players that make up their squad. 

Jalal Hassan

Date of birth: 18 May 1991

Club: Al-Zawraa

Position: Goalkeeper

Iraq’s 35-year-old captain and undisputed No 1 made his 100th international appearance before the home World Cup qualifying tie with the UAE last November, becoming only the third Iraqi goalkeeper (after 1986 World Cup captain Raad Hammoudi and 2007 Asian Cup winner Nour Sabri) to achieve the landmark. Worked as a labourer when he first started playing, recalling how he would train barefoot while wearing his work clothes. The Diwaniya-born keeper was first spotted at 19 and fast-tracked into the national team after impressing with the youth setup, making his international debut against Jordan 15 years ago. Jalal has appeared in three Asian Cups as a starter and at a record six Gulf Cups, captaining Iraq to victory at the 25th edition in Basra as Iraq lifted the trophy for the first time in 35 years. The veteran remains a key part of the Lions of Mesopotamia, holding the joint record for the most appearances in World Cup qualifiers for an Iraqi goalkeeper (23) and the most clean sheets (14).

Ahmed Basil

Date of birth: 19 August 1996

Club: Al-Shorta

Position: Goalkeeper

In November 2024, Basil was drafted into the squad as fourth-choice keeper on the eve of two crucial World Cup qualifiers. Two days before the game with Jordan, the Al-Shorta keeper had received a surprise call at 2am from the Iraq FA. Nine hours later, he was out on the training pitch with the squad. Astonishingly, with an injury to Iraq’s No 1, Jalal Hassan, Basil was handed his first start in the World Cup qualifiers – only his sixth international appearance – and he excelled in the 0-0 draw with Jordan in Basra, followed by a 1-0 win over Oman, Iraq’s first victory in Muscat for 30 years. The keeper later revealed, in tears, how he had left his bedridden father, a former Iraq player, at home recovering from surgery. Since then, Basil has proved to be a reliable understudy to Hassan, deputising in his absence including for the final qualifier against Bolivia in Monterrey.

Fahad Talib

Date of birth: 21 October 1994

Club: Al-Talaba

Position: Goalkeeper

When Talib suffered a serious knee injury on the eve of Iraq’s crucial 2024 Asian Cup Last-16 tie against Jordan, not many believed he, then 29, would return to the same level that had seen him go to the 2013 Under20 World Youth Cup in Turkey and the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Talib had made his name in Iraq’s last World Cup qualifying campaign, replacing the injured Jalal Hassan, where he appeared in eight of Iraq’s 10 qualifying games for the 2022 World Cup and earned rave reviews. Following the injury and, after almost a year out on the sidelines, the goalkeeper returned to form with Iraq Stars League club Al-Talaba and earned a recall to the national side, where he has made 20 appearances since making his debut in 2017. A goalkeeper like his father and elder brother, Fahad came through the Ammo Baba football school and later joined Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in 2008, breaking into the first team at just 16 and becoming a regular a few years later.

Kumel Al-Rekabe

Date of birth: 19 August 2004

Club: Erbil

Position: Goalkeeper

Known as Kumel Al-Rekabe in Switzerland, where he was born, and Kumel Saadi in Iraq, where his family originates from the city of Nassriya. The 21-year-old is finally proving the words of his former goalkeeping coach, the late Salih Hamed, who insisted he would have a future with the national team. “He always believed in me. He saw something in me that no one other saw,” Al-Rekabe said of his coach, who passed away in 2025. Born in Aarau, Al-Rekabe was on the bench for Swiss fifth-tier side Adliswil just three months after turning 15. The 1.93m-tall keeper was called into the Iraqi Olympic side in 2023, and played a part in qualifying for the 2024 Games in Paris. Joined Iraqi club Naft Al-Basra in 2024, but made just three appearances before leaving for Léganes, where he played for the Spanish club’s international academy. After a season in Sweden’s third tier with AFC Malmö in 2025, he is now first-choice keeper at Iraqi side Erbil.

