'They Have a Holiday When Barcelona Play Madrid': Arnold's Love for Football-Mad Iraq

"The year I've been in charge has been chaotic and extremely, very taxing for the players," Arnold told AFP by phone from Baghdad, shortly before heading to Spain for a pre-tournament training camp.

"Almost every match I've been involved in here has been a matter of life or death."

That might sound like an exaggeration, but Iraq were not only fighting to secure qualification up to the very last moment; their chances of reaching the finals were also severely hindered by the conflict in neighbouring Iran.

Arnold, 62, was appointed in May last year to replace Spaniard Jesus Casas. At that time, the Lions of Mesopotamia were pushing for direct qualification in Asian Group B behind South Korea and Jordan.

But on Arnold's debut, a ten-man Iraq lost to the Koreans. Eventually, they had to win a two-legged play-off against the United Arab Emirates, courtesy of a decisive penalty from Amir Al-Ammari in the 17th minute of stoppage time, to advance to an intercontinental play-off in Mexico in March.

However, at that point, US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran left many Iraqi players and staff stranded and struggling to make the lengthy journey.

"The airspace in Iraq was closed. I couldn't get back into Iraq to collect my coaching gear. The players couldn't leave Iraq," Arnold recalls, detailing the 26-hour bus trip they took from Baghdad to Amman in Jordan.

"And they were stuck in Jordan for 28 hours because bombs were going off around them and the airspace was shut down.

"By the time the boys finally arrived, it had taken 68 hours. One of the first meetings and discussions I had with the players was, 'OK, given everything happening in the Middle East, are you going to use that as an excuse or as motivation?'"

Iraq defeated Bolivia 2-1 in Monterrey, securing a first World Cup appearance since 1986 after a marathon 21-match qualifying campaign.

"The players endured an enormous amount of stress and a huge weight of pressure from 46 million people in Iraq to qualify for a World Cup for the first time in four decades," said Arnold.

"Every one of those games was either heartbreak or survival."

Arnold, who has been dividing his time between Australia and Iraq, insists his team does not lack talent but that his primary task has been shifting mindsets.

"What I've felt during my time here is that Iraq is a very pessimistic country, because of all the turmoil from the wars over the last 30 years; there is a somewhat negative mentality here, like 'no one likes us, everyone hates us'," he says, referring to the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003.

This may be only Iraq's second World Cup, but the country has a strong footballing tradition; they won the Asian Cup in 2007 and reached the semi-finals in 2015.

"I've never seen a nation so obsessed with football. They have public holidays when Barcelona play Real Madrid," says the coach.

Arnold took his native Australia to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, guiding them to the last 16 where they pushed eventual winners Argentina close.

Despite the admiration he has received from Iraqis, he says he felt far more pressure as coach of the Socceroos.

"I have the utmost respect for people like Didier Deschamps who have stayed and coached their nation for such a long time.

"The pressure of coaching your own country is insane because you do not want to let them down.

"I feel I am more of a football coach now with Iraq than I was with Australia."

Iraq are in a daunting group at this World Cup, starting against Norway in Boston on June 16 before also playing France and Senegal. So what can they realistically achieve?

"We qualified last. If you went through every individual player and team, and the transfer value of all the players, we would probably be the lowest-ranked at the World Cup," says Arnold, whose contract expires on July 31.

"But it is a World Cup. Anything can happen. And our boys have a great fighting spirit. It is 11 against 11.

"And if we win our one-on-one battles, we can shock the world."