Iraq Iraq U-23
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Asiad Asia
Lions of Babylon
AssociationIFA
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationWAFF (West Asia)
Head coachRadhi Shenaishil
CaptainMuntadher Mohammed
FIFA codeIRQ
First colours
Second colours
First international
Qatar  0–0  Iraq
(Doha, Qatar; 22 September 1995)
Biggest win
Iraq  13–0  Macau
(Kuwait City, Kuwait; 6 September 2023)
Biggest defeat
Jordan  5–0  Iraq
(Amman, Jordan; 10 July 1999)
Summer Olympics
Appearances5 (first in 1980)
Best resultFourth place (2004)
Asian Games
Appearances2 (first in 2006)
Best result Silver medalist (2006)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Appearances5 (first in 2013)
Best result Champions (2013)
WebsiteWebsite

The Iraq national under-23 football team (also known as Iraq Olympic football team) represents Iraq in international under-23 football, Olympic Games and at the Asian Games, The team is controlled by the governing body for football in Iraq, Iraq Football Association (IFA).

Iraq reached fourth place in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and were champions in the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship and 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship. Other achievements include silver medal in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and the bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

History

Summer Olympics

2004 Athens Olympics

After 16 years without participation, Iraq qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics after winning the 2004 Olympic Asian Qualifiers under head coach Adnan Hamad and were scheduled to play against Costa Rica, Morocco and Portugal in the group stages. At the Olympics Iraq started with a shocking 4–2 win against Portugal. That was followed by a 2–0 win against Costa Rica and a 2–1 loss to Morocco. The quarter-finals saw them beat Australia 1–0, and in the semi-final against Paraguay, Iraq lost 3–1. In the bronze medal match, Iraq lost 1–0 to Italy and finished fourth.

2016 Rio Olympics

Iraq line-up before a match with Brazil at the 2016 Rio Olympics

Iraq qualified for the 2016 Olympics by clinching third place at the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. The first game saw Iraq play against Denmark, and the score turned out as a 0–0 draw, despite Iraq having 18 shots in the match. The second game was played against the hosts and pre-tournament favourites, Brazil, which also ended up as a 0–0 draw, which was hailed as a great result for Iraq. In the third game, Iraq tied South Africa 1–1, despite having a huge 29 shots in the match. This result, coupled with Denmark's defeat to Brazil, saw Iraq get eliminated at the group stage. Brazil eventually went on to win the tournament.

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

2013 AFC U-22 Championship

Iraq's first major honour on U-23 level was the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. The tournament started with a 3–1 win against Saudi Arabia. That was followed by a 2–1 win against Uzbekistan and a 1–0 win against China. The quarter-finals saw them beat Japan 1–0, and the semi-final against favourites Korea Republic with another 1–0 win.

The final was against local rivals Saudi Arabia, and Mohannad Abdul-Raheem scored the only goal to win the tournament for Iraq. This victory secured Iraq's first Asian Cup U-23 title.

2016 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament is to be held in Qatar from 12–30 January 2016. Iraq qualified for the tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Oman in March 2015.

Iraq advanced from the group stage, beating Yemen 2–0, Uzbekistan 3–2, and a 1–1 tie with South Korea. In the quarterfinals, Iraq beat UAE 3–1 in extra time to progress to the semifinals. Iraq lost 2–1 to Japan.

In the third place match, Iraq came back from behind to beat Qatar 2–1 to qualify for 2016 Olympics.

2018 AFC U-23 Championship

Iraq qualified for the 3rd tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Saudi Arabia in July 2017.

In the final tournament, with the defending champion Japan not bringing their strongest squad and South Korea fielded a relatively inexperienced squad, Iraq had many chances to repeat 2013 success. In the group stage, they finished at the top of the group after beating Malaysia 4–1 and Jordan 1–0, with a 0–0 draw against Saudi Arabia. Iraq advanced into the quarter-final as the first seed of group C and was scheduled to face off against Vietnam, which was widely regarded to be Iraq's easiest ever opponent in this stage, boosting the enthusiasm among Iraqis. However, thing didn't go as planned, which an unexpected 3–3 draw after extra time meant that the result would be settled via a penalty shoot-out, in which Vietnam emerged victorious with the score of 5–3, thus eliminating Iraq from the tournament in the shock of its supporters.

