Former Australia manager Graham Arnold has been appointed as the new head coach for Iraq’s national team.
The announcement is coming ahead of the World Cup qualifiers scheduled for next month against South Korea and Jordan.
The Iraq Football Association shared the news via social media, posting images of the 61-year-old receiving a warm welcome from officials in Baghdad.
“We are excited to introduce Graham Arnold as the Iraq national team’s new head coach,” stated the federation in an Instagram post. “Welcome to the Lions of Mesopotamia!”
Arnold takes over from Jesus Casas following the Spaniard’s exit after Iraq suffered a 2-1 defeat to Palestine in March, during the third phase of Asia’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.
That match placed the Iraqi team in third in Group B, trailing the leaders South Korea by four points and one point behind Jordan.
The top two teams in each of Asia’s qualifying groups qualify for the World Cup, while those finishing in third and fourth move on to another preliminary round.
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Arnold’s inaugural match will take place in Basra on June 5 against South Korea, followed by a trip to Amman to compete against Jordan five days later. Iraq is aiming to reach the World Cup for the first time since 1986.
This role marks Arnold’s return to international coaching more than seven months after he stepped down as the head coach of Australia.
He guided the Australian squad to the knockout stage of the 2022 World Cup during his six years in charge but resigned after a lackluster series of qualifying matches, where his team lost to Bahrain and drew with Indonesia in September.
He was succeeded by Tony Popovic, the former coach of Western Sydney Wanderers, who has now led the Socceroos to second place in Group C of Asia’s qualifiers, ahead of matches against Japan and Saudi Arabia, both of which have already secured their qualification.