9/5/2025–|Last update: 15:27 (Mecca time)
A prominent member of the Iraqi Football Association said that the former coach of Australia Graham Arnold will take over the national team before the South Korea and Jordan matches in the World Cup qualifiers next month.
Ahmed Al -Mousawi, who was responsible for negotiating the contract of former coach Jesus Casas, told the Iraqi News Agency that all contracts of contract were almost decided.
“All the details of the contract were seen almost final, and only the coach and the official advertisement are left.”
He continued, “Arnold will accompany him with an integrated technical device consisting of 7 coaches, including a world -class assistant who had previously worked with one of the English Premier League clubs.”
Arnold will be the first Australian to lead Iraq and the 28th foreign coach since the formation of the first team 82 years ago.
Arnold led Australia to reach the price of the 2022 World Cup final before losing an equal match against Argentina, which went forward to win the title. But he resigned last September after a bad start for the third stage of the 2026 qualifiers.
Arnold coached Australia between 2018 and 2024 and before that was the coach of the Central Cost Marines and Sydney FC.
Arnold, 61, will replace the Spaniard Casas, who was dismissed last March after the 2-1 loss to Palestine in Jordan.
And that defeat left Iraq in third place with its group, one point behind the second -place team, Jordan.
The first two teams of the three Asian groups qualify in the third stage of the qualifiers directly to the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, while countries that occupy the third and fourth places move to the fourth round of the qualifiers next October.
The Iraq team will host its South Korean counterpart, the leader of the group in Basra, on June 5, and will meet Jordan in Amman after another 5 days.
Al -Mousawi said, “The coach will meet the players in a very short period, as the Iraqi Federation will give the full opportunity to establish a training camp in Basra Governorate in preparation for the South Korean team, followed by another match against Jordan.”
Iraq appeared in the World Cup finals only once in Mexico 1986, lost all its three matches and left the group stage.