Akam Hashem

Date of birth: 16 August 1998

Club: Al-Zawraa

Position: Defender

In the dying minutes of the victory over Bolivia that sent Iraq to their first World Cup in 40 years, Akam Hashem turned to his defensive partner, Zaid Tahseen, and said, “Brother Zaid, do you know, we’re going to be legends of Iraq.” With the Iraqi defence under pressure, his teammate could only respond with a desperate cry to continue defending. Seconds later the final whistle blew. After his first start for Iraq, against Palestine in 2025, Hashem was selected to take a routine doping test – when he finally came out to the car park, he discovered the team bus had already left without him! Born in Erbil, he started his career at local club Peshmerga (meaning “those who face death”), a lower-division side representing the Kurdish region’s internal security forces, where he played alongside his elder brother Rekar. He later moved to the city’s top club, Erbil, in 2020 and has made a name for himself in the Iraqi League, moving to Baghdad to first play for Al-Shorta and now Al-Zawraa.

Zaid Tahseen

Date of birth: 29 January 2001

Club: Pakhtakor FC

Position: Defender

Tahseen was not even in the matchday squad for Iraq’s first qualifying game of their 2026 World Cup campaign, but for their 21st match in Monterrey against Bolivia, the 25-year-old centre-back was one of Iraq’s star performers. At the final whistle, after a tearful phone call to his family back home who were up in the early hours to watch the victory, the defender said: “I don’t know if I am in a dream or living real life. When the game finished, I looked around, I didn’t know what to do. This is the best morning in Iraq’s history and the best day in all of Iraq. It won’t be forgotten.” The 1.93m-tall centre-back from the city of Najaf left school at 16, later playing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Tahseen, who now plays his club football for Pakhtakor in Uzbekistan, has 25 Iraq caps at the time of writing after making his first start in a 0-0 draw with Ecuador in 2022 at Atlético’s Metropolitano Stadium.

Manaf Younis

Date of birth: 16 November 1996

Club: Al-Shorta

Position: Centre-back

It was Younis who scored the dramatic winning header in the 3-2 win over Oman – in the final minute of extra-time – to see Iraq lift the Gulf Cup trophy for the first time in 35 years in 2023. The defender had a premonition he would score. “A day before the game, Fahad Talib and I were praying in the room. I finished my prayers and told Fahad, ‘What will happen if tomorrow, in the last minute, I head it in and we win!'” Born in Tikrit, Younis was brought up by his mother after his father passed away when he was only eight. Originally a striker, his 1.90m frame and aerial ability convinced coaches to play him in defence after breaking into the Salah-al-Deen first team. He moved to Baghdad in 2019, signing for Al-Karkh, a club under the presidency of the late Sharar Haidar, who had a policy of scouting players from the provinces. It was there Munaf made his name, winning the Iraqi Cup in 2022 and breaking into the national side. He later joined Al-Shorta, winning three consecutive league titles from 2023.

Rebin Sulaka

Date of birth: 12 April 1992

Club: FC Port

Position: Centre-back

The 1.92m journeyman centre-back has come a long way from when he first put on an Iraqi jersey more than a decade ago. Back then Sulaka, who was born in Iraq but grew up in Sweden, was only at the start of his career, understanding just a few words of Arabic as his parents spoke mainly Chaldean Neo-Aramaic at home. Now 34 years old with more than 50 appearances for Iraq, Sulaka has a good command of the Arabic language, allowing him to communicate with the rest of the squad and help ease new players into the team. After starting his club career in Sweden, he has played in nine different countries, including Norway, Serbia, Bulgaria and Switzerland, and is now enjoying his second stint in Thailand. He will be the second Iraqi player from Ankawa, a suburb of Erbil, to play at the World Cup after Basil Gorgis, who was sent off early against Belgium in 1986 in a case of mistaken identity.

