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Iraq
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A team across generations
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The 330 on the pitch
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The 33 of Iraq.
Editorial order, with a career scene and sources behind every name.
01
AR
Ahmed Radhi 121 caps (Iraq) · 62 goals · Al-Zawra'a SC, Al-Rasheed SCIraq have played one World Cup and scored one goal in it: Radhi's low finish into the corner against Belgium at Toluca on 8 June 1986, in a 2-1 defeat that sent them home pointless.
ST1982–1997
03
Nashat Akram 113 caps (Iraq) · Al-Shorta Baghdad, Al-NassrHe opened the scoring after 23 minutes against Australia in Bangkok on 13 July 2007 and created the second in a 3-1 group win.
CDM2001–2013
Nashat Akram 113 caps (Iraq) · Al-Shorta Baghdad, Al-NassrHe opened the scoring after 23 minutes against Australia in Bangkok on 13 July 2007 and created the second in a 3-1 group win.
CDM2001–2013
04
Younis Mahmoud Talaba SC, Al-Khor Sports ClubHawar Mulla Mohammed swung in the corner and the captain met it in the 73rd minute to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Jakarta on 29 July 2007, four days after bombs killed at least fifty Iraqis celebrating the semi-final win.
SS2002–
Younis Mahmoud Talaba SC, Al-Khor Sports ClubHawar Mulla Mohammed swung in the corner and the captain met it in the 73rd minute to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Jakarta on 29 July 2007, four days after bombs killed at least fifty Iraqis celebrating the semi-final win.
SS2002–
06
AB
Ammo Baba 17 caps (Iraq) · 11 goals · Haris Al-Maliki, Al-Athori SCEmmanuel Baba Dawud, whom a youth coach christened Ammo Baba, scored Iraq's first goal in international football, against Morocco at the Pan Arab Games in Beirut in 1957.
CAM1957–1966
08
HJ
Habib Jafar 92 caps (Iraq) · 27 goals · Talaba SC, Al-Karkh SCEvaristo de Macedo left him out of Iraq's squad for Mexico 1986, judging him too inexperienced for a World Cup.
CM1986–2001
09
HM
Hawar Mulla Mohammed 113 caps (Iraq) · 20 goals · Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Anorthosis Famagusta
CAM2001–2012
10
AA
Ali Adnan Baghdad, Çaykur RizesporTurkey 2013 is where Iraq first got to know him, cutting in off the by-line to score against England as the under-20 side went all the way to the semi-finals and finished fourth.
RM2012–
12
HM
Haris Mohammed 90 caps (Iraq) · Mosul, Talaba SCStanding 1.65 metres, the Mosul-born midfielder finished the 1987 Arab Club Championship in Saudi Arabia as top scorer with seven goals, and Al-Rasheed took a record third title in the competition.
CM1979–1988
13
LH
Laith Hussein 96 caps (Iraq) · 45 goals · Al-Zawra'a SC, Al-Karkh SCThe story Iraqis still tell is that Barcelona came looking after he scored in the 2-0 win over Spain at the 1989 World Youth Championship, and that Saddam Hussein refused to let him leave, which is how a talent like that spent his prime in Baghdad, Doha and Beirut.
CAM1986–2002
15
NS
Nadhim Shaker Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaNumber four was on his back for all three of Iraq's matches at Mexico 1986, against Paraguay in Toluca, Belgium four days later, and the hosts in the Azteca.
CB1976–1986
16
RH
Raad Hammoudi 104 caps (Iraq) · Al-Shorta BaghdadOne goal in six matches at the 1979 Gulf Cup won him the tournament's goalkeeping award and Iraq the trophy.
GK1976–1987
17
AA
Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail 66 caps (Iraq) · Talaba SC, Esteghlal AhvazEsteghlal Ahvaz gave him the armband and made him the first foreigner ever to captain a club in the Iranian league, and his coach Milan Zivadinovic took to calling him Our Ronaldo, partly for the haircut and partly for what the side lost without him.
CDM1997–2009
18
AR
Ali Rehema Talaba SC, Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaNot a minute of Iraq's 2007 Asian Cup was played without him, from the group games in Bangkok to the final against Saudi Arabia in Jakarta on 29 July.
CB2005–
19
EM
Emad Mohammed 103 caps (Iraq) · 27 goals · Al-Wakrah Sports Club, FooladIn 2009-10 he scored 19 league goals for Sepahan, more than anyone else in Iran that season, and finished it as champion.
LM2000–2011
20
Humam Tariq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubTwelve minutes into Iraq's meeting with Japan at the 2014 Asian Games he put the first one away, and by the end of the tournament he had four, joint most in the squad, with a bronze medal to take home from Incheon.
RM2012–
Humam Tariq Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Shabab AlAhli Dubai ClubTwelve minutes into Iraq's meeting with Japan at the 2014 Asian Games he put the first one away, and by the end of the tournament he had four, joint most in the squad, with a bronze medal to take home from Incheon.
