33·Legends
‹ All XIs
Iraq flag

Iraq

The thirty-three greatest. Build your eleven, then settle the duels.
The pitch 0 / 11

Drag a position anywhere and the label updates live. Tap a name to fill the open spot, tap ✕ to free a position.

The 330 on the pitch

The duels

Pick the greater legend. Every vote moves the people's ranking of Iraq.

The 33 of Iraq

Ranked by the almanac. Vote in the duels to build the people's version.

1 AR 86 Ahmed Radhi 121 caps · 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. Asian Footballer of the Year in 1988, gold at the 1982 Asian Games, Gulf Cup winner in 1984 and 1988, Arab Cup winner in 1988, three league titles with Al-Rasheed, and 62 goals in 121 caps. ST1982–88
2 HS 86 Hussein Saeed 137 caps · 78 goals · Talaba SCThe 1982 Asian Games final in New Delhi was still goalless in the 82nd minute when his finish beat Kuwait and gave Iraq the gold medal. Seventy-eight goals in 137 internationals remain the Iraqi record, and he finished top scorer at two Gulf Cups Iraq won, ten in 1979 and seven in 1984, when the tournament also voted him its best player; Al-Talaba took 122 goals off him across 300 games and three league titles. ST1979–84
3 86 Nashat Akram 113 caps · 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. Iraq went on to take the 2007 Asian Cup with him voted man of the match in the final and chosen for the All-Star XI, and he captained the fourth-placed 2004 Olympic team and won league titles in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the Netherlands. CDM2004–07
4 86 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. Iraq's first Asian Cup came with the tournament's MVP award and a share of its Golden Boot, and he finished as the country's most-capped player on 148 games with 57 goals and goals at four consecutive Asian Cups. SS2000s
5 AD 84 Adnan Dirjal 90 caps · Al-Zawra'a SC, Talaba SCMoscow 1980, Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988: three Olympic tournaments came and went with the 1.90m centre-half in Iraq's back line, and then injury took Mexico 1986 away from him. Three Gulf Cup titles and Asian Games gold in New Delhi head a record of 122 caps, six Iraqi league championships across Al-Zawraa, Al-Talaba and Al-Rasheed, and three Arab Club Championships in his six years at the last of them. CB1980–88
6 AB 84 Ammo Baba 17 caps · 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. He coached Iraq in seven separate spells and won Asian Games gold in 1982, the Gulf Cup in 1979, 1984 and 1988 and the Arab Nations Cup in 1988, having scored 12 goals in 17 caps as a player and taken league titles with Al-Haras Al-Malaki and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. CAM1957–88
7 AK 83 Ali Kadhim 82 caps · 35 goals · Al-Zawra'a SCThree goals in one afternoon at the Grand Hamad Stadium on 1 April 1976, as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 7-1 at the Gulf Cup, carried his tally past thirty and kept him ahead of every Iraqi who had played before him. He finished on 36 goals in 84 caps, a national record until Hussein Saeed passed it in 1982, with fourth place at the 1976 Asian Cup and a place at the 1980 Olympics. LM1976–82
8 HJ 83 Habib Jafar 92 caps · 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. Two years later Iraq won the Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia and Jafar was voted the tournament's best player, the peak of 71 caps and 16 goals stretched from 1986 to 2001 across Al-Talaba, Al-Rasheed and a long Qatari spell; a red card against Iran in 1994 qualifying cost him the decider with Japan. CM1986–2001
9 HM 83 Hawar Mulla Mohammed 113 caps · 20 goals · Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Anorthosis FamagustaThe corner he swung in at the Gelora Bung Karno on 29 July 2007 found Younis Mahmoud's head in the 73rd minute and won Iraq the Asian Cup final against Saudi Arabia. That title sat alongside 113 caps and 20 goals for Iraq, a group-stage goal against Australia in the same tournament, the Iraqi league in 2004-05, the Lebanese league with Al-Ansar in 2005-06, the Hazfi Cup in 2009-10 and West Asian Games gold in 2005. CAM2004–09
10 AA 82 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. Named Asia's young player of the year for 2013, he became the first Iraqi in Serie A, debuting for Udinese in a 1-0 win at Juventus in August 2015 and won 94 caps, with another fourth place at the 2015 Asian Cup. RM2013–15