Maytham Jabbar

Date of birth: 10 November 2000

Club: Al-Zawraa

Position: Centre back

The 1.88m centre-back was recalled by Graham Arnold after spending three years out of the team, following a 2022 World Cup qualifying defeat to Iran in Tehran. “Every player wishes to return to play for the national team and show all he has,” he declared, before playing two games at the 2025 Arab Cup in Doha against Sudan and Algeria. After last-minute injuries, Jabbar was drafted in for the final playoff game in Monterrey. The defender had previously been part of the squad under former coach Srecko Katanec, making his debut in 2019. Jabbar comes from the western Baghdad district of Al-Shuala, where he started in the junior and youth teams of Al-Shuala Club. His breakthrough came when he was called into the Iraqi Under-17s and played at the 2017 Under-17 World Cup in India, where Iraq drew with Mexico and beat Chile before losing 4-0 to England, where he came up against Marc Guéhi, Conor Gallagher, Phil Foden and others.

Hussein Ali

Date of birth: 1 March 2002

Club: Pogon Szczecin

Position: Right-back

Before Ali made his debut in 2023, the right side of defence had always been a troublesome position for the Iraqi team. He wore the jersey for the first time at the King’s Cup in Thailand against India. “It was a dream come true to play for my father’s country,” he recalls. Ali represented Sweden at every youth level and spent almost two years considering whether to play for his father’s country of birth, a place he had never visited. His father had left Iraq in 1989 to settle in Sweden, where Ali was born. The right-back came through the Malmö FF academy from the age of five, starting out as a centre-back. Looking to play first-team football, he signed his first professional contract with Örebro, making his Allsvenskan debut at just 17. In 2022, he moved abroad for the first time, spending three seasons with Eredivisie club Heerenveen. For the 2025-26 season, he joined Polish side Pogon Szczecin, located close to the Baltic Sea.

Mustafa Saadoon

Date of birth: 25 May 2001

Club: Al-Shorta

Position: Right-back

After an early exit from the Gulf Cup in Kuwait at the end of 2024, the then-Iraq coach Jesús Casas came out defending his players from criticism, especially one of the youngest, Mustafa Saadoon. Fans had nicknamed the right-back “Saadoon Street”, believing he was the reason for that side of the Iraqi defence being wide open for opponents to exploit. “It is very easy to be a fat man sitting in front of the TV,  talking bad about our players,” Casas said. “Mustafa is a very good player, he is young, and all players make mistakes – in Iraq, at Real Madrid, in Argentina, in all teams in the world.” Saadoon comes from the town of Al-Nahrawan, 35 km from the Iraqi capital, and has worked hard to get where he is at one of Iraq’s biggest clubs, Al-Shorta. When he first started, he studied and worked in a brick factory while playing, eventually graduating from university. After progressing from the lower divisions to the Iraq Stars League, he has gone on to represent the national side and played at the 2024 Olympics.

Dario Naamo

Date of birth: 14 May 2005

Club: Dundee United

Position: Right-back

The Dundee United defender is one of the players with dual eligibility that the head coach, Graham Arnold, has brought in to strengthen his squad after qualifying. Born in Helsinki to an Iraqi Kurdish father from Qaladze, in Sulaymaniyah province, and a Finnish mother, Naamo has played for Finland at every youth level, including the Under-21s, but the Iraq FA have been monitoring the right-back for the past two years. The 20-year-old confirmed to Scottish newspaper The Courier that he had been in contact with Iraq’s head coach and spoken to him about the team’s playing style and formation. “Of course, it would be an amazing chance if I could get to Iraq, but we’ll still wait and see.” Naamo “personifies the modern-day wingback,” according to his club coach, Jim Goodwin, who signed him from Austrian side St. Pölten. His debut season in Scotland has been hampered by muscular injuries, restricting him to 19 appearances.

Ahmed Yahya

Date of birth: 1 July 1995

Club: Al-Shorta

Position: Left-back

Yahya is the first player from Basra to appear at a World Cup. The physical 1.87m-tall full-back from the district of Tanouma first began at Al-Masafi Al-Janoub and then at the city’s oldest club, Al-Minaa, in Iraq’s top flight. When he moved to Baghdad and signed for Al-Shorta, he gained international recognition, making his debut against Kuwait in his home city in Jesús Casas’ first game as coach. In his first competitive start against Japan at the 2023 Asian Cup in Doha, Yahya announced himself by assisting the winning goal in a 2-1 victory. In September 2024, the left-back came up against Al-Nassr’s Sadio Mané in an Asian Champions League game in Baghdad, a city that still suffers occasional electricity blackouts. One journalist quipped that the defender had cut off the Senegal winger’s power in a 1-1 draw. “I always like playing honestly, but I just couldn’t,” Yahya said afterwards. “It became a matter of national duty, I had to play tough with him.”

