Iraq

Iraq last walked onto a World Cup pitch in 1986 in Mexico — a single group-stage appearance that ended without a point, in a country torn apart by the Iran-Iraq War. The players carried an entire nation's grief into those games, and the Lions of Mesopotamia have been chasing that stage again ever since. Forty years is a long time to wait, and 2026 marks their extraordinary return.

But if you want to understand what Iraq football truly means, you need to go back to 2007. While the country was consumed by sectarian violence and daily bombings, the national team somehow won the Asian Cup — beating South Korea, Australia and Saudi Arabia along the way — playing their home matches in neutral venues because Baghdad was too dangerous. When the trophy was lifted, Iraqis poured into the streets in tears. It remains one of the most quietly devastating and uplifting stories in the history of the sport.

Now, ranked 55th in the world and led by a genuinely exciting generation of players, Iraq arrive in 2026 not just as sentimental favourites but as a team with real teeth. Zidane Iqbal — a Manchester United academy product who chose Iraq over England — gives them European pedigree in midfield, while Aymen Hussein provides the kind of muscular, clever centre-forward play that can trouble anyone on a good day. After four decades in the wilderness, the Lions are hungry.