Iraq

In what was a surprising appointment at the time, Socceroos head coach Graham Arnold was hired by Iraq to stabilise a final qualifying stage that had started out rough with one point against Kuwait and Iraq. The path forward was difficult, especially after the war in Iran threatened to disrupt the team's travel to the inter-continental final against Bolivia, but the Lions of Mesopotamia made it here despite the adversity, only to be rewarded with an incredibly difficult group draw.

Arnold and Iraq understand that a pragmatic approach is required to get results in this group. They defend fastidiously in a 4-4-2 out-of-possession shape, with two extremely compressed banks of four. The striker pairing of Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein have a bit more freedom to get frisky in the press, as Iraq's easiest path to scoring is through causing chaos in the opponent's third and winning set-piece opportunities. While the build-up approach is somewhat risk-averse, Iraq do have some intriguing wide options who can offer a bit more on the ball if needed, including Youssef Amyn, Ali Jasim, Marko Farji or the mercurial but hard-working Ibrahim Bayesh. Consistency is the name of the game in midfield and defense, with the same double pivot of Amir Al-Ammari and Aimar Sher (Al-Ammari holding, Sher more advanced) shielding the back four and captain Jalal Hassan in goal.

(Note: the source tab also contained informal draft notes here, preserved for completeness: "GK Surely Hassan is the starter. still captain. B4 should be Doski - Hashem - Tahseen - Ali. Various partners for Hashem. MF preferred pivot is Al-Ammari and Sher with Al-Ammari holding Sher advanced. Jasim watch (on loan from Como, young talent). Lots of options up front. Usually Mo Ali as lone ST or a pair with Al-Hamadi and Hussein (da GOAT)")