“White” demands a comfortable victory over “Lions of Mesopotamia”

At eight o’clock in the evening today, the first national football team will face its Iraqi counterpart at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, on a new journey on the difficult road towards qualifying for the 2026 World Cup finals, after wasting a golden opportunity to qualify directly through the first Asian playoff.

The national team players, and behind them the technical staff, led by Romanian coach Elario Cosmin, will have to bear responsibility for the loss of the golden opportunity last October, especially since the recent defeat against Qatar raised the alarm about the depth of the problems that the “Whites” suffer from on the technical and psychological levels, which will require more than just passing enthusiasm to overcome.

The players and their coach have no choice but to achieve victory today, with a comfortable goal difference, because that alone will be enough to preserve the dream of qualifying for the World Cup for the second time, knowing that any new stumble will reduce the chances of promotion before the second leg, next Tuesday, at Basra International Stadium.

During the recent preparations, Cosmin sought to restore the lost confidence within the team, through intensive training on the technical and tactical aspects, and addressing defensive errors.

The national team will lose the services of Fabio Lima due to injury, while Cosmin excluded a group of players who were on his list in the last playoff, while inviting others who are expected to appear in today’s match, most notably center forward Mohamed Awad.

Although “Al-Abyad” played the match under great pressure, it was accustomed to presenting its best levels in moments of distress, unlike the matches in which it entered as a favorite to win.

On the other hand, the Iraqi team enters the match with the ambition of achieving a positive result that will facilitate its mission before the return match at Basra International Stadium, next Tuesday, but it knows that things will not be easy at all.

The “Lions of Mesopotamia” suffers from some absences, most notably the absence of player Youssef Al-Amin due to injury, but coach Graham Arnold has a group capable of imposing rhythm and exploiting the defensive confusion of the national team, especially in set pieces and high pressure if it is not addressed.

It is noteworthy that the national team is chasing the dream of appearing in the global forum for the second time in its history, after the 1990 edition, while the Iraqi team hopes to reach the finals for the second time as well, after participating in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

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The winner of the matches between the UAE and Iraq qualifies for the global playoff scheduled for Mexico next March, which the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has called the “Championship of qualifying qualifying matches for the 202nd World Cup,” with the participation of six teams competing for the last two qualifying cards for the World Cup.

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Full stands

The national team will play today’s match with full stands, after tickets sold out within hours of their launch, which is a source of strength that the “White” players will have to exploit to achieve a positive result with a comfortable goal difference, before playing the return match at Basra International Stadium.

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A third appearance in the appendix

The national team appears in the playoffs for the third time, driven by two previous experiences. The first was the 2002 edition, which was held in South Korea and Japan, and the second was the 2022 edition in Qatar. In the first, it faced its Iranian counterpart and lost 0-4, while it lost in the second to Australia 1-2. Will the “third be fixed”?

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