“Lions of Mesopotamia” roars against Indonesia amid riots… waiting for a decision against Saudi Arabia

The Iraqi national team set a fiery date with its Saudi counterpart to secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup after defeating Indonesia 1-0 in Jeddah in the second group of the Asian playoff.
Substitute Zidane Iqbal, the Dutch Utrecht player, led the Iraqi national team to achieve a valuable victory, reviving Iraq’s hopes of competing to reach the next World Cup, before facing Saudi Arabia, which leads the group on goal difference over Iraq, next Tuesday, at the conclusion of the playoff matches, in the match hosted by Al-Jawhara Stadium in Jeddah.
Zidane Iqbal was able to shoot a ball from outside the penalty area at the far left of Indonesian goalkeeper Martin Paes (76).
Iraq completed the final minutes of the match with ten players after defender Zaid Tahseen was sent off after receiving the second yellow card.
The match lasted for about 111 minutes after it was stopped at the 84th minute for a few minutes due to Indonesian fans throwing water bottles in protest against the decisions of the Chinese match referee.
Arnold continued his successes with the Iraqi national team, and led them to achieve their fourth consecutive victory out of five official matches, as they had previously lost under his leadership to South Korea 0-2, while they won against Jordan 1-0 in the ninth and tenth rounds of the third round of the qualifiers, before leading them to two victories in the King’s Cup of Thailand, over Hong Kong 2-1 and Thailand 1-0, and over Indonesia.
Iraq is seeking to reach the finals for the second time in its history after the 1986 edition in Mexico, when it was eliminated early from the first round.
The Indonesian team played with more advantage in the first half after its lines moved in a way that posed a threat to Iraq’s defences. However, the offensive changes made by Arnold by bringing in Zidane Iqbal and Yusuf Al-Amin and then Ammar Mohsen and Ali Jassim paid off after everyone put offensive pressure on the Indonesian defense.
The individual performance dominated Iraq’s attacks after Indonesia coach Patrick Kluivert deliberately closed the spaces for the Iraqi players, before the performance improved more effectively in the second half.