![\"Jonathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/8a92e85b45a90780f82a70f6bc716cdfce4ba7c1.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n On Sunday morning, Tony Segar joined hundreds of friends from the Iraqi community to welcome their newest hero home to Sydney airport.<\/p>\n Segar, who helps organise the Iraqi supporters group in Australia, was just three years old when Iraq last qualified for the World Cup, in Mexico 1986. He felt he had to be there in person to thank Graham Arnold for helping guide his country back to football\u2019s biggest stage, 40 years on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a simple gesture from the [Iraqi] community to say thank you to Graham Arnold for what he has helped us achieve,\u201d Segar said. \u201cIt\u2019s just our second qualification, and we\u2019ve been waiting 40 years. He\u2019ll always be a hero for us.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the airport, it was all ethnicities: Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, all religions, all backgrounds of Iraq … everybody united under one name.\u201d<\/p>\n Segar says Arnold\u2019s brand of coaching helped unlock something special in the Iraqi team, which overcame the odds to beat Bolivia 2-1 in a qualifying play-off<\/a> in Mexico last Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say the Australian winning mentality from Graham, combined with the Iraqi fighting spirit, is giving us a magical mix that\u2019s helped the boys out on the pitch to give 110 per cent and get us over the line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Segar found out what time Arnold\u2019s flight was arriving home to Sydney thanks to the Iraqi Football Association and immediately hit the phone to arrange a welcoming committee, with numbers rapidly swelling into the hundreds.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have different [Iraqi] communities here and what happens is you spread the words on social media,\u201d Segar said. \u201cThen all the communities and all the associations here in Australia were sending each other texts and notifications telling everyone that Graham Arnold is arriving back.<\/p>\n \u201cThe news really spread, so people randomly showed up to the airport. We all actually looked pretty organised in the end because you\u2019re secluded in one spot [at the arrivals hall].\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to SBS News, Arnold was visibly stunned at the turnout to greet him at the airport.<\/p>\n \u201c[It\u2019s] crazy, bizarre,\u201d Arnold said. \u201cI didn\u2019t expect this [welcome] here in Australia. Obviously in Iraq, but it\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to apologise to everyone in Iraq that I couldn\u2019t go back there to celebrate, because obviously the airspace shut down and everything\u2019s shut. But seeing this here is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Socceroo Craig Foster said the celebrations at Sydney airport highlighted the power of football to unify diverse communities in Australia.<\/p>\n \u201c Just think that an Australian coach would be returning here to Sydney and having Iraqi Australians celebrating him \u2013 it\u2019s pretty incredible,\u201d Foster said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a credit, of course, to what he achieved, but also to the popularity of the game right across all the diasporas in Australia … this is what\u2019s beautiful about the game, it brings everyone together.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen else would you ever have a group of Iraqi Australians, just Aussies, celebrating an Australian coach who just made the World Cup with Iraq? It\u2019s just beautiful scenes. It really speaks to the nature of Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/aee27adaee77bf35e8a2400c1c44a92418661095.jpeg\")
Tony Segar (centre) with brother Ramy and family members Kenzy, Leo, Alexander, Rima and Chelsea at their home in Gregory Hills.Dominic Lorrimer<\/p>\n![\"Ramy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/51941a8033b4177bebfbd74dceb5c05c75278e605e89f6269875b7a9db39eb51.jpeg\")
Ramy and Tony wait for Graham Arnold to arrive at Sydney airport.Tony Segar<\/p>\n![\"Iraq\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8938c11c1fa7f4c0dbc6af2eb0a5a2a40c389a54.jpeg\")
Iraq\u2019s players were given a heroes\u2019 reception when they arrived home in Baghdad on Saturday.Getty Images<\/p>\n
![\"Iraq\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/907cfa6e18f8d4166f22e33ae694242d42da89bc.jpeg\")
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