Merchas Doski

Date of birth: 7 December 1999

Club: Viktoria Plzen

Position: Left-back

The moment this cultured Hannover-born left-back with roots to Zakho came into the team, everyone knew he would become a key player. Merchas, meaning “brave knight” in Kurdish, was first selected by Olympic coach Miroslav Soukup. After appearing at the 2022 Asian Under-23 Cup in Tashkent while without a club, he had a trial at Czech Cup winners FC Slovacko through Soukup’s contacts. After just six days, he earned a contract and played in Europe for the first time. Just three years earlier, he had been an amateur in Germany’s fifth tier and working as a bricklayer. With a growing reputation, Doski later signed for Viktoria Plzen and played in the Europa League. With Iraq, he slotted in as if he had played there for years, achieving one of his lifelong dreams. “The road to get here hasn’t been easy. But a World Cup – that’s every child’s dream. Every boy who played on the streets, like I did, saw the great players at a World Cup.”

Ahmed Maknzi

Date of birth: 24 September 2001

Club: Al-Karma

Position: Left-back

Ahmed Maknzi’s actual name is Ahmed Hassan, but he is popularly known by the name of his grandfather – pronounced like MacKenzie. The left-back has no Irish or Scottish ancestry, but according to his family, the name derives from a type of rifle imported from Britain during the early 20th century. Known in Iraq as a Maknzi, the weapon is believed to have been imported by Gray MacKenzie & Company, founded in Basra in 1869. The son of a major general, Maknzi was born in Baqouba, Diyala province, but began in the youth teams of Al-Zawraa in the Iraqi capital, breaking into the first team in 2017, before moving to Erbil, Al-Najaf, and now Al-Karma. First selected by Jesús Casas in early 2024, making his debut at the 2024-25 Gulf Cup against Bahrain.

Frans Putros

Date of birth: 14 July 1994

Club: Persib Bandung

Position: Defender/Midfielder

Both of his parents hail from Baghdad, where his two elder brothers were also born. Frans is the only one in the family who started life in Denmark, in the city of Aarhus, where he began his career at AGF. However, while playing in the Danish Superliga for Silkeborg and called up for Denmark’s Under-21s, he went into “half a year of hell” after issues with his agent, suddenly finding himself without a club. He resurrected his career at second-tier side Fredericia, managed by his former coach Jesper Sørensen, before moving abroad to play in Thailand and Indonesia. Initially a right-back, Putros has developed the ability to play at centre-back and in midfield. When he came into the Iraqi team in 2018, he played his first three games at left-back and had to wait three years before he started in his natural position. At the 2023 Asian Cup in Doha, he was lauded for his performance in Iraq’s 2-1 victory over Japan after earning a surprise start in midfield.

Amir Al-Ammari

Date of birth: 27 July 1997

Club: Cracovia (Poland)

Position: Midfielder

A leader, the polyglot midfielder speaks Arabic, English, and Swedish, bridging the language barriers within a squad which has a significant contingent from Scandinavia, where many Iraqis settled after decades of conflict. Al-Ammari is one example. His parents met in Kuwait and left after the 1991 Gulf War to settle in Sweden, where he was born. After dropping out of football for a year, Al-Ammari finally found his feet at top-flight side Halmstad. In the same year, Dick Advocaat called him up for a key World Cup qualifier against South Korea, impressing in a 0-0 draw for a hard-fought point in Seoul. Since then, the 28-year-old has become a mainstay for Iraq, scoring the dramatic late penalty in the 17th minute of stoppage time against the UAE to reach the inter-confederation playoff in Monterrey. The player revealed he had no time to celebrate as he was catching a flight back to Poland, where he plays his club football for Crocovia: “I was on my way to the airport, in the back of the car, I was sitting and eating gifflar [small Swedish cinnamon buns].”