11 NS 82 Noor Sabri Al-Zawra'a SC, Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaYeom Ki-hun placed the ball for South Korea in the 2007 Asian Cup semi-final shootout in Kuala Lumpur, and Sabri saved it, sending Iraq into the final they went on to win. Two goals conceded across the whole tournament made him its best goalkeeper, and he had already started all six games of Iraq's fourth-place run at the 2004 Olympics before reaching 100 caps. GK2004–07
12 HM 81 Haris Mohammed 90 caps · 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. He won 90 caps for Iraq between 1979 and 1988, went to the 1986 World Cup and the 1984 Olympics, took Asian Games gold in 1982 and the Asian Youth Championship in 1978, and added three Iraqi league titles and two cups with Al-Rasheed. CM1978–88
13 LH 81 Laith Hussein 96 caps · 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. Champion of Asia at youth level in 1988, 80 caps and 22 goals from a debut at seventeen, captain of Iraq, and Lebanese league player of the season in 1997-98. CAM1988–97
14 MK 81 Mahdi Karim 103 caps · 12 goals · Apollon Limassol, Al AHLI TRIPOLI SCPakistan met him in Lahore on 22 October 2007 and conceded four to him alone as Iraq won a World Cup qualifier 7-0, the converted striker doing his damage from the right wing. He had lifted the Asian Cup with Iraq three months earlier, reached the Olympic semi-finals in Athens in 2004, won the Iraqi league with Erbil in 2012 and finished with 110 caps. RM1999–2018
15 NS 81 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. Iraq's 1984 Gulf Cup title stands at the head of 57 caps won between 1978 and 1986, with his goal against Saudi Arabia in that tournament and another against India at the 1978 Asian Games, eleven seasons at Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, and the Iraq job itself in 2009 and 2010. CB1978–2010
16 RH 81 Raad Hammoudi 104 caps · Al-Shorta BaghdadOne goal in six matches at the 1979 Gulf Cup won him the tournament's goalkeeping award and Iraq the trophy. He captained Iraq at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, their only appearance at the finals, won Asian Games gold in 1982 and the league with Al-Shorta, collected 104 caps between 1976 and 1987, and was ranked Iraq's fourth-best player of the century by the IFFHS in 1999. GK1976–99
17 AA 80 Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail 66 caps · 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. Fourth place with Iraq at the Athens Olympics in 2004, the WAFF Championship in 2002, a Hazfi Cup with Sepahan, and 59 caps across twelve years. CDM2002–04
18 AR 80 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. That title is the biggest thing Iraqi football has won, and Rehema came out of it with a career of 113 caps between 2005 and 2016, nine seasons and 128 appearances at Al-Wakrah in Qatar, and a place in Soccer Iraq's team of the decade for the 2010s. CB2005–16
19 EM 80 Emad Mohammed 103 caps · 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. He won 103 caps and scored 27 goals for Iraq between 2000 and 2012, finished fourth at the 2004 Olympics, was runner-up in the 2007 AFC Champions League with Sepahan, took two Iranian league titles and three Iraqi ones with Al-Zawraa, plus the 2002 WAFF Championship and West Asian Games gold in 2005. LM2000–12
20 80 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. Two AFC Cups with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in 2016 and 2017, two Iraqi league titles, two FA Cups, the AFC Under-22 Championship in 2013, and a semi-final run at the 2015 Asian Cup. RM2013–17
21 KS 80 Karim Saddam 20 caps · 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. CM1984–93
22 KA 80 Khalil Allawi 81 caps · Baghdad, Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaIraq's home leg against Syria on 29 November 1985 kicked off in Taif, Saudi Arabia, because the war meant no qualifier could be staged on Iraqi soil, and Allawi was on the scoresheet in the 3-1 win that sent his country to its only World Cup. Mexico 1986 followed, along with Asian Games gold in 1982, an Olympic tournament in Los Angeles, and 81 caps across nine years. CB1982–86
23 AK 79 Ahmed Kadhim Assad 90 caps · 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. Iraq lifted that title four days later on the same ground, and he finished with 90 caps and six goals between 1995 and 2007, three Iraqi league titles with Al-Zawraa between 1999 and 2001, and an Asian Cup campaign in 2000. RB1995–2007
