Iraq boss Srečko Katanec has announced the 44-man preliminary squad for the upcoming 2019 WAFF Championship, which will be the first edition of the tournament to be hosted in Iraq.
Defensive duo Ali Adnan and Ali Faez have returned to the national team set-up following their post-Asian Cup suspensions, while Mustafa Nadhim is back on the international scene after recovering from a long-term injury he suffered while playing for Iraq in October. Frans Dhia Putros, Bashar Resan and Ahmed Yasin are all called up after also recovering from injuries, but winger Ali Husni is still out of action.
Al-Shorta defenders Waleed Salim and Hussam Kadhim have both missed out on a place in this squad as Katanec has given call-ups to younger defenders from the league such as Najm Shwan, Maitham Jabbar, Uday Shihab, Khudher Ali and Niaz Mohammed. Meanwhile, Jiloan Hamad misses out as he is still awaiting clearance from FIFA before he can represent the Iraq national team. Current Iraqi Premier League top scorer and Iraq’s fifth-most capped player Alaa Abdul-Zahra, as well as former Lions captain Saad Abdul-Amir, have also both not been selected.
A new face in the Iraq squad is defensive midfielder Rewan Amin. The 23 year-old plies his trade at Östersunds FK in Sweden, the same club that former Iraq international Brwa Nouri recently played for. He has ten caps for the Netherlands under-17 team but as of yet is uncapped at senior international level and is an exciting prospect for the Lions of Mesopotamia.
Iraq will be one of nine teams participating in the first edition of the tournament since 2014, with Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen the other teams that will take to the field in Karbala and Erbil. Katanec will have to cut down the squad to 23 players in time for the August 2 kick-off.
Goalkeepers:
Mohammed Hameed (Al-Shorta)
Jalal Hassan (Al-Zawraa)
Mohammed Salih (Al-Karkh)
Ali Kadhim (Naft Al-Wasat)
Defenders:
Ali Adnan (Vancouver Whitecaps, Canada)
Frans Dhia Putros (Hobro IK, Denmark)
Dhurgham Ismail (Al-Shorta)
Najm Shwan (Al-Zawraa)
