Iraq's internal controversy before match against Vietnam team

Coach Jesus Casas has just announced the list of 25 Iraqi players preparing for the two matches between Vietnam and Indonesia in Group F of the second qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. However, this list has created quite a bit of controversy.

The absence of Mohanad Abdul Rahim (No. 8) created a lot of controversy within Iraqi football (Photo: Getty).

Notably absent was conductor Mohanad Abdul Rahim, a mainstay of the Iraqi team in recent years. Even since working with the Iraqi team, coach Jesus Casas has almost completely ignored Mohanad Abdul Rahim.

Faced with that situation, former coach of the Iraq U23 team, Hassan Kamal, criticized coach Jesus Casas. Mr. Kamal shared: "This list includes players who do not deserve to be there. There are many players who have been given many opportunities in the Iraqi team but they have not made any mark.

I don’t understand why these names are still trusted. That is not good for the Iraqi team. Coach Jesus Casas has called up some unqualified players to represent the national team.

I don't understand why he keeps ignoring Muhannad Abdel Rahim. He is of a level far above many players in the Iraqi team."

In fact, the Iraqi press is also worried about the home team in the two matches against the Vietnamese team when many key players are absent. Win Win newspaper admitted that the absence of 5 players Zidane Iqbal, Ahmed Farhan, Hammoud Mashaan, Mohamed Hameed, Andre Alsanati greatly affects the strength of the Iraqi team.

Iraq was missing many key players in the match against the Vietnamese team, typically Zidane Iqbal (Photo: Getty).

On the FIFA rankings, the Iraqi team is ranked 68th and has the highest ranking in group F. The Vietnamese team is ranked 94th in the world , while the Philippines is ranked 138th and Indonesia is ranked 145th.

According to the schedule, the Vietnamese team will face Iraq at 7:00 p.m. on November 21 at My Dinh Stadium. Five days before that, Coach Troussier's team will travel to the Philippines' stadium.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/noi-bo-iraq-tranh-cai-lon-truoc-tran-dau-gap-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-20231114181916836.htm