24 BA 79 Bassim Abbas 91 caps · 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. That tournament gave Iraq their first continental title, won in Jakarta against Saudi Arabia; he added the 2002 WAFF Championship, the Iraqi league of 2001-02, two Iraq FA Cups with Al-Talaba, and 94 caps between 2001 and 2012. CB2001–12
25 KJ 79 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. His medals include the 2007 Asian Cup, Asian Games silver in 2006, and the Iraqi Premier League and Super Cup with Al-Shorta. CM2006–11
26 MA 79 Mohanad Ali Al-KahrabaAl-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. Three Iraqi league titles followed in 2019, 2024 and 2025, with the 2024 Iraq FA Cup, the Qatar Stars League of 2020 at Al-Duhail, the Iraqi golden boot in 2025 and 27 goals in 73 caps for Iraq. ST2014–25
27 AO 78 Abbas Obeid 28 caps · 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. That tournament put him in the AFC's Asian XI and the 2000 Asian Cup Team of the Tournament; he collected 21 caps and five goals for Iraq between 1995 and 2001, and spent four seasons in Korea with Pohang Steelers before a long spell in Bahrain. CB1995–2001
28 78 Ahmed Yasin 63 caps · 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. Fourth place at that Asian Cup is his high mark in an Iraq shirt, along with Arab Nations Cup bronze in 2012, Gulf Cup runners-up in 2013, and 62 caps. SS2012–15
29 AK 78 Alaa Kadhim 20 caps · 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. He won the 1997 Nehru Cup with Iraq, beating Uzbekistan's under-19 side 3-1 in the Kochi final, and took nine goals from twenty caps, with Iraqi league titles at Al-Talaba in 1993 and 2002 and two FA Cups in 2002 and 2003. ST1993–2003
30 78 Dhurgham Ismail Al-Shorta Baghdad, Çaykur RizesporTwenty years old in January 2015, he created Iraq's second goal in the Asian Cup quarter-final against Iran and was named man of the match in a tie Iraq won on penalties. That tournament also picked him as its best left-back; he has since won the 2023 Gulf Cup with Iraq, the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship, bronze at the 2014 Asian Games, and two Iraqi league titles with Al-Shorta. LB2013–23
31 HA 78 Haidar Abdul-Amir 50 caps · Al-Shorta Baghdad, Al-Faisaly SCAl-Faisaly signed him after the 2004 Asian Cup, and in November 2006 he scored in the second leg of the AFC Cup final against Muharraq to give the Jordanian club a second continental title in a row. He was in Iraq's 2007 Asian Cup winning squad and the side that finished fourth at the Athens Olympics in 2004, took West Asian Games gold in 2005, and won five Iraqi league titles with Al-Zawraa. CDM2004–07
32 78 Jalal Hassan 82 caps · 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. Iraq had waited 35 years for that Gulf Cup, and he holds 101 caps, a league title, an FA Cup and a Super Cup with Al-Zawraa, and three straight Asian Cups started in goal, in 2015, 2019 and 2023. GK2015–23
33 SA 78 Saad Abdul-Hamid His first title came in Doha in 1988, when Iraq won the AFC Youth Championship, and he followed it into the U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia a year later. Between 1989 and 1995 he won more than sixty caps for Iraq, and he played at home for Al-Shabab, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Rasheed, Al-Shorta and Al-Zawraa before a spell in Tunisia with Club Africain. LB1988–95

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. Ahmed Radhi leads the pool at 86 overall. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then 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.

Disagree? That is the point. Settle it in the duels above.

Who is the greatest Iraq footballer of all time?
In the 33 Legends editorial ranking, Ahmed Radhi leads Iraq with an overall rating of 86. The editorial top five: 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 pool covers every position across Iraq's football history. Ratings weigh peak level, longevity, honours and historical standing, then the full methodology page explains the tiers. Fan votes in the duels build a second, independent ranking.
Which Iraq players reach the Immortal tier or higher?
None yet. Ahmed Radhi leads the Iraq pool at 86, in the Icon tier.
Can I build and share my own Iraq all-time XI?
Yes. Pick one of eight formations, drag any of the 33 onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.
Keep going Australia · China · Iran · Japan · Palestine · Qatar · Legends of Asia