Iraq beats the Philippines 1-0 in Basra
Archived photo of the logo on the shirt of Iraq’s national football team
Basra (IraqiNews.com) – In Group F of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027, Iraq defeated the Philippines 1-0 on Thursday.
The football match took place in front of more than 60,000 Iraqi fans at the Basra International Stadium in south Iraq.
The sole goal of the game was scored by Iraqi striker Mohanad Ali, giving his team a five-point advantage over Indonesia, who had earlier defeated Vietnam 1-0 in the other group match.
The top two teams in the group advance directly to the third round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying and the Asian Cup in 2027. The bottom two teams will advance to the third round of the Asian Cup qualifying tournament.
Iraq’s national football squad, dubbed the Lions of Mesopotamia, has raised expectations for more success on the international front by winning the Gulf Cup 25 in 2023 that took place in Basra.