Baghdad – IA
The President of the Iraqi Football Federation, Adnan Darjal, met today, Sunday, with the national team coach, Jesus Casas, at the federation’s headquarters, in the presence of the federation member, Muhammad Nasser, the assistant coach, Salvador Romero, and the administrative director of the national team, Mahdi Karim.
A statement by the media channel of the Football Association, received by the (INA), stated that “the meeting discussed the next stage for the national team and overcoming the difficulties in order to achieve the desired goals in the upcoming competitions, the most important of which are the World Cup qualifiers (2026), where our national team will play two matches (home and away) against The Philippine national team on March 21 in Basra and March 26 in Manila, which coincides with the holy month of Ramadan.
The statement added, “The President of the Federation, Adnan Darjal, stressed that the two Philippine matches will be very important because winning their points will grant early qualification to the next stage of the World Cup qualifiers, in addition to deciding qualification to the 2027 Asian Cup finals in Saudi Arabia.”
Darjal explained that “Iraq’s return to playing its matches between its homeland and its fans after its participation in the Asian Cup finals will be a good opportunity to watch the Mesopotamian Lions up close amid the warmth of the honorable audience who are accustomed to reflecting the honorable and bright image, and what we are happy about is that Basra is fully prepared to host international matches due to the presence of the ingredients for success in it.” “The quality of the stadiums and the extensive experience I gained as a result of hosting international matches on several occasions earned me praise and admiration from the teams that played their matches in Basra’s stadiums.”