Iraq national football team
The Iraq national football team has represented Iraq in international football competitions since 1948. The Iraqi Football Association was established in 1948 and has been a member of FIFA since 1950, the Asian Football Confederation since 1970, and the sub-regional confederation body Western Union Asia Football Association since 2001. Iraq has also been a member of the Arab Football Association since 1974. The Iraqi national team has taken the nickname of the Rafidain Lions.
Iraq is one of the most successful Arab national teams. Iraq participated five times in the Arab Cup (1964, 1966, 1985, 1988, 2012). He won four of them (1964, 1966, 1985 and 1988). At the Asian level, Iraq is one of the strongest Asian teams, having previously won the Asian Cup once (in 2007), and won the gold medal for the Asian Games (1982), and won three times the Gulf Cup (1979, 1984 and 1988), And the West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2002. Iraq participated for the first time in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. It also participated in the World Cup finals for the first time in its history in 1986. And five times for the Olympic Games, and fourth place in the 1976 Asian Cup - Iraq did not participate in the Cup Asia until 1996.
The AFC has awarded Iraq the AFC National Team Award three times (2003, 2007 and 2013), the only team from West Asia to win this award. World Soccer magazine also awarded Iraq the Best Team Award for 2007 with a rate of 22.2%.
Date
early years
Iraq national football team in 1951, this team played in the Turkish city of Izmir
The Iraqi national football team played its first official international match in 1957 in Lebanon, where it tied 3-3 with the Moroccan national football team. Iraq recorded its first international participation in 1957 in the second Arab sports tournament in Beirut... In 1964, Iraq managed to win its first foreign title after winning the second Arab Cup in Kuwait.... In 1972, Iraq achieved the title of championship for the first time. The military world in Baghdad... In 1975, the youth of Iraq were able to win the Asian Youth Championship in Kuwait, in the first Iraqi participation in it. Iraqi football reached its climax in the seventies and eighties, when it qualified
The first golden generation (1976–1990)
Gulf Cup
In its first participation in the Gulf Cup "the fourth session" in Qatar in 1976, Iraq was able to appear perfectly when it competed strongly for the championship title, by reaching a playoff meeting with Kuwait, the title holder, after the two teams tied on points, before losing by four goals to two. Three Iraqi titles on the podium, the Iraqis ascended for the first time during the fifth edition of the tournament, that was in Baghdad, which hosted the tournament after the UAE apologized for hosting, where Iraq won the tournament title by winning points in most of its meetings. Then he returned again to win the title in 1984 in the seventh edition of the championship in Oman, and then repeated the achievement in Saudi lands, specifically King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, by winning the title of the ninth session in 1988. Iraq has not been able to win the championship since the Saudi hosting of the session in 1988, thirty-two years From the absence of embracing gold, as the longest period of time separating a team from winning the Gulf title throughout the ancient history of the tournament, Iraq’s absence from the Gulf tournaments extended for six complete copies, from 1992 until 2003, before returning in the seventeenth Gulf tournament in Qatar.
1986 FIFA World Cup
Iraq faced in the preliminary qualifiers Qatar and Jordan. After that, Iraq topped the group with 6 points, and then qualified for the second round. Iraq faced the United Arab Emirates in the home and away matches. Iraq defeated the United Arab Emirates 3-2 in Dubai. Iraq lost with the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the return match. Iraq tied 4-4 and qualified for the final round thanks to the away goals base. In the last round, Iraq tied Syria 0-0 in Damascus. Iraq defeated Syria 3-1 in the return match in Taif. Iraq won 3-1 on aggregate, after which Iraq qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
In the first match of Group B in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Iraq played a good match against Paraguay, narrowly losing 1-0. He scored the first goal for Iraq in the World Cup finals in the second match, he scored the goal against Belgium 1-2, through the player Ahmed Radi. After a defeat with Belgium, Iraq was eliminated from the World Cup finals. Iraq played against Mexico in the third match.
Siege period (1990–1999)
After the second Gulf War, Iraq was banned from participating in the Asian Games and in most Arab competitions. In 1996, Iraq ranked 139th in the world, the worst FIFA ranking in the history of Iraqi football.
In 1990, Iraq competed in the qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup, but lost the crucial match against Qatar.