Aimar Sher

Date of birth: 20 December 2002

Club: Sarpsborg

Position: Midfielder

When Sher came into the Iraqi team, it was a moment the midfielder had long been waiting for, to represent the country of his birth. Named after Argentina’s 2002 World Cup member and Valencia player Pablo Aimar, Sher was born in Kirkuk but moved to Sweden when he was only four, later becoming Hammarby’s youngest Allsvenskan debutant at 16 years and nine months. At just 20, he earned a €1.5m move to Italy’s Spezia, but there his career stalled, living away from his family for the first time in his life and not knowing the language. He was unable to settle in Liguria, making only one appearance in Serie A. At the end of the 2022-23 season, Sher’s contract with Spezia was terminated by mutual consent. Without a club for almost four months, he noted it was the most important period of his career. “It was a really good lesson, because that’s how football is, it goes up and down. I grew a lot, not only as a football player but also as a human.”

Kevin Yakob

Date of birth: 10 October 2002

Club: AGF

Position: Midfielder

Yakob, whose middle name is Enkido, a figure in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, always had links to the country where his grandfather emigrated from in 1971. He started at Assyriska (a Swedish club formed in 1974 by Assyrian immigrants) and then Häcken, where legendary Iraqi player Youra Eshaya once coached. Yakob finally made his debut for Iraq against Colombia in 2023, but lasted just 15 minutes, rupturing his cruciate ligament, putting him out for months, but he remained optimistic. “A dream come true ended in the worst way. Unfortunately, I suffered an ACL injury, but I will do everything I can to come back with God’s grace.” The player had been there before, tearing the cruciate ligament in the same knee at 18. That happened just nine months after a goalscoring debut in the Allsvenskan. Yakob had been considered one of Sweden’s most promising youngsters, but the injury set him back. At 22, he had to do it all over again, and 643 days later he was back playing, and was on the field in Monterrey, guiding Iraq to the World Cup to cap an extraordinary return to football.

Zaid Ismail

Date of birth: 3 January 2002

Club: Al-Talaba

Position: Midfielder

One of the newcomers brought into the national setup by Graham Arnold. The Australian took just 15 minutes to make up his mind about the 24-year-old holding midfielder after watching him in an Iraq Stars League game, asking his team manager for the name of Al-Talaba’s No 6. He earned a first call-up at the Arab Cup at the end of last year. After his debut in the 2-1 victory over Bahrain, Arnold took the player to one side and told him he would be in his squad for the play-off game in Monterrey. True to his word, Ismail was in Mexico and came on for the last 38 minutes, making crucial interceptions in the win over Bolivia. At the final whistle, the player dedicated Iraq’s World Cup qualification to his late father, a deputy intelligence officer who was killed in 2006 during the sectarian violence that erupted in the country after the US-led invasion, leaving behind a young wife and three sons, the youngest of whom was Zaid, only four at the time.

Ibrahim Bayesh

Date of birth: 1 May 2000

Club: Al-Dhafra 

Position: Midfielder

Ibrahim Bayesh is something of an enigma. He was once described by former Iraq coach Srecko Katanec as the fittest player in the Iraqi league, while every coach who has taken charge of the Iraqi team has selected him as a regular starter. However, maybe because of his direct playing style (more pragmatic than creative) and the way he conducts himself off the field, Bayesh is not widely appreciated by fans. He is an industrious and dogged battler who has played in almost every position for Iraq since making his debut in 2017, bar goalkeeper, left back and centre-back. The player, with 74 international appearances at the time of writing, continues to be selected, despite calls for him to be dropped, while his recent remarks about the selection of expatriate players under former coach Jesús Casas are unlikely to endear him to supporters. He stated there were “players from outside Iraq who come and don’t care about the national team,” adding some received preferential treatment, a reason why they failed to qualify directly from their qualifying group, with players he had never seen before being selected for the first time.