2020 AFC U-23 Championship

Iraq qualified for the tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Iran in March 2019.

In the final tournament held in Thailand, Iraq was grouped in group A together with host Thailand, a resurgence Australia and the unknown Bahrain. For the first time, Iraq did not make it out of the group stage, drawing all three games.

2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Iraq were drawn with Jordan, Australia and Kuwait.

Iraq pulled back the equaliser through Wakaa Ramadan to draw with Jordan 1-1 in the opening matchday, before drawing again to a 10-man Australia side through a Hasan Abdulkareem volley cancelling out a scorpion kick goal scored by Alou Kuol. Needing a win to qualify for the quarter-finals, Iraq came back from a goal down to beat Kuwait 3-1 thanks to goals scored by Muntadher Mohammed, Moammel Abdulridha and Mohammed Al-Baqer.

Iraq qualified out of Group B as runner-up, only behind Australia, so they were drawn against the winner of Group A, hosts Uzbekistan. The game went to extra time and later, penalties. Merchas Doski and Ahmed Naeem converted their penalties while Uzbekistan's second penalty was saved by Hassan Ahmed. However, Wakaa Ramadan hit the post, Moammel Abdulridha had his tame penalty saved and Hasan Abdulkareem blazed his penalty over the bar, while Uzbekistan converted their last three penalties to win 3-2 on penalties and advance to the semi-finals.

Recent results and fixtures

  • The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose

2023

22 March 2023 (2023-03-22) 2023 Doha Cup Iraq  3–0  Vietnam Doha, Qatar
22:45 UTC+3
  • Ali Almosawe 45+1' (pen.)
  • Ahmed Maknzi 60'
  • Dhulfiqar Younis 85'
Stadium: Al-Gharrafa Stadium
25 March 2023 (2023-03-25) 2023 Doha Cup Iraq  0–1  South Korea Doha, Qatar
20:30 UTC+3 Stadium: Suheim bin Hamad Stadium
28 March 2023 (2023-03-28) 2023 Doha Cup Iraq  1–0  Oman Doha, Qatar
23:30 UTC+3
  • Hussein Abdullah 77'
Stadium: Grand Hamad Stadium
12 June 2023 (2023-06-12) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship Jordan  2–2  Iraq Baghdad, Iraq
21:45 UTC+3
  • Mohammed Abu Alnadi 22' (pen.) 50'
  • Blnd Hassan 19'
  • Hussein Abdullah 29'
Stadium: Al-Madina Stadium
Referee: Faisal Al-Balawi
18 June 2023 (2023-06-18) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship Iraq  1–0  Oman Baghdad, Iraq
Stadium: Al-Madina Stadium
20 June 2023 (2023-06-20) 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship Iran  1–1
(4-5 p)
 Iraq Baghdad, Iraq
Stadium: Al-Madina Stadium
21 August 2023 (2023-08-21) Friendly Iraq  4–2  Sudan Basra, Iraq
Stadium: Basra International Stadium
25 August 2023 (2023-08-25) Friendly Iraq  1–1  Sudan Basra, Iraq
  • Amir Faisal
Stadium: Basra International Stadium
28 August 2023 (2023-08-28) Friendly Iraq  3–0  Yemen Basra, Iraq
  • Ridha Fadhil
  • Dhulfiqar Younis
  • Hussein Abdullah
Stadium: Basra International Stadium
31 August 2023 (2023-08-31) Friendly Iraq  1–2  Oman Basra, Iraq
Stadium: Basra International Stadium
6 September 2023 (2023-09-06) 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification Iraq  13–0  Macau Kuwait City, Kuwait
18:00 UTC+3
Stadium: Al Kuwait Sports Club Stadium
12 October 2023 Friendly Morocco  0–1  Iraq Casablanca, Morocco
Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium
14 October 2023 Friendly Iraq  3–1  Dominican Republic Casablanca, Morocco
Stadium: Père Jégo Stadium
18 November 2023 Friendly United States  1–1  Iraq San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
11:00 ET
  • Blnd Hassan
Stadium: Pinatar Arena

2024

January 2024 Friendly Iraq   Egypt UAE
January 2024 Friendly Iraq   Ghana UAE

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Iraq Radhi Shenaishil
Assistant coach Iraq Nazar Ashraf
Goalkeeping coach Iraq Saleh Hameed
Fitness coach Iraq Ismail Salim
Team analyst Iraq Abdul-Amir Naji
Team manager Iraq Abdul-Jabbar Hashim
Media coordinator Iraq Maher Hassan

Players

Current squad

The following 26 players were named in the squad for the friendlies against United States and Ivory Coast.
Caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2023 after game against United States, excluding friendlies against Oman, Dominican Republic and Ivory Coast (2023).

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1GK Kumel Al-Rekabe (2004-08-19) 19 August 2004 10 0 Unattached
1GK Ahmed Shaker (1998-09-19) 19 September 1998 0 0 Iraq Al-Karkh
1GK Hassan Abbas (2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 2 0 Iraq Amanat Baghdad
1GK Mohammad Hassan (2002-04-01) 1 April 2002 4 0 Denmark Næstved

2DF Zaid Tahseen (2001-01-29) 29 January 2001 16 1 Iraq Al-Talaba
2DF Josef Al-Imam (2004-07-27) 27 July 2004 11 0 Sweden Malmö U-19
2DF Ahmed Maknzi (2001-09-24) 24 September 2001 9 1 Iraq Erbil
2DF Karrar Saad (2001-03-07) 7 March 2001 12 0 Iraq Al-Talaba
2DF Mustafa Walid (2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 6 1 Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
2DF Hussein Amer 6 0 Iraq Naft Maysan
2DF Kadhim Raad Hatem (2003-03-05) 5 March 2003 6 0 Iraq Al-Zawraa
2DF Mujtaba Saleh 0 0 Iraq Al-Karkh

3MF Muntadher Mohammed (2001-06-05) 5 June 2001 18 2 Iran Mes Rafsanjan
3MF Karrar Mohammed (2002-05-28) 28 May 2002 15 0 Iraq Al-Talaba
3MF Alexander Aoraha (2003-01-17) 17 January 2003 10 4 England Queens Park Rangers
3MF Zaid Ismael 8 0 Iraq Newroz
3MF Muntadher Abdul-Amir (2001-10-06) 6 October 2001 18 1 Iraq Zakho
3MF Marko Farji (2004-03-16) 16 March 2004 5 0 Norway Strømsgodset

4FW Hussein Abdullah (2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 13 10 Iraq Al-Talaba
4FW Nihad Mohammed (2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 10 0 Iraq Al-Talaba
4FW Blnd Hassan (2003-08-12) 12 August 2003 9 4 Netherlands De Graafschap
4FW Siamand Ageed (2001-06-03) 3 June 2001 1 0 Iraq Duhok
4FW Ali Almosawe (2002-01-28) 28 January 2002 7 2 Portugal Gouveia
4FW Dhulfiqar Younis (2001-05-27) 27 May 2001 7 3 Iraq Duhok
4FW Ridha Fadhil (1998-11-23) 23 November 1998 10 6 Iraq Karbala
4FW Amin Al-Hamawi (2003-12-17) 17 December 2003 4 1 Sweden Helsingborgs

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up within 12 months

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Mohammed Hasan (2002-07-30) 30 July 2002 2 0 Iraq Al-Talaba Training camp, October 2023
GK Ridha Abdulaziz 2 0 Iraq Al-Najaf Training camp, October 2023
GK Hussein Hassan (2002-11-15) 15 November 2002 0 0 Iraq Al-Karkh 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationWD
GK Hani Haidar (2005-01-10) 10 January 2005 0 0 Sweden Trelleborgs U-19 U-23 Doha Friendly Tournament

DF Adam Rasheed (2006-07-10) 10 July 2006 1 0 Italy Torino U-19 Training camp, October 2023
DF Mustafa Saadoun (2001-05-25) 25 May 2001 11 1 Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
DF Alai Ghasem (2003-02-16) 16 February 2003 0 0 Sweden Göteborg 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE INJ
DF Mustafa Saleh (2004-04-27) 27 April 2004 2 0 Unattached
DF Amir Nadeem 3 0 Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
DF Halo Fayaq (2001-05-23) 23 May 2001 1 0 Iraq Erbil 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationWD
DF Hussein Ali (2002-03-01) 1 March 2002 0 0 Netherlands SC Heerenveen 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
DF Karrar Al-Amir Ali (1999-12-14) 14 December 1999 1 0 Iraq Al-Qasim 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
DF Taha Alaa 0 0 Iraq Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE

MF Amir Faisal (2005-05-01) 1 May 2005 4 1 Iraq Al-Kahrabaa Training camp, October 2023
MF Ali Sadiq (2003-02-13) 13 February 2003 0 0 Iraq Al-Zawraa 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
MF Hayder Abdulkareem (2004-08-07) 7 August 2004 0 0 Iraq Al-Zawraa 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
MF Ameer Ahmed 6 0 Iraq Al-Naft 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
Hayder Adel 2 0 Iraq Al-Shorta 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
MF Nour Al-Mustafa Ghanim 0 0 Iraq Karbala 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
MF Mohammed Khudhair 0 0 Iraq Al-Minaa 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
MF Ali Shakhwan (2002-09-30) 30 September 2002 0 0 Iraq Erbil 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationWD
MF Zidane Iqbal (2003-04-27) 27 April 2003 3 1 Netherlands FC Utrecht 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
MF Abdullah Wasfi (1998-03-25) 25 March 1998 0 0 Iraq Newroz 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
MF Sajid Abbas (2001-06-13) 13 June 2001 0 0 Iraq Naft Al-Basra 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
MF Baqer Attwan (2002-01-20) 20 January 2002 1 0 Iraq Al-Hudood 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
MF Abdullah Hassoon 0 0 Iraq Al-Najaf 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
Ali Al-Sajjad 0 0 Iraq Al-Kahrabaa 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
Allawi Kadhim 0 0 Iraq Naft Al-Wasat 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
Mohammed Mahmoud 0 0 Iraq Ghaz Al-Shamal 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
MF Manuel Iylia (2004-05-18) 18 May 2004 2 0 Netherlands Twente U-21 U-23 Doha Friendly TournamentWD
MF Ewert Baram (2003-12-17) 17 December 2003 0 0 Unattached

FW Ali Jassim (2004-01-20) 20 January 2004 7 5 Iraq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
FW Ammar Ghalib (2001-03-14) 14 March 2001 3 0 Iraq Al-Naft 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
FW Zidane Abduljabbar (2000-06-03) 3 June 2000 10 0 Iraq Erbil 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
FW Karrar Alaa (2001-01-27) 27 January 2001 0 0 Iraq Al-Qasim 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
FW Jafar Naser (2003-11-03) 3 November 2003 0 0 Iraq Naft Maysan 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE
FW Youssef Amyn (2003-08-21) 21 August 2003 0 0 Germany Braunschweig 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationPRE CLB
FW Ali Al-Hamadi (2002-03-01) 1 March 2002 0 0 England A.F.C. Wimbledon 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualificationIRQ
FW Salem Ahmad (2000-12-28) 28 December 2000 0 0 Iraq Al-Minaa 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship
FW Ali Mohammad Hatem (2002-11-08) 8 November 2002 0 0 Spain Las Rozas B 2023 WAFF U-23 Championship
FW Sajjad Alaa 0 0 Iraq Al-Minaa 2023 WAFF U-23 ChampionshipPRE
FW Ali Hayder (2005-10-01) 1 October 2005 3 0 England Stoke U-18 U-23 Doha Friendly Tournament