During the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, Iraq faced Japan in Doha in their last match of the final qualifiers on October 28, 1993. Iraq lost their chance to qualify after a 1-1 draw with the Saudi team in their penultimate match. However, he tied with Japan 2-2, which led to the exit of Japan and the nomination of the South Korean team, which joined the Saudi team. In qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, Iraq failed to reach the final round of qualifying after finishing second behind Kazakhstan.
Second Golden Generation (2000–2007)
Iraq's match against Australia in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup group stage
Iraq participated in the West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2002 and won the championship. Iraq failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup after losing crucial home matches against Saudi Arabia
Iraq national football team
The Iraq national football team has represented Iraq in international football competitions since 1948. The Iraqi Football Association was established in 1948 and has been a member of FIFA since 1950, the Asian Football Confederation since 1970, and the sub-regional confederation body Western Union Asia Football Association since 2001. Iraq has also been a member of the Arab Football Association since 1974. The Iraqi national team has taken the nickname of the Rafidain Lions.
Iraq is one of the most successful Arab national teams. Iraq participated five times in the Arab Cup (1964, 1966, 1985, 1988, 2012). He won four of them (1964, 1966, 1985 and 1988). At the Asian level, Iraq is one of the strongest Asian teams, having previously won the Asian Cup once (in 2007), and won the gold medal for the Asian Games (1982), and won three times the Gulf Cup (1979, 1984 and 1988), And the West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2002. Iraq participated for the first time in the 1974 World Cup qualifiers. It also participated in the World Cup finals for the first time in its history in 1986. And five times for the Olympic Games, and fourth place in the 1976 Asian Cup - Iraq did not participate in the Cup Asia until 1996.
The AFC has awarded Iraq the AFC National Team Award three times (2003, 2007 and 2013), the only team from West Asia to win this award. World Soccer magazine also awarded Iraq the Best Team Award for 2007 with a rate of 22.2%.
Date
early years
Iraq national football team in 1951, this team played in the Turkish city of Izmir
The Iraqi national football team played its first official international match in 1957 in Lebanon, where it tied 3-3 with the Moroccan national football team. Iraq recorded its first international participation in 1957 in the second Arab sports tournament in Beirut... In 1964, Iraq managed to win its first foreign title after winning the second Arab Cup in Kuwait.... In 1972, Iraq achieved the title of championship for the first time. The military world in Baghdad... In 1975, the youth of Iraq were able to win the Asian Youth Championship in Kuwait, in the first Iraqi participation in it. Iraqi football reached its climax in the seventies and eighties, when it qualified
The first golden generation (1976–1990)
Gulf Cup
In its first participation in the Gulf Cup "the fourth session" in Qatar in 1976, Iraq was able to appear perfectly when it competed strongly for the championship title, by reaching a playoff meeting with Kuwait, the title holder, after the two teams tied on points, before losing by four goals to two. Three Iraqi titles on the podium, the Iraqis ascended for the first time during the fifth edition of the tournament, that was in Baghdad, which hosted the tournament after the UAE apologized for hosting, where Iraq won the tournament title by winning points in most of its meetings. Then he returned again to win the title in 1984 in the seventh edition of the championship in Oman, and then repeated the achievement in Saudi lands, specifically King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, by winning the title of the ninth session in 1988. Iraq has not been able to win the championship since the Saudi hosting of the session in 1988, thirty-two years From the absence of embracing gold, as the longest period of time separating a team from winning the Gulf title throughout the ancient history of the tournament, Iraq’s absence from the Gulf tournaments extended for six complete copies, from 1992 until 2003, before returning in the seventeenth Gulf tournament in Qatar.
1986 FIFA World Cup
Iraq faced in the preliminary qualifiers Qatar and Jordan. After that, Iraq topped the group with 6 points, and then qualified for the second round. Iraq faced the United Arab Emirates in the home and away matches. Iraq defeated the United Arab Emirates 3-2 in Dubai. Iraq lost with the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the return match. Iraq tied 4-4 and qualified for the final round thanks to the away goals base. In the last round, Iraq tied Syria 0-0 in Damascus. Iraq defeated Syria 3-1 in the return match in Taif. Iraq won 3-1 on aggregate, after which Iraq qualified for the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
In the first match of Group B in the 1986 FIFA World Cup, Iraq played a good match against Paraguay, narrowly losing 1-0. He scored the first goal for Iraq in the World Cup finals in the second match, he scored the goal against Belgium 1-2, through the player Ahmed Radi. After a defeat with Belgium, Iraq was eliminated from the World Cup finals. Iraq played against Mexico in the third match.