Zidane Iqbal

Date of birth: 27 April 2003

Club: Utrecht

Position: Midfielder

Before Iqbal made his debut, a journalist was told by Dick Advocaat’s assistant that the Dutchman thought from the young players, only Iqbal, then of Manchester United, was ready for the first team. It perfectly sums up the footballer. With a name like Zidane, he has always had a lot to live up to, coming up through the ranks at United from the age of eight to make his first-team debut at Old Trafford in a Champions League match in 2021. Born in Manchester, the son of a Pakistani father and an Iraqi mother from the city of Samawah, Iqbal became the youngest player to represent Iraq in a World Cup qualifier aged 18, when he came on as a late substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Iran under Advocaat’s successor, Zeljko Petrovic. He is finally settling into the team, with 22 appearances and two goals at the time of writing, including the winner against Indonesia during the play-offs in Jeddah. “It was crazy when I scored, everybody’s screaming, but I’m not lying, I heard my mum scream.”

Karar Nabeel

Date of birth: 16 January 1998

Club: Al-Zawraa

Position: Midfielder

The stylish playmaker has been in and out of the Iraqi team since making his debut seven years ago. Coming from the city of Diwaniya, he learnt the basics of the game at a local football school where his father was also a coach. Nabeel moved to Baghdad club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, but found himself on the bench. Despite being given only a few minutes to impress at the end of a game, fans spoke to Nabeel’s coach, pleading for him to start. In the next game, he did, and assisted the winner, with national team coach Srecko Katanec watching from the stands. Nabeel was called into the national side for the first time, but was unable to break into the side. When Graham Arnold was appointed, he was recalled for the 2025 Arab Cup last November, playing in all four of Iraq’s matches. After injuries, Nabeel was brought into the squad for the World Cup playoff in Monterrey, but sat in the stands.

Marko Farji

Date of birth: 16 March 2004

Club: Venezia

Position: Winger

In October 2025, Farji was asked what he had done during the international break, his reply was slightly flippant: “Ate me fat … slept to death.” It was a display of frustration from the Grimstad-born winger, whose opportunities with Iraq had been few and far between. But Farji, or Faraj as he is known in Arabic, remained patient and, in the end, assisted Iraq’s winner in the final World Cup playoff just 68 seconds after coming on. “It’s crazy. It’s a wonderful feeling,” he told Norway’s TV2. “It’s a dream. It’s absolutely sick, but it feels weird to meet Norway [in Group I], the place where I grew up and come from. I’m excited,” added the former Strømsgodset player, now with Venezia, who will play in Serie A next season. Farji was something of a child prodigy, who at 11, was offered a week-long trial at Manchester City, and two years later, trained with Ajax at a camp. Behind him was an ambitious father, a structural engineer originally from the city of Sulaymaniyah who, from early on, saw the true potential of his son.

Hasan Abdulkareem

Date of birth: 1 January 1999

Club: Al-Zawraa

Position: Midfielder

The No 10 of one of Iraq’s biggest supported clubs, Al-Zawraa, comes from Habibiya, Al-Sadr City, where in his youth, locals nicknamed him Quqiya, for his inability to pronounce Qutiya, colloquial Iraqi Arabic for a small tin can or metal container. He left school early on and progressed through the Al-Shorta youth system, but with limited playing opportunities, he moved to Al-Karkh, scoring the winner to lift the Iraqi Cup in 2022. Abdulkareem always has a smile on his face, but behind it, lies sadness. He lost his brother Ali in 2016, a soldier in the Iraqi Army, who was killed fighting Isis, and then five years later, his father died after a short illness. His father did, however, watch him score on his debut for Iraq against Oman in the 2021 Arab Cup. “It’s an indescribable feeling. I mean, I broke down, honestly, when I saw my son with such strength and courage, and the way he took the penalty kick,” his father said. He passed away 23 days later at the age of 63.

