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There may never have been a harder road to a World Cup. Iraq’s qualification journey spanned 28 months, 21 matches, four rounds, a playoff, and a 117th-minute penalty that separated them from going home empty-handed. Graham Arnold, the Australian coach who took charge in May 2025, steered a team through active war zones, diplomatic chaos, and a last-gasp intercontinental playoff to earn Iraq’s first World Cup berth since 1986.
That’s a 40-year gap. To put that in perspective, the last time Iraq played at a World Cup, Maradona was about to score the Hand of God.
A qualification story stranger than fiction
The details read like a screenplay that would get rejected for being too implausible. Arnold found himself stuck in Dubai at one point, watching a war unfold across the water while bombs rattled his surroundings. His players were trapped first in Baghdad, then in Jordan, with missiles in the vicinity. When the team finally scrambled on a 9,000-mile trip to Mexico for the decisive playoff, they were the very last country with a chance to qualify.
Iraq beat Bolivia 2-1 in the inter-confederation playoff on March 31, 2026, in Mexico. And even that couldn’t go smoothly.
The hero whose goal clinched qualification was held up by the FBI upon arrival in the US. The team photographer assigned to document the historic moment was turned back entirely. Arnold’s squad didn’t just earn their spot. They survived to claim it.
Arnold is no stranger to World Cup pressure. He previously led Australia to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a result that exceeded most expectations for the Socceroos.
Group I presents a mountainous challenge
Iraq landed in Group I alongside France, Norway, and Senegal. Their opening match is against Norway on June 16, 2026, in Boston.
The crypto angle: Kraken and the World Cup economy
The 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico, isn’t just a sporting event. Kraken has signed on as the official crypto exchange supporter of the tournament across all three host nations.
The 2022 Qatar tournament saw trading volumes spike for tokens tied to major football clubs, and the 2026 edition, with its expanded 48-team format and three-country hosting footprint, is expected to dwarf that engagement.
The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19, 2026, giving the market a five-week window where football and crypto audiences overlap at scale.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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