Siege period (1990–1999)
After the second Gulf War, Iraq was banned from participating in the Asian Games and in most Arab competitions. In 1996, Iraq ranked 139th in the world, the worst FIFA ranking in the history of Iraqi football.
In 1990, Iraq competed in the qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup, but lost the crucial match against Qatar.
During the 1994 World Cup qualifiers, Iraq faced Japan in Doha in their last match of the final qualifiers on October 28, 1993. Iraq lost their chance to qualify after a 1-1 draw with the Saudi team in their penultimate match. However, he tied with Japan 2-2, which led to the exit of Japan and the nomination of the South Korean team, which joined the Saudi team. In qualifying for the 1998 World Cup, Iraq failed to reach the final round of qualifying after finishing second behind Kazakhstan.
Second Golden Generation (2000–2007)
Iraq's match against Australia in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup group stage
Iraq participated in the West Asian Football Federation Championship in 2002 and won the championship. Iraq failed to qualify for the 2002 FIFA World Cup after losing crucial home matches against Saudi Arabia
Information about the UAE national team
United Arab Emirates national football team
The UAE national football team is the team that represents the United Arab Emirates in football, since it played its first match on March 17, 1972 against Qatar and won 1–0. It is a member of the FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, and is supervised by the UAE Football Association, which was established in 1971.
The UAE participated once in the World Cup in the 1990 edition in Italy and lost all three matches. The UAE ranked fourth in the 1992 Asian Cup. It also achieved second place in 1996 when it hosted the tournament. The UAE won the Arabian Gulf Cup title in 2007 and 2013.
Date
The first match was held on March 17, 1972 against Qatar at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium and won the only goal scored by Ahmed Al-Shoubi. After that, the team faced three other Arab countries, losing to Saudi Arabia 4–0 and Kuwait 7–0 respectively and beat Bahrain 3–0. After participating in four editions of the Arabian Gulf Cup since 1972, the UAE hosted the 1982 edition. Once again, it ranked third, as happened in the previous two tournaments. In 1980, the United Arab Emirates qualified for the first time to the AFC Asian Cup, which was held in Kuwait. The Emirates lost three matches, drew one, and ranked fifth in the group and ninth out of ten teams overall. The team qualified for the next two tournaments, 1984 in Singapore and 1988 in Qatar, and was eliminated again from the group stage in both tournaments. The UAE's first win in the tournament was against India on December 7, 1984, under coach Heshmat Mohajrani.
In 1984, Mohajerani resigned and was replaced by Carlos Alberto Pereira. Pereira led the team in the 1988 AFC Asian Cup and left his post after the tournament. He was succeeded by Mario Zagallo. Mario Zagallo led the team to qualification for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. However, Zagallo resigned before the tournament and Pereira returned. The team finished fourth in its group without any points, scoring two goals and conceding 11 goals. Pereira was also sacked after the tournament. In the 1992 and 1996 AFC Asian Cup editions, the UAE ranked fourth and second in a row and qualified for the 1997 Confederations Cup after securing a place because Saudi Arabia was the 1996 AFC Asian Cup holder. The UAE missed the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon and finished last in the Gulf Cup Al Arabi 2002. Eliminated in the next three AFC Asian Cups from the group stage. In the 2004 and 2007 editions, the UAE was pushed out by newcomers Jordan and Vietnam. At this time, the coaches who managed the national team included Carlos Queiroz, Roy Hodgson and Dick Advocaat. In 2006, the Emirates appointed Bruno Metsu as the new coach, who led the Emirates to win the 2007 Arabian Gulf Cup. In the 2011 Asian Cup, the UAE ended the tournament without scoring goals. In 2012, the coach of the Olympic team, Mehdi Ali, was appointed as the coach of the first team. Ali started creating a team by inviting players he worked with at youth levels. He led the UAE to win the 2013 Gulf Cup. In the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, the UAE defeated Qatar 4-1 and Bahrain 2-1 and lost to Iran 0-1. As the group runner-up, the UAE team faced defending champion Japan in the quarter-finals and won on penalties after a 1-1 draw to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals, he lost 2–0 to hosts Australia. In the match for third place, they beat Iraq 3–2. In the second stage of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, it ranked fourth in Group Two and thus failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Ahmed Khalil was the top scorer in the qualifiers with 16 goals. It was around this time that Mehdi Ali resigned from his position.