Ali Jassim

Date of birth: 20 January 2004

Club: Como

Position: Winger

One of the brightest talents in Asia, Jassim can light up a game with a moment of magic, but something he has not done lately. From early on, though, his raw talent was apparent, making his debut for Al-Karkh at 14. Then his father passed, leaving Jassim and older brother Abbas – also a footballer – as the family’s main providers. An unpolished gem, under the guidance of Luay Salah at Al-Kahrabaa, he thrived. At 19, he led Iraq to the 2023 Under-20 World Cup finals, and was then called into the senior national side, later scoring the winning goal to qualify Iraq for the 2024 Olympics. On the same day Jassim scored the winner in Iraq’s opening game against Ukraine at the Olympics, he signed for Como. “We think Jassim can flourish with us,” said Cesc Fàbregas. However, after arriving late to pre-season from the Olympics, he played just eight minutes in Serie A and – frustrated and wanting to play – he went out on loan to Almere City in the Eredivisie in 2024-25 and then Saudi Pro League club Al-Najma.

Peter Gwargis

Date of birth: 4 September 2000

Club: Duhok

Position: Winger

Gwargis could have played for Iraq’s current head coach, Graham Arnold, six years ago. When Arnold was coaching the Olyroos, he had been monitoring the Sydney-born midfielder when he was playing at Brighton. Gwargis, whose parents are Iraqi Assyrians, left Australia when he was three for Sweden, where he began his playing career before being spotted by Brighton scouts at just 17. But after a tough two-and-a-half-years in England, making only a single appearance for the first team in the League Cup, and four seasons moving between the Allsvenskan and Superettan in Sweden, he felt he needed a new challenge and moved to Duhok in the Iraq Stars League in 2024. There Gwargis has shone, scoring nine goals in his first season and winning the AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League. Capped at Under-17 and Under-19 level by Sweden, he decided to represent Iraq at senior level, and made his international debut against Yemen in 2024, but has yet to break into the starting line-up.two-and-a-half years

Youssef Amyn

Date of birth: 21 August 2003

Club: AEK Larnaca

Position: Winger

At 16, the Essen-born winger travelled to Baghdad to try out for the Iraq Under-19s, but the coach did not select him, considering him too young. The player, whose mother would tell him he kicked a ball before he could walk properly, was not going to be deterred after facing similar rejection by one of his youth coaches at Borussia Dortmund, who found the winger to be too small. Amyn responded the only way he could, on the pitch. He joined Viktoria Köln, becoming the youngest player to play for the club at 17, and represented Germany’s Under-19s, scoring on his debut. With the Iraqi FA looking to Europe for talent, he was one of the newcomers selected. Twelve minutes after coming on for his debut in Iraq’s first game in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Basra against Indonesia, Amyn scored. ” It’s such a special feeling to play for your country, and then to score a goal – in a World Cup qualifier as well.”  

Jussef Nasrawe

Date of birth: 22 March 2007

Club: Bayern Munich II

Position: Midfielder

Graham Arnold’s assistant, René Meulensteen, has been tracking the progress of Bayern Munich talent Jussef Nasrawe, who has already trained with Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala and played in the club’s youth teams alongside Lennart Karl. After switching his allegiances from Germany, the country of his birth, to Iraq, where his parents originate from, the player was reportedly included in the preliminary list for the World Cup qualifier against Bolivia in Monterrey, but was not named in the final squad. While his family are from Karbala, Nasrawe was born in Munich, joining Bayern’s youth academy at the age of eight. Last season, he broke into Bayern’s reserve side, making 19 appearances, with six assists and one goal. Vincent Kompany and his coaching staff have been impressed with the youngster’s mentality, regularly involving him in training with the first team. Earlier this year, Nasrawe moved to Australian Bundesliga club SV Ried on loan. When asked about playing at the World Cup for Iraq, he said: “It’s definitely a big goal for me…I work towards it every day.”

