Iraq’s 23-man squad has been announced ahead of their friendly against Tunisia in Radès on Friday 7th June 2019. The squad has seen the exclusion of experienced Iraqi Premier League top goalscorer Alaa Abdul-Zahra, with Srečko Katanec opting for Tunisian Ligue 1 player Aymen Hussein. Iraqi-Swedish winger Jiloan Hamad was hoping to make his first appearance for the Lions of Mesopotamia but he is still awaiting clearance from FIFA before next week’s match so Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya midfielder Mohammed Qassim has instead been added to the squad.
Bashar Resan, Osama Rashid, Safaa Hadi and Rebin Sulaka will also sit this game out; Resan is recovering from a shoulder operation whilst Hadi has an issue with his passport and Rashid has reportedly been given a rest for the international break following a long season in Portugal. Meanwhile, a young defence has been selected with Ali Adnan, Waleed Salim and Ali Faez all absent due to the suspensions they received from the Iraq FA after the Asian Cup.
The match against the North African outfit was supposed to be the first of two friendlies in June as Katanec’s Lions were meant to face Libya three days later. However, Libya called that game off for security reasons and so Iraq will be playing just the one game during this international break.
Goalkeepers:
Mohammed Hameed (Al-Shorta)
Jalal Hassan (Al-Zawraa)
Mohammed Salih (Al-Karkh)
Defenders:
Dhurgham Ismail (Al-Shorta)
Ahmed Ibrahim (Al-Arabi, Qatar)
Sameh Saeed (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Maitham Jabbar (Al-Karkh)
Uday Shihab (Al-Karkh)
Alaa Mhawi (Al-Shorta)
Hussam Kadhim (Al-Shorta)
Mustafa Mohammed (Al-Zawraa)
Saad Natiq (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Midfielders:
Amjad Attwan (Al-Shorta)
Karrar Nabeel (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Ahmed Jalal (Al-Zawraa)
Humam Tariq (Esteghlal, Iran)
Ahmed Yasin (BK Hacken, Sweden)
Justin Meram (Atlanta United, USA)
Hussein Ali (Qatar SC, Qatar)
Mohammed Qassim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Attackers:
Mohanad Ali (Al-Shorta)
Aymen Hussein (CS Sfaxien, Tunisia)
Alaa Abbas (Al-Zawraa)
