Iraq at the FIFA World Cup

Iraq have appeared once in the FIFA World Cup which was in 1986. They ended up last place in their group with zero points, scoring only one goal. ^[1]

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup finals record											FIFA World Cup qualification record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Squad		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
1930 to 1950	Not a FIFA member										Not a FIFA member
1954 to 1970	Did not enter										Did not enter
1974	Did not qualify										6	3	2	1	11	6
1978	Withdrew										Withdrew
1982	Did not qualify										4	3	0	1	5	2
1986	Group stage	23rd	3	0	0	3	1	4	Squad		8	5	1	2	14	11
1990	Did not qualify										6	3	2	1	11	5
1994											13	7	4	2	37	13
1998											4	2	0	2	14	8
2002											14	6	3	5	37	15
2006											6	3	2	1	17	7
2010											8	3	2	3	11	6
2014											16	7	3	6	20	12
2018											16	6	5	5	24	18
2022											18	6	8	4	20	16
2026	To be determined										To be determined
2030
2034
Total	Best: Group stage	1/18	3	0	0	3	1	4	—		119	54	32	33	219	119

Iraq at Mexico 1986

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Mexico	3	2	1	0	4	2	+2	5
Paraguay	3	1	2	0	4	3	+1	4
Belgium	3	1	1	1	5	5	0	3
Iraq	3	0	0	3	1	4	−3	0

Paraguay vs Iraq

This match caused controversy as the referee Edwin Picon-Ackong blew the whistle for half time a few seconds before Iraq striker Ahmed Radhi headed the ball into the goal, meaning that it did not count. ^[2]

4 June 1986

12:00 CST

Paraguay	1–0	Iraq
Romero 35'	Report

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 24,000

Referee: Edwin Picon-Ackong (Mauritius)

PARAGUAY: GK 1 Roberto Fernández DF 2 Juan Torales DF 3 César Zabala DF 4 Vladimiro Schettina  45' DF 5 Rogelio Delgado (c) MF 6 Jorge Amado Nunes MF 10 Adolfino Cañete MF 8 Julio César Romero FW 7 Buenaventura Ferreira FW 11 Alfredo Mendoza  88' FW 9 Roberto Cabañas Substitutions: MF 16 Jorge Guasch  88' Manager: Cayetano Ré

IRAQ: GK 1 Raad Hammoudi (c) DF 3 Khalil Allawi DF 4 Nadhim Shaker DF 5 Samir Shaker  29' DF 15 Natiq Hashim DF 22 Ghanim Oraibi MF 6 Ali Hussein Shihab MF 7 Haris Mohammed  67' MF 14 Basil Gorgis  81' FW 10 Hussein Saeed FW 8 Ahmed Radhi Substitutions: FW 11 Rahim Hameed  67' MF 19 Basim Qasim  81' Manager: Evaristo de Macedo

Iraq vs Belgium

In the 16th minute of the match Belgium took the lead when Enzo Scifo scored with a low shot to the left corner of the net from the right from just inside the penalty area. It was 2-0 in the 21st minute when Nico Claesen scored a penalty low to the left corner of the net. Iraq pulled a goal back in the 59th minute when Ahmed Radhi scored a low shot to the left corner of the net from the right but Belgium went on to win 2-1.

8 June 1986

12:00 CST

Iraq	1–2	Belgium
Radhi 59'	Report	Scifo 16' Claesen 21' (pen.)

Estadio Nemesio Díez, Toluca

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Jesús Díaz (Colombia)

IRAQ: GK 1 Raad Hammoudi (c)  20' DF 3 Khalil Allawi DF 4 Nadhim Shaker  29' DF 5 Samir Shaker  48' DF 15 Natiq Hashim  65' DF 22 Ghanim Oraibi MF 6 Ali Hussein Shihab MF 7 Haris Mohammed  42' MF 14 Basil Gorgis  52' FW 9 Karim Saddam  81' FW 8 Ahmed Radhi Substitutions: FW 11 Rahim Hameed  81' Manager: Evaristo de Macedo

BELGIUM: GK 1 Jean-Marie Pfaff DF 2 Eric Gerets DF 3 Franky Van Der Elst DF 4 Michel De Wolf MF 21 Stéphane Demol  69' MF 6 Franky Vercauteren MF 7 René Vandereycken MF 10 Philippe Desmet MF 8 Enzo Scifo  67' MF 11 Jan Ceulemans (c) FW 16 Nico Claesen  16' Substitutions: DF 14 Lei Clijsters  67' DF 13 Georges Grün  69' Manager: Guy Thys

Iraq vs Mexico

Fernando Quirarte scored the only goal of the game with a shot from a very tight angle on the right that beat the goalkeeper at his near post.

11 June 1986

12:00 CST

Iraq	0–1	Mexico
	Report	Quirarte 54'

Estadio Azteca, Mexico City

Attendance: 103,763

Referee: Zoran Petrović (Yugoslavia)

IRAQ: GK 20 Fatah Nasif DF 2 Maad Ibrahim DF 3 Khalil Allawi (c)  73' DF 4 Nadhim Shaker DF 15 Natiq Hashim  60' DF 22 Ghanim Oraibi MF 6 Ali Hussein Shihab MF 17 Anad Abid  70' MF 19 Basim Qasim FW 9 Karim Saddam  30' FW 8 Ahmed Radhi Substitutions: FW 11 Rahim Hameed  60' MF 16 Shaker Mahmoud  70' Manager: Evaristo de Macedo

MEXICO: GK 1 Pablo Larios DF 18 Rafael Amador  62' DF 3 Fernando Quirarte DF 14 Félix Cruz DF 17 Raúl Servín MF 6 Carlos de los Cobos  79' MF 7 Miguel España MF 10 Tomás Boy (c) MF 13 Javier Aguirre FW 22 Manuel Negrete FW 15 Luis Flores Substitutions: MF 8 Alejandro Domínguez  62' FW 5 Francisco Javier Cruz  79' Manager: Bora Milutinović

Record players

There are seven players who have been fielded on all three occasions. Five of them played every single minute, while Rahim Hameed came on as a substitute every single time, replacing fellow record holder Hashim in the last match.

Rank	Player	Matches
1	Khalil Allawi	3
	Rahim Hameed	3
	Natiq Hashim	3
	Ghanim Oraibi	3
	Ahmed Radhi	3
	Nadhim Shaker	3
	Ali Hussein Shihab	3

Top goalscorers

The only Iraqi goal at the FIFA World Cup was scored by Ahmed Radhi in their match against Belgium. ^{[3] [4]}

See also

• Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup
• Iraq at the AFC Asian Cup

References

1. "Iraqi football legend Radhi dies from COVID-19". Arab News. June 21, 2020.
2. LinguaSport - 1986 World Cup ^{[ usurped ]}
3. "Asian Icons: Ahmed Radhi (Iraq)". the-AFC.
4. "Iraqi football legend Ahmad Radhi dies after battling COVID-19". www.aljazeera.com.

External links

• Iraqi Football Website ^{[ usurped ]}
• Iraq at the 1986 World Cup ^{[ usurped ]}
• History of Iraq National Team ^{[ usurped ]}