Ahmed Qasim

Date of birth: 12 July 2003

Club: Nashville

Position: Attacking midfielder/winger

Last year, the left-footed right-winger moved to the MLS with Nashville for $4.2m, and has been playing against Luis Suárez, Thomas Müller and childhood hero Lionel Messi. “If you had told me 10 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed you, he is my idol,” he says. Qasim has been linked to Iraq’s national team for some time after it emerged he was eligible through his mother, who was originally from the city of Mosul. His father was born in Kuwait, while his paternal grandparents were Jordanian and Palestinian. Born in Sweden, he made his first-team debut at just 15 for local club Motala. At 17, he moved to Elfsborg in the top flight, earning a call-up to Sweden’s youth teams, representing the Under-17s, Under-19s and Under-21s. He was recently asked about his national team ambitions. “You were in Mexico and you felt the love of the Iraqi fans. If I’m not playing so much or if I play, they always support me. I feel the love from the people and I hope one day I can give back.” Two weeks later, he received his Iraqi passport in Detroit.

Aymen Hussein

Date of birth: 22 March 1996

Club: Al-Karma

Position: Forward

Hussein is a remarkable footballer with an extraordinary back story. He comes from Hawija, which was one of the most volatile regions in the world after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. His father was killed by Al-Qaeda in 2008, and then in 2014, his brother was abducted by Islamic State; he is presumed dead with his whereabouts still unknown. It was under these dreadful circumstances that the striker began his playing career. Since making his full international debut in 2015, Hussein’s time with Iraq has been a turbulent one. He has faced heavy criticism from fans and the media for his lack of goals. On one occasion, his coach ran on to the pitch to instruct the striker not to take a penalty. However, he is now one of Iraq’s five all-time top scorers with 33 goals at the time of writing, the latest being the winner against Bolivia that saw Iraq qualify for their first World Cup in 40 years.

Mohanad Ali

Date of birth: 20 June 2000

Club: Dibba

Position: Forward

When Ali, also known as “Mimi”, first burst onto the scene at the 2019 Asian Cup, many predicted he would become Iraq’s greatest ever striker, but it has not worked out that way. After leading Al-Shorta to their first Iraqi league title in six years, he had offers from Juventus, Manchester City and Benfica but his club instead negotiated a $2m move to Qatar’s Al-Duhail, receiving a new team bus as part of the deal. Despite the transfer allowing him to buy a home for his family, he failed to settle and made loan moves to Al-Sailiya, Portimonense and Aris Thessaloniki. He played little football during this spell after suffering two cruciate ligament injuries, which kept him out for two years. He returned, rediscovering his goalscoring touch at Al-Shorta, before moving last season to Dibba in the UAE.  

Ali Al-Hamadi

Date of birth: 1 March 2002

Club: Ipswich 

Position: Forward

When Al-Hamadi made his debut for Iraq in a World Cup qualifier at 19, the Maysan-born Scouser had just made the biggest decision of his career, leaving Swansea in search of regular first-team football. The gamble paid off as Al-Hamadi eventually joined Ipswich and became the first Iraqi player in the Premier League. His journey to England’s top tier via Wimbledon and Wycombe showed his goalscoring prowess, mentality, drive and character. His career with Iraq so far has seen its fair share of ups and downs. After finally earning a start, he was substituted after just two minutes when his team went down to 10 men. Al-Hamadi then spent a spell out injured and saw red in Graham Arnold’s first game. Having been in and out of the team because of injuries he made an emotional goalscoring return in Moterrey, heading in the opener in the playoff victory over Bolivia.

Ali Yousef

Date of birth: 19 January 1996

Club: Al-Talaba

Position: Forward

One of the few players to have represented all four of Baghdad’s big clubs, Yousef is currently with Al-Talaba, known as the “students’ club”. The 30-year-old battled back after knee surgery last year, earning a recall to the national side under Graham Arnold. He had suffered the injury just four days after coming on in the 2-1 World Cup qualifying defeat to Palestine in Amman, ending an encouraging run of international appearances. The striker had been one of the new players brought into the team after a disastrous start to its 2022 World Cup campaign. Began in the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya youth setup, and came into the first team at 18. Supporters nicknamed him “The Don” because of a slight resemblance to Cristiano Ronaldo, before he moved on to play for Al-Zawraa and Al-Shorta. A calm and composed forward, Yousef can operate as a central striker or on the flanks. 

This is a piece from Hassanin Mubarak as part of the Guardian Sports Network. You can visit his substack here.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle