Iraq

Confederation – AFC (Asia)

FIFA Code – IRQ

Nickname(s) – Lion Cubs of Mesopotamia; Ashbal Al-Rafidayn

Tournament History

The 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup is only the second appearance for Iraq in this youth tournament history. Their first appearance was in 2013 where they were eliminated from the Group Stage.

Year	Hosts	Final Status
2013	UAE	Group Stage

(Note: The best performance(s) is/are marked in bold and italic)

Present Status (for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup)

i) The Journey: Iraq qualified for the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup after becoming the champion of 2016 AFC U-16 Championship. In the final match of that tournament, Iraq had beaten Iran by a penalty shoot-out [Iran 0 (3) – Iraq 0 (4)].

ii) Head Coach: Qahtan Chathir (Nationality – Iraq) was appointed as the head coach of Iraq U17 in 2014. Under his coaching, Iraq had won their first ever AFC U-16 Championship in 2016 which shows his capability on the big stage.

iii) Full Squad: (Goalkeepers) Ali Ibadi Jabbar, Mustafa Zuhair, Abdulazeez Ammar Khalid.

(Defenders) Ammar Mohammed, Maytham Jabbar, Muntadher Abdulsada, Muntadher Mohammed, Abdulabbas Ayad Khalaf, Mohammed Albaqer, Ali Raad.

(Midfielders) Habeeb Mohammed, Saif Khalid, Mohammed Ridha, Abbas Ali, Bassam Shakir, Mohammed Ali Abbood, Moamel Kareem, Ahmed Sartip Omar.

(Forwards) Mohammed Dawood, Ali Kareem, Alaa Adnan Jabbar

iv) Player(s) To Watch Out:

Mohammed Dawood (Present Club – Al Naft SC)

2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup: Team Previews - Group F 3 — Mohammed Dawood (Image Source: Google)

Mohammed Dawood is a talented striker who had made a significant impact for his nation to win the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship. He had scored the most goals (6 goals) in that tournament and won the Golden Ball award (tournament award for being the most valuable player) as well as the Golden Boot award (tournament award for scoring most goals) in that tournament.