Players stranded by war. Airspace shut down. Embassies closed. A three day journey to reach the game. And yet Iraq is going to the World Cup. This is how they did it.
On the first of April 2026, in a stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, a football match was played that meant more than almost any other in recent memory. Not because of who won. Not because of the quality of the football. But because of everything that had to happen, and everything that nearly did not happen, before a ball was even kicked.
Iraq defeated Bolivia 2 1 to secure their place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and only the second time in their history. The Lions of Mesopotamia were going to North America. And somewhere in that stadium, former Manchester United assistant manager René Meulensteen, who had spent the past year helping build this remarkable team, allowed himself a moment to take it all in.
“It’s just a great achievement,” Meulensteen told The National in Mexico. “We’re very proud of the players and it’s great for Iraq as a country. Something which will give the people energy and hope and something they can be proud of.”
That might sound like standard post match sentiment. It was anything but.
The story of how Iraq reached this point is one of the most remarkable in modern football, and Meulensteen has been at the centre of it. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast, the Dutchman described an operation that went far beyond tactics and training sessions, into territory that most football coaches could never have imagined.
When Israel and the United States attacked Iran, a chain reaction saw missiles flying across the Middle East, airspace across the region was closed and flights were grounded. Head coach Graham Arnold was stranded first in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates and then in Dubai, while members of his squad based in Iraq and its neighbours faced a similar predicament. Embassies were also shuttered, preventing would be members of the travelling party from securing the visas they would need to enter Mexico.
The situation seemed impossible. A World Cup playoff final in Mexico, a squad scattered across a warzone, and no obvious way to get anyone there. There were suggestions of a day long overland journey to Istanbul, where flights might be arranged to connect to North America. It was only after Arnold personally appealed to FIFA that a charter flight was arranged for the Iraqi squad and support staff, who finally reached Mexico just over a week before the playoff final. Twenty hours of flying was then required, with the entire journey taking the team more than three days. It was hardly the ideal preparation.
Arnold immediately banned social media once the squad arrived. “I did not want them to think of what is going on in the Middle East because they had to focus on the job we had here,” he said after the final.
Meulensteen’s route to this moment is itself a fascinating story. He had previously managed Qatari clubs Al Ittihad and Al Sadd, as well as the Qatar under 18 side, before his time at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson. When Arnold was approached to take the Iraq job, he wanted Meulensteen alongside him.
“We worked together taking Australia to the last World Cup,” Meulensteen explained to FourFourTwo. “Iraq approached him to be their new coach and he wanted me to join him. Before we accepted the offer, we had a discussion about what we could achieve and how the federation operated. We reached the conclusion that getting to the World Cup would be a challenge, but realistic.”
The challenge, as he readily acknowledges, was not just tactical. “The Australian players are playing in professional environments,” Meulensteen explained. “With Iraq, roughly half of the squad is in Europe, with the others playing domestically. The ones in Europe may not be with big clubs in the biggest leagues, but they’re exposed to nutritionists, analysts and sports psychologists to a degree.” Bridging that gap, while managing the broader pressures of operating in a country at war, required something beyond conventional football management.
“It’s a chance to put Iraq on a global stage not associated with war and conflict,” he told FourFourTwo. “The people are fanatical about football and they’ve suffered so much in their recent history. Truth be told, it’s a miracle we’re where we are.”
Back in Iraq, as the final whistle blew in Mexico, the response was seismic.
Fireworks, sporadic gunfire and music filled the air across Baghdad. Supporters flooded the main shopping areas at dawn to celebrate their team’s triumph. “This victory is incredibly precious to us, despite the war raging,” Ahmed, 22, told AFP outside a cafe in the Karrada district.
Streets that had often witnessed grief and tension turned, if only for a few hours, into spaces of unfiltered joy. Flags replaced fear. Chants drowned out sirens. The Iraqi government declared a two day public holiday and promised financial bonuses for the squad. Street tea vendors shouted “tea for free” as they too were caught up in the euphoria.
Iraq will now face Norway in Boston, France in Philadelphia and Senegal in Toronto at the World Cup.They are massive underdogs in a punishing group. That is, for now, entirely beside the point.
The World Cup That the Middle East Is Reshaping
Iraq’s story is extraordinary, but it is not the only way in which the Middle East is rewriting the script of the 2026 World Cup.
Iran, the first Asian nation to qualify for the 2026 tournament, has seen their participation thrown into serious doubt by the ongoing conflict. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes, and the country has been requesting FIFA move their group matches from US venues to Mexico. FIFA rejected that request, with president Gianni Infantino confirming that matches will be played where they are scheduled.
Infantino has received personal assurances from the White House that the Iranian delegation will be permitted to compete, categorising Iran’s participation as Plan A with no other options on the table. Iran’s football chief Mehdi Taj has said the team intends to “boycott the United States but not the World Cup,” continuing preparations while negotiations continue.
If Iran does ultimately withdraw, they would forfeit around $9 million in participation fees and face potential suspension from future competitions. The situation remains fluid as football’s biggest tournament approaches.
What the Middle East has given the 2026 World Cup is something that no amount of marketing could manufacture: genuine, visceral, high stakes human drama. A nation playing through a war. Players scrambling across continents to reach a game. And, in the end, 46 million people celebrating in the streets at dawn.
As Meulensteen told the BBC, the Iraqi based players could not fly out. They found another way. That, in miniature, is the story of Iraq and the World Cup. They always find another way.
Iraq face Norway in Boston on June 16, France in Philadelphia and Senegal in Toronto in Group I of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
