The Iraqi national team secured a place in the World Cup 2026 qualifying playoffs, defeating their Emirati guests 2-1 on Tuesday in the second leg of the Asian playoff. Emirati player Caio put the UAE ahead in the 52nd minute with a shot from inside the penalty area.
Iraq's Mohanad Ali Kadhim equalized in the 66th minute with a header.
Then, in the 17th minute of stoppage time, Amir Al-Ammari snatched the winning goal for the "Lions of Mesopotamia" from a penalty kick awarded by Japanese referee Yusuke Araki, who added 10 minutes of stoppage time after consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) at Basra International Stadium. The first leg between the two teams last Thursday at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, had ended in a 1-1 draw.
Iraq thus qualified, on aggregate, for the intercontinental play-off scheduled for March 2026, which will feature one team each from Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America, in addition to two teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF).
The Iraqi national team hopes to qualify for the World Cup finals for the second time in its history, having previously participated in the 1986 Mexico edition, while the UAE team appeared in Italy in 1990.