PRE Part of the preliminary squad
INJ Player injured
CLB Player refused by club or unable to attend due to club commitments
IRQ Player moved up to the first team
OVR Player overaged and ineligible to represent this age group
WD Player withdrew for non-injury related reasons

Overage players

Football at the Summer Olympics, the Asian Games and the Islamic Solidarity Games have required that under-23 players enter the competitions, but they have allowed three overage players to be included in one squad. These three players are called the "wild cards".

Summer Olympics

Tournament Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Haidar Abdul-Jabar (DF) Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail (MF) Razzaq Farhan (FW)
Ahmed Ibrahim (DF) Saad Abdul-Amir (MF) Hammadi Ahmed (FW)

Asian Games

Tournament Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Salam Shaker (DF) Mahdi Karim (MF) Younis Mahmoud (FW)

Islamic Solidarity Games

Tournament Player 1 Player 2 Player 3
Hussein Abdul-Wahid (MF) Luay Salah (FW)

Competitive record

Overview
Event 1st place 2nd place 3rd place 4th place
Summer Olympics 0 0 0 1
AFC U-23 Asian Cup 1 0 1 0
Total 1 0 1 1

Summer Olympics

Summer Olympics record Qualification record
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA Squad GP W D L GF GA
19001988See Iraq national football team
Spain 1992did not enterdid not enter
United States 1996did not qualify9432148
Australia 20004121710
Greece 2004Fourth place4th630398Squad105141712
China 2008did not qualify12651218
United Kingdom 2012832377
Brazil 2016Group stage12th303011Squad107212711
Japan 2020did not qualify6240114
France 2024to be determinedto be determined
TotalFourth place2/89333109 5928191210460

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

AFC U-23 Asian Cup record Qualification record
Year Result Position GP W D* L GF GA Squad GP W D L GF GA
Oman 2013Champions1st660092Squad5320123
Qatar 2016Third place3rd6411127Squad4310154
China 2018Quarter-finals6th422084Squad3300121
Thailand 2020Group stage10th303044Squad321070
Uzbekistan 2022Quarter-finals6th413075Squad220070
Qatar 2024Qualified3300212
TotalChampions5/52313914022 2016407410
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Asian Games

Asian Games record
Year Result Position GP W D* L GF GA Squad
19511998See Iraq national football team
South Korea 2002Banned due to Gulf War
Qatar 2006Runners-up2nd9612173Squad
China 2010Did not enter
South Korea 2014Third place3rd7601184Squad
Indonesia 2018Withdrew
China 2022Did not enter
TotalRunners-up2/5161213357
*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

WAFF U-23 Championship

WAFF U-23 Championship record
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA Squad
Qatar 2015did not enter
Saudi Arabia 2021Semifinals3rd421253Squad
Saudi Arabia 2022did not enter
Iraq 2023Champions1st422073Squad
TotalBest: Semifinals2/48432126

Islamic Solidarity Games

Islamic Solidarity Games record
Year Result Position GP W D L GF GA Squad
Saudi Arabia 2005did not enter
Indonesia 2013Group stage7th302145Squad
Azerbaijan 2017 to Turkey 2021did not enter
TotalGroup stage1/4301245

Other tournaments

Other tournaments
Tournament Round GP W D* L GS GA
India 1990 Stafford CupChampions5410181
Saudi Arabia 2003 Abha ChampionshipChampions6420147
United Arab Emirates 2022 Dubai Cup311133
Qatar 2023 Doha Cup110030

Honours

Fourth place: 2004
Winners: 2013
Third place: 2016
Runners-up: 2006
Third place: 2014
Winners: 2023

See also

References

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