{"id":376681,"date":"2026-04-01T15:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376681\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T15:40:09","slug":"world-cup-line-up-complete-as-iraq-take-final-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376681\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup line-up complete as Iraq take final spot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Iraq grabbed the last available place at the World Cup by beating Bolivia 2-1 in their inter-confederation play-off on Tuesday, sealing their return to the finals after a 40-year absence.<\/p>\n<p>Aymen Hussein steered home a second-half winner to see the Iraqis become the 48th and last team to qualify for the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the US.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Al Hamadi handed Iraq a 10th-minute lead at the Monterrey Stadium but Bolivia were level at the break through Moises Paniagua.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\">Iraq \ud83c\udd9a Bolivia<\/p>\n<p>Iraq return to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FIFAWorldCup\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">#FIFAWorldCup<\/a> 40 years later. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fknt56hTJ1\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/fknt56hTJ1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FIFAWorldCup\/status\/2039255193259323574\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">April 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Iraq will compete in Group I at the 11 June to 19 July World Cup along with France, Norway and Senegal.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/sport\/results\/soccer\/world-cup\/24254\/fixtures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">FULL LIST OF TEAMS, FIXTURES AND GROUPS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>UNITED STATES<\/p>\n<p>Taking part as hosts<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Third place (1930)<\/p>\n<p>MEXICO<\/p>\n<p>Taking part as hosts<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)<\/p>\n<p>CANADA<\/p>\n<p>Taking part as hosts<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1986, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>JAPAN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 20 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/sport\/results\/soccer\/world-cup\/24254\/tables\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">SEE GROUPS AND FIXTURES HERE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>NEW ZEALAND<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 24 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1982, 2010)<\/p>\n<p>IRAN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 25 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>ARGENTINA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 25 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1978, 1986, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>UZBEKISTAN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 5 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Never previously qualified<\/p>\n<p>SOUTH KOREA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 5 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Fourth place (2002)<\/p>\n<p>JORDAN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 5 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Never previously qualified<\/p>\n<p>AUSTRALIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 10 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (2006, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>BRAZIL<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 10 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002)<\/p>\n<p>ECUADOR<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 10 June<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (2006)<\/p>\n<p>URUGUAY<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 4 September<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1930, 1950)<\/p>\n<p>COLOMBIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 4 September<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (2014)<\/p>\n<p>PARAGUAY<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 4 September<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (2010)<\/p>\n<p>MOROCCO<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 5 September<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Semi-finals (2022)<\/p>\n<p>TUNISIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 8 September<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group Stage (1978, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2018, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>EGYPT<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 8 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (1934)<\/p>\n<p>ALGERIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 9 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (2014)<\/p>\n<p>GHANA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 12 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (2010)<\/p>\n<p>CAPE VERDE<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 13 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Never previously qualified<\/p>\n<p>SOUTH AFRICA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1998, 2002, 2010)<\/p>\n<p>QATAR<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (2022)<\/p>\n<p>ENGLAND<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1966)<\/p>\n<p>SAUDI ARABIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (1994)<\/p>\n<p>IVORY COAST<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (2006, 2010, 2014)<\/p>\n<p>SENEGAL<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 October<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (2002)<\/p>\n<p>FRANCE<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 13 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1998, 2018)<\/p>\n<p>CROATIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 14 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Runners-up (2018)<\/p>\n<p>PORTUGAL<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 16 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Third place (1966)<\/p>\n<p>NORWAY<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 16 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Round of 16 (1938, 1998)<\/p>\n<p>GERMANY<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 17 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014)<\/p>\n<p>NETHERLANDS<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 17 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)<\/p>\n<p>BELGIUM<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 18 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Third place (2018)<\/p>\n<p>AUSTRIA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 18 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Third place (1954)<\/p>\n<p>SWITZERLAND<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 18 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Quarter-finals (1934, 1938, 1954)<\/p>\n<p>SPAIN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 18 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Winners (2010)<\/p>\n<p>SCOTLAND<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 18 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)<\/p>\n<p>PANAMA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 19 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (2018)<\/p>\n<p>HAITI<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 19 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1974)<\/p>\n<p>CURACAO<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 19 November<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Never previously qualified<\/p>\n<p>SWEDEN<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Runners-up (1958)<\/p>\n<p>TURKEY<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Third place (2002)<\/p>\n<p>CZECH REPUBLIC<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Runners-up (1934, 1962)<\/p>\n<p>BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (2014)<\/p>\n<p>DR CONGO<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1974)<\/p>\n<p>IRAQ<\/p>\n<p>Qualified on: 31 March<\/p>\n<p>Best performance: Group stage (1986)<\/p>\n<p>    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play-off&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-376681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}