The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.
Iraq ended a 40-year drought in March by qualifying for the World Cup. A 2-1 win over Bolivia during the inter-confederation playoffs secured the Lions of Mesopotamia’s place in the 48-team field this summer.
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Iraq will take on Norway, France and Senegal in Group I in hopes of making their second-ever World Cup appearance more memorable than the first at Mexico 1986. The players will also look to join Ahmed Radhi in a special club.
Iraq’s time at the 1986 World Cup was short. It lost all three group games, two by shutout, and scored a single goal. That goal came from Radhi during a 2-1 defeat to Belgium and it remains the only one the country has scored in the tournament.
It was fitting that it was Radhi scoring the goal. He found the back of the net 62 times in 121 national team appearances during his career. Of those 62 goals, eight came during World Cup qualifying for 1986.
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Radhi would later help Iraq win a pair of Arab Cups and be named 1988 Asian player of the year.
Despite a lack of World Cup appearances, Iraq has had success in its region. It won the AFC Asian Cup in 2007 and reached the Round of 16 the last two times the competition was held; made the quarterfinals at the 2025 Arab Cup; and won the Arabian Gulf Cup in 2023 after back-to-back semifinals appearances.
Iraq faces a tough group, but has gone undefeated over its past six matches and will have a roster with more players employed across Europe than in 1986. If they can’t earn a win, will Radhi have company in the goal-scorers club?