RM2012–
21
KS
Karim Saddam 20 caps (Iraq) · 6 goals · Al-Rasheed SC, Al-Zawra'a SCIn Taif on 27 September 1985 he came off the bench and scored in the last seconds against the UAE, the goal that took Iraq through on away goals. He started against Belgium and Mexico at the 1986 World Cup, played at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and topped the Iraqi league scoring charts four times between 1989 and 1993.
CM1982–1986
23
AK
Ahmed Kadhim Assad 90 caps (Iraq) · Talaba SC, Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaOn 3 September 2002 he scored the only goal at the Abbasiyyin Stadium in Damascus, sinking the hosts Syria on Iraq's run to their first WAFF Championship.
RB1995–2007
24
BA
Bassim Abbas 91 caps (Iraq) · Diyarbakırspor, KonyasporAt 1.65m he gave away height to almost every forward he marked, and the 2007 Asian Cup still ended with him named its best defender and placed in the All-Star XI.
CB2001–2012
25
KJ
Karrar Jassim Al-Wakrah Sports Club, TractorFour minutes from time in Bangkok on 13 July 2007, Jassim made it 3-1 against an Australia side that had reached the World Cup second round twelve months earlier, and he repeated the habit in 2011 with the only goal against North Korea that carried Iraq into the quarter-finals.
CM2007–2015
26
MA
Mohanad Ali Al-Shorta, Al-KahrabaaAl-Shorta sent Mimi on against Al-Talaba on 26 March 2014, aged 13 years and 279 days, and no one has debuted younger in the Iraqi league since.
ST2017–
27
AO
Abbas Obeid 28 caps (Iraq) · FC Seoul, FC Pohang SteelersIraq were a goal up on Japan in the Beirut quarter-final of 24 October 2000 because Obeid had scored it, before Japan answered four times.
CB1995–2001
28
Ahmed Yasin 63 caps (Iraq) · 6 goals · BK Forward, Örebro SKSweden raised him from the age of one, and Iraq collected on it at Canberra Stadium on 23 January 2015, when Yasin opened the scoring in a 3-3 quarter-final against Iran that finished 7-6 on penalties.
SS2012–2019
Ahmed Yasin 63 caps (Iraq) · 6 goals · BK Forward, Örebro SKSweden raised him from the age of one, and Iraq collected on it at Canberra Stadium on 23 January 2015, when Yasin opened the scoring in a 3-3 quarter-final against Iran that finished 7-6 on penalties.
SS2012–2019
29
AK
Alaa Kadhim 20 caps (Iraq) · 9 goals · Al-SinaaIn Doha on 22 October 1993, seventeen minutes after Ali Daei had levelled for Iran, Kadhim put Iraq back in front and the match finished 2-1, one of his seven goals in that qualifying campaign.
ST1993–1999
30
Dhurgham Ismail 72 (as of 4 October 2026) caps (Iraq) · Al-Shorta Baghdad, Çaykur Rizespor
LB2013–
Dhurgham Ismail 72 (as of 4 October 2026) caps (Iraq) · Al-Shorta Baghdad, Çaykur Rizespor
LB2013–
32
Jalal Hassan 82 (as of 4 October 2026) caps (Iraq) · Karbalaa, Erbil SCIn the 82nd minute of the Gulf Cup final in Basra on 19 January 2023, he pushed away an Oman penalty, and Iraq went on to win 3-2 in extra time.
GK2011–
Jalal Hassan 82 (as of 4 October 2026) caps (Iraq) · Karbalaa, Erbil SCIn the 82nd minute of the Gulf Cup final in Basra on 19 January 2023, he pushed away an Oman penalty, and Iraq went on to win 3-2 in extra time.
GK2011–
About this XI
Iraq's pool is led by Ahmed Radhi, Hussein Saeed and Nashat Akram. The 33 covers 3 goalkeepers, 9 defenders, 15 midfielders and 6 forwards, with sourced senior international careers spanning the 1950s to the 2020s. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then explore the careers and settle the duels below. Your votes reorder the people's ranking of these 33 in real time.
Left out, and why
A 33 is a set of decisions, and these are the players who lost their place in the last revision of Iraq's list. Every one of them has a case.
- Samal SaeedThe place went to Mahdi Karim.
Disagree? That is the point. Settle it in the duels above.
Who is the greatest Iraq footballer of all time?
The editorial collection starts with Ahmed Radhi. Its first five careers: Ahmed Radhi, Hussein Saeed, Nashat Akram, Younis Mahmoud, Adnan Dirjal. The people's ranking on this page moves with every duel vote and can disagree.
How were these 33 Iraq players chosen?
The collection covers every position across Iraq's football history. Honours, international records and career achievements inform the editorial order. Each entry opens a career note and its sources. Fan votes in the duels build a separate ranking.
Where can I read about the careers?
Open a player page from the collection to read the career scene, club record and recorded honours. The source links show where the available records come from.
Can I build and share my own Iraq all-time XI?
Yes. Pick one of 8 formations, place any of the 33 players onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.