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'Let's shock the world': Arnold encourages Iraq to be 'excited' instead of 'scared'

'Let's shock the world': Arnold encourages Iraq to be 'excited' instead of 'scared'
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Graham Arnold guided the Lions of Mesopotamia through the final stages of a 21-match qualifying campaign which finished with a win against Bolivia in the intercontinental play-offs.

The Australian, who took over from Jesus Casas in May last year, immediately achieved national hero status after guiding Iraq to the finals, despite his team's preparations being disrupted by the Gulf conflict.

Arnold is experienced in handling the challenges of play-offs after excelling as a coach of an underdog nation, having done both when in charge of his home country in 2022.

His Socceroos qualified for Qatar via the back door then progressed to the knockout stages, a feat that earned him a rating from L'Equipe as the tournament's best performing coach.

The 62-year-old has fulfilled the nation's long-standing promise. Iraq reached the Olympic Games semi-finals in 2004 and won the Asian Cup in 2007, but later generations have failed to achieve Iraq's World Cup dream.

The country lost all three matches in their previous World Cup appearance in Mexico in 1986 and now face the daunting task of Group I matches against France, Norway, and Senegal.

"For me, this group is exciting because many of our players have never competed against players of the calibre of (Kylian) Mbappe or (Erling) Haaland or (Sadio) Mane, so sharing the pitch with them is a privilege," Arnold said of the draw.

"But at the same time, it's 11 human beings versus 11, and we go out there as long as we are not scared to play, that we are excited to play, then let's shock the world."

Talismanic striker Aymen Hussein scored the goal that earned Iraq a place in the finals, and the 30-year-old leads the attack for a side attempting to find a balance on and off the pitch between players born locally and those raised abroad.

Zidane Iqbal, currently playing in the Netherlands for Utrecht, provides attacking impetus in a squad that includes players contracted to clubs across a variety of leagues, such as Scotland, Poland, Uzbekistan, the United States and Thailand.