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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFILE- Iraqi’s head coach Graham Arnold sits on the bench at the start of the 2026 World Cup play off first leg soccer match between UAE and Iraq in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (AP Photo\/Walid Ibrahim, File)<\/p>\n
\n Players haven\u2019t secured visas for the playoff tournament in Mexico due to foreign embassy closures, and Arnold is stranded in the United Arab Emirates due to the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease help us with this game because right now we are struggling to get our players out of the country of Iraq,\u201d Arnold, a former coach of Australia\u2019s national team, told the Australian Associated Press.<\/p>\n
The turmoil has already forced the postponement of a planned training camp in Houston. Arnold said fielding a team comprised only of overseas-based players is not a viable option.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be our best team and we need our best team available for the country\u2019s biggest game in 40 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Arnold has proposed a strategic delay to the playoffs schedule, suggesting FIFA allow Suriname and Bolivia to play their preliminary match this month but postponing the final playoff until a week before the World Cup begins.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn my opinion, if FIFA were to delay the game it gives us time to prepare properly,\u201d Arnold said. \u201cIn my opinion, it also gives FIFA more time to decide what Iran is going to do. \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Iran withdraws we go into the World Cup, and it gives the UAE, who we beat in qualifying, the chance to prepare for either Bolivia or Suriname.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur federation\u2019s president Adnan Dirjal is working round the clock trying to plan and prepare to make everyone in Iraq\u2019s dream come true, so we need this decision made quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAGHDAD (AP) \u2014 Iraq head coach Graham Arnold has issued an urgent plea to soccer\u2019s international governing body…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-524400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}