Iraq have ended a 40-year wait for an appearance at the FIFA World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the second final of the intercontinental playoffs in Mexico, making them the 48th team to qualify for the tournament.
Goals from Ali al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein helped the Lions of Mesopotamia edge past the South American nation at the Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe on Tuesday.
Al-Hamadi’s opener in the 10th minute gave Iraq the perfect start, but Moises Paniagua drew the Greens level 28 minutes later in a closely-contested match in one of the cohost nations of the World Cup.
The deadlock was broken shortly after the half-time break when Hussein scored the match-winning goal from close range as he slotted in Marko Farji’s cross in the 53rd minute.
Iraq’s appearance at the qualifying tournament was in doubt as the players were affected by the travel chaos resulting from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Weeks before their appearance in the playoff final, Iraq’s coach Graham Arnold pleaded with the organisers to delay their match to allow the squad to assemble and train for the all-important fixture.
The players and coaching staff arrived in Mexico just a week before the match on a charter flight and began preparations in the host city.
“I must congratulate the players who played with real Iraqi mentality, fighting and putting their bodies on the line and that’s why we won the game,” a delighted Arnold said after Iraq’s win.
“I am so happy that we’ve made 46 million people happy, and especially with what’s going on in the Middle East at the moment,” he added.
Arnold heaped praise on the South American opponents, who were looking to enter the World Cup for the first time since 1994.
“You’ve got to give full credit to Bolivia, because they played well. And it was just through the great defending from our players, who put their bodies on the line, as I said, and we defended the crosses really well. That’s why we won the game.”
Iraq will be placed in one of the toughest groups at the World Cup. Their opponents in Group I will be France, Norway and Senegal.
The Middle East team will face Norway in their opening game on June 16 in Boston. Their second fixture will be against 2018 champions France on June 22 in Philadelphia, and their final group game, against Senegal, will take place four days later in Toronto, Canada.
Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were the two seeded teams at the playoff tournament and directly qualified for the finals.
Both lived up to their reputations by winning the matches that decided the final two participants of the 48-team tournament to be cohosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19.
DRC defeated Jamaica 1-0 in the earlier fixture.
Bolivia first had to get past Suriname in Monterrey on Thursday, while Jamaica overcame New Caledonia.
Iraq’s only previous World Cup appearance was in Mexico in 1986, where they lost all three group games.
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