The UAE hosted the 2019 Asian Cup, and this is the second time it has hosted the tournament. Alberto Zaccheroni was the coach of the national team. In the tournament, the UAE advanced to the quarter-finals as it scored its first goal against Australia to achieve its first-ever victory against this opponent. The semi-final match between the Emirates and Qatar, which was dubbed the “Sieger Derby” was somewhat exciting due to the continuing diplomatic crisis with Qatar and the deterioration of Emirati-Qatari relations. Some Emirati fans threw shoes on the field after Qatar scored its second goal. The UAE lost 0-4, marking the first defeat against Qatar since 2001. The UAE joined the second round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers and signed with all competitors from Southeast Asia. The team had already appointed Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk. Bert was sacked after losing twice away to Thailand and Vietnam in the qualifiers and after being eliminated from the group stage in the Arab Gulf Cup 2019. After that, the UAE decided to naturalize Argentine Sebastian Tigali, Brazilians Caio Canedo Correa and Fabio Virginio de Lima. The team then experienced a period of training instability with three different coaches, before van Marwijk resumed his duties due to a selection crisis. With the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic, the Asian Football Confederation decided that the remaining matches of the second round would be played in one country and the UAE was able to take advantage of the advantage as a host country and eventually turned a period of instability into four consecutive victories to enter the third round, where they faced Iran and South Korea .
The most prominent opponents
Diameter
As of 2020, Qatar and the UAE have played 31 official matches, most of which were played competitively in the Arabian Gulf Cup, beginning with the UAE's 1–0 victory over Qatar. They only played two friendlies and the last one was in 2011 and ended with an Emirati victory. In the 2019 Asian Cup, hosted by the UAE, Qatar swept the UAE for the first time since 2001 with a 4–0 score, with high tensions and violence occurring between two Emirati fans chanting anti-Qatar slogans due to the continuing diplomatic crisis with Qatar and the deterioration of Emirati-Qatari relations.
Saudi Arabia
Another major competitor for the Emirates, where the two teams met the Arab Gulf Cup several times, as they met in the Asian Cup twice, the first in the semi-finals of the 1992 version, which ended with the victory of the Saudi team, and the second in the final of the 1996 version hosted by the Emirates, the match ended in a goalless draw, so the match turned to kicks The match ended with Saudi Arabia winning its third title and the score was 4-2, and this was the only time that the UAE qualified for the final match of the Asian Cup.
nickname
The UAE national team is known by its fans and the media as Al-Abyad, meaning the white, which refers to their white shirt, and also Eyal Zayed, which means the sons of Zayed in relation to the former President of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In October 2012, the official website of the Asian Football Confederation published an article about the UAE team’s campaign to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, where the team was nicknamed with offensive words, and this was due to the sabotage of the team’s article in the English Wikipedia and the AFC had to apologize.
