Why Did Iraq Miss The World Cup 9 Consecutive Sessions

Iraq is trying, by all means, to restore its sports activity to reach again the participation in the World Cup after its absence for more than 30 years, especially that it has great sports experience, competencies, and generations of distinguished players, the most distinguished of which was the team crowned in the 2007 Asian Cup.

With the start of the 2022 World Cup, some of the Iraqi players who participated in the 1986 World Cup, the only time that the Lions of Mesopotamia reached the World Cup, are speaking, about the lost opportunities for the team despite all the efforts that have been made for more than 3 decades.

Shaker Mahmoud talks about skills and discipline

The former Iraqi World Cup player, Shaker Mahmoud, says that the Iraqi team in the eighties was distinguished and included 24 players at a close level, and they were distinguished by performance, morals, and high discipline.

Mahmoud believes that Iraq, after the experience of the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, was unsuccessful in 9 consecutive qualifiers, and attributed this to poor planning despite the succession of distinguished generations of players, the migration of competencies from coaches and administrators, and the decline of the local Premier League and its failure to produce talents for the teams. Also, he considered that the continuation of the situation in its current form will complicate the chances of returning to the World Cup, especially in the next two sessions, at least.

Shaker said that the Iraqi clubs need to develop at the administrative level, and pay attention to age groups. He added that addressing previous weaknesses will give a greater opportunity for the Iraqi team to register its presence in the global football wedding, especially with the high share of Asian teams in the tournament starting from the 2026 edition.

Karim Allawi criticizes the lack of planning and the lack of suitable stadiums

On the other hand, the midfielder in the Iraqi national team participating in the 1986 World Cup, Karim Muhammad Allawi, spoke about other reasons that prevented Iraq from registering new participation in the World Cup. These reasons include the absence of planning, changing coaches during the qualifiers the lack of stadiums, a reduction in the number of clubs in the local league,

 and the lack of interest in age groups in the clubs.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Allawi stresses the need to find stadiums for the national teams, and to take advantage of the international breaks to give the Iraqi team the opportunity to face strong teams.

Allawi pointed out that raising the level of the Iraqi team's chances in the coming years will pass through investing in talents and strengthening the team's ranks with professional players in European leagues. He said that part of the success of the Arab teams that reached the World Cup was thanks to their professional players in the major leagues.

Rahim Hamid laments the replacement of coaches

On the other hand, Rahim Hamid - who played as a striker in the 1986 World Cup and previously worked as an assistant coach for the Iraqi national team - believes that one of the most important reasons why Iraq did not reach the World Cup again is the replacement of coaches. He said that the decision to replace former coach Srichko Kattanets was hasty, for he is fully aware of the level of the players. 

But the use of another coach, the short preparation period, and the absence of professional players during preparation before the first matches in the qualifiers destabilized the players' self-confidence and exposed them to very high psychological pressure.

Hamid says to Al Jazeera Net that the Iraqi team's brilliance and success in the coming occasions require a good preparation period with a coach who has distinguished technical abilities, with the players freed 10 days before any match to give the coach the opportunity to know the level of the players physically and technically, and the players' knowledge of the coach's style.

Rahim also spoke about the need to relieve the media pressure on the national team and support it. He talked about Iraq's possession of a group of talented players, but they do not get enough time for training in light of the weak level of the local league.

The World Cup remains the dream of every player in the world. And the Iraqi players may succeed in achieving a better result in the upcoming qualifiers and overcoming all the difficulties that local football is going through, and perhaps repeating the achievement of the 1986 generation, which made an exception in the history of Iraqi football.

Baghdad - Iraq is trying by all means to restore its sports activity to reach again the participation in the World Cup after its absence for more than 30 years, especially since it has great sports experience and competencies and generations of distinguished players, the most distinguished of which was the team crowned in the 2007 Asian Cup.  With the start of the 2022 World Cup, some of the Iraqi players who participated in the 1986 World Cup, the only time that the Lions of Mesopotamia reached the World Cup, are speaking; About the lost opportunities for the team despite all the efforts that have been made for more than 3 decades?