The Iraq national football team represents Iraq in international football. The team is known by its fans as Asood Al-Rafidain, which means Lions of Mesopotamia, and is controlled by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) as well as the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF).
Indonesia national under-19 football team represents Indonesia in international football competitions such as AFC U-19 Championship, AFF U-19 Youth Championship, and any other under-19 international football tournaments. It is controlled by the Football Association of Indonesia. The team itself has won the 2013 AFF U-19 Youth Championship and 1961 AFC Youth Championship. The team just once entered the FIFA U-20 World Cup, in 1979, replacing Iraq.
Al-Mina'a Sport Club is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. They are one of the most popular clubs in Iraq, particularly in the south, and were the first club from outside Baghdad to win the Iraqi Premier League.
Al-Shorta Sports Club is an Iraqi sports club based in Rusafa District, East Districts of the Tigris River, Baghdad. It has teams in more sports than any other Iraqi club including football, basketball, handball, futsal, volleyball, beach volleyball, archery, athletics, bodybuilding, boxing, chess, judo, show jumping, swimming, taekwondo, water polo, weightlifting and wrestling. The oldest and best known section of the club is the football team.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, officially as the Islamic State (IS) and by its Arabic language acronym Daesh, is a Salafi jihadist militant group and former unrecognised proto-state that follows a fundamentalist, Salafi doctrine of Sunni Islam. ISIL gained global prominence in early 2014 when it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in its Western Iraq offensive, followed by its capture of Mosul and the Sinjar massacre.
Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Eraghi is a volleyball player from Iran, who plays as a middle blocker for the Men's National Team and Sarmayeh Bank Tehran Club. He participated in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Radhi Shenaishil Swadi is a former Iraqi footballer and former coach of the Iraq national football team, and a football manager who last managed Naft Al-Wasat.
The Iraq national futsal team represents Iraq in international futsal competitions and is controlled by the Futsal Commission of the Iraq Football Association. It is one of the rising teams in Asia. As of November 2017, Iraq is ranked 50th in the Futsal World Rankings. Iraq has played in eleven AFC Futsal Championships. Its best result was fourth place in 2018. Iraq has also played at three WAFF Futsal Championships where in 2007, they finished third. In 2009, they won the tournament to gain their first ever title on any international stage. In 2012, much like in 2007, they once again finished in third place. Iraq also played at the 2005 and 2008 Arab Futsal Championships, but didn't manage to make it out of the group stage both times.
Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Karrar, is an Iraqi footballer who plays for Al-Zawraa and the Iraq national team. An Olympian, Mohannad is the 2012 Asian Young Footballer of the Year, and the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship's MVP.
Ali Adnan Kadhim Al-Tameemi, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a wing back for the Canadian MLS club Vancouver Whitecaps FC, on loan from Udinese and for the Iraqi national team. Adnan has played at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he was one of Iraq's star players as the underdogs went on a run to the semi-final. Adnan is the 2013 Asian Young Footballer of the Year.
Dhurgham Ismail Dawoud Al-Quraishi, known as Dhurgham Ismail, is an Iraqi professional footballer who plays as a left back or left winger for Iraqi Premier League club Al Shorta and for the Iraq national team.
The Iraqi Civil War was an armed conflict which began in January 2014 and ended in December 2017. In 2014, the Iraqi insurgency escalated into a civil war with the conquest of Ramadi,Fallujah, Mosul, Tikrit and in the major areas of northern Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens. This resulted in the forced resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, as well as a massive airstrike campaign by the United States and at least a dozen other countries, participation of American and Canadian troops in ground combat operations, a $3.5 billion U.S.-led program to rearm the Iraqi Security Forces, a U.S.-led training program that provided training to nearly 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, the participation of Iranian troops including armored and air elements, and military and logistical aid provided to Iraq by Russia. On 9 December 2017, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced victory over ISIL, though others warned that they expected ISIL to fight on via an insurgency, and by other means. ISIL switched to guerrilla 'hit and run' tactics in an effort to undermine the Iraqi government's effort to eradicate them.
The 23rd Arabian Gulf Cup was the 23rd edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. It took place in Kuwait from 22 December 2017 until 5 January 2018. Oman won their second title, defeating the United Arab Emirates in the final on penalties following a goalless draw.
Abdul-Ghani Shahad is an Iraqi professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Iraq U23. Abdul-Ghani started his playing career at Al-Najaf FC and remained a one club man throughout his career. Upon his retirement in 1999, he went in coaching and managed his hometown club Al-Najaf for 7 years, achieving a second place finish. He moved around and managed a number of Iraqi sides, before winning his first Iraqi Premier League title with Naft Al-Wasat. Abdul-Ghani went on to be appointed as manager of the Iraqi U23 national team, where he guided the team towards Olympic qualification and a third place finish in the AFC U-22 Championship
Iraq competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since its debut in 1948.
The 2017 Arab Club Championship, also known as the 2017 UAFA Club Championship, was the 27th season of the Arab World's inter-club football tournament organised by UAFA, and the first season since it was renamed from the UAFA Club Cup to the Arab Club Championship. The competition was won by Tunisian club Espérance de Tunis, who defeated Jordanian side Al-Faisaly 3–2 after extra time in the final to secure a joint-record third title.
Alaa Ali Mhawi known as Alaa Mhawi, is a professional footballer who plays for Al-Shorta in Iraqi Premier League and the Iraqi national team as a right back.
