Shafaq News- West Virginia
Iraq’s national team will leave West Virginia for Boston on Sunday evening by private plane, entering the final stage before their first World Cup match in 40 years.
The Lions of Mesopotamia face Norway at 1:00 AM Baghdad time on Wednesday in their Group I opener, with head coach Graham Arnold still weighing his starting lineup. The match will be played at Boston Stadium, FIFA’s tournament name for Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Ali Riah, the Iraqi national team’s media envoy, told Shafaq News that early indications point to Arnold choosing his team based on full technical, physical, and mental readiness. The approach keeps competition open inside the squad, with the best-prepared players closest to earning a place against Norway.
Arnold used Iraq’s preparation camp and three friendly matches to test a wide group of players before settling on the shape of his team for opponents with deeper World Cup experience.
The warm-up run brought mixed results: a draw with Spain, a win over Andorra, and a 2-0 defeat to Venezuela in Illinois, where Iraq played the final 18 minutes with 10 men after Ali Youssef was sent off. Those matches did not answer every question, but they gave Arnold a clearer view of who can handle the speed, pressure, and physical demands of the opener.
The Australian coach is expected to hold his first press conference of the tournament on Monday, when he will discuss Iraq’s preparations, ambitions, and the lessons from the friendlies.
For Iraq, the opener is more than a first fixture. It marks the country’s return to the World Cup for the first time since Mexico 1986, when Iraq made their only previous appearance. The modern squad carries a different profile, led by Aymen Hussein in attack and supported by players such as Ali Al-Hamadi, Ali Jasim, Youssef Amyn, Zidane Iqbal, and Aimar Sher, and Arnold’s task is to turn that mix of local players, overseas-based talent, and diaspora footballers into one balanced team before kickoff in Boston.
Still, Norway bring a severe first test. They are back at the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and arrive with Erling Haaland as their main scoring threat and captain Martin Odegaard as their creative lead. The Landslaget also held Morocco, FIFA’s 7th-ranking national team, to a 1-1 draw in their warm-up match, with Odegaard scoring the equalizer.
A positive result for Iraq would carry real weight, since, under the expanded format, the top two teams from each group advance automatically, along with the eight best third-placed teams, making every point potentially decisive.