Kits
basic kit
1990
1992–1994
1994–1995
1996
2002–2004
2011–2013
2015–2018
2019–now
spare kit
1990
1992–1994
1994–1995
1996
2002–2004
2011–2013
2015–2018
2019–now
Kit Suppliers
period company
United Kingdom Umbro 1979–1985
United Kingdom Admiral 1986–1989
Germany Adidas 1990–1994
Germany Puma 1995–1996
Spain Kelme 1997–1999
Germany adidas 2000–2001
UK Umbro 2002–2005
Germany Adidas 2006–2008
Italy Aria 2009–2013
Germany adidas 2014–
International Posts Record
world Cup
FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Record FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Record
The version, the round, the center, the play, the win, the justice, the loss of it, the play, the justice, the loss of it, the loss of it
Uruguay 1930 Part of the United Kingdom Part of the United Kingdom
Italy 1934
France 1938
Brazil 1950
Switzerland 1954
Sweden 1958
Chile 1962
England 1966
Mexico 1970
West Germany 1974
Argentina 1978 Did not participate Did not participate
Spain 1982
Mexico 1986 did not qualify 4 2 1 1 5 4
Italy 1990 Group Stage 24 3 0 0 3 2 11 9 4 4 1 16 7
USA 1994 did not qualify 8 6 1 1 19 4
France 1998 12 5 4 3 16 13
South Korea Japan 2002 14 7 2 5 31 20
Germany 2006 6 3 1 2 6 6
South Africa 2010 16 4 3 9 19 24
Brazil 2014 8 2 1 5 14 16
Russia 2018 18 9 3 6 37 17
Qatar 2022 to be determined later 12 6 3 3 26 11
Canada Mexico United States 2026 to be determined
Total Group Stage 24 3 0 0 3 2 11 104 48 20 37 186 118
Asia Cup
AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Record AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers Record
The version, the round, the center, the play, the win, the justice, the loss of it, the play, the justice, the loss of it, the loss of it
British Hong Kong 1956 Part of the United Kingdom Part of the United Kingdom
South Korea 1960
Israel 1964
Iran 1968
Thailand 1972
Iran 1976 Did not participate Did not participate
Kuwait 1980 Group Stage 9 4 0 1 3 3 9 3 1 2 0 2 0
Singapore 1984 Group Stage 6 4 2 0 2 3 8 4 3 0 1 24 2
Qatar 1988 Group Stage 8 4 1 0 3 2 4 5 4 1 0 12 1
Japan 1992 4th 4 5 1 3 1 3 4 2 2 0 0 6 3
United Arab Emirates 1996 Runner-up 2 6 4 2 0 8 3 Qualified as host
Lebanon 2000 did not qualify 4 3 0 1 12 2
China 2004 Group Stage 15 3 0 1 2 1 5 6 4 1 1 13 5
IndonesiaMalaysiaThailandVietnam 2007 Group Stage 12 3 1 0 2 3 6 6 4 1 1 11 6
Qatar 2011 Group Stage 13 3 0 1 2 0 4 4 3 0 1 7 1
Australia 2015 3rd 3 6 3 1 2 10 8 6 5 1 0 18 3
United Arab Emirates 2019 Semi Final 4 6 3 2 1 8 8 Qualified as host
China 2023 Qualify 8 6 0 2 23 7
Total Runners-up 2 44 15 11 18 41 59 48 35 6 7 128 30
Confederations Cup
Record entries in the Confederations Cup
The version round the center play beat fair lost him it
Saudi Arabia 1992 did not qualify
Saudi Arabia 1995
Saudi Arabia 1997 Group Stage 6 3 1 0 2 2 8
Mexico 1999 did not qualify
South Korea Japan 2001
France 2003
Germany 2005
South Africa 2009
Brazil 2013
Russia 2017
Total Group Stage 6 3 1 0 2 2 8
Asian Games
Record entries in the Asian Games
Round version play won fair lost him it
1974–1982 Did not participate
South Korea 1986 Quarter-finals 5 3 2 0 7 4
China 1990 did not participate
Japan 1994 Quarter-final 4 1 2 1 6 5
Thailand 1998 Group Stage 4 1 1 2 5 10
Total Quarter-finals 13 5 5 3 18 19
Arabian Gulf Cup
Record posts in the Arab Gulf Cup
Round version play won fair lost him it
Saudi Arabia 1972 3rd 3 1 0 2 1 11
Kuwait 1974 4th 4 1 1 2 5 9
Qatar 1976 Group Stage 6 0 2 4 4 13
Iraq 1979 Group Stage 6 1 0 5 5 18
United Arab Emirates 1982 3rd 5 3 0 2 7 6
Sultanate of Oman 1984 Fourth 6 2 3 1 5 4
Bahrain 1986 Runner-up 6 3 2 1 10 7
Saudi Arabia 1988 Runner-up 6 3 2 1 7 4
Kuwait 1990 Group Stage 4 0 2 2 2 8
Qatar 1992 4th 5 3 0 2 4 3
United Arab Emirates 1994 Runners-up 5 3 2 0 7 1
Sultanate of Oman 1996 Fourth 5 1 3 1 5 5
Bahrain 1998 3rd 5 2 1 2 5 7
Saudi Arabia 2002 Group Stage 5 1 0 4 3 7
Kuwait 2003 Group Stage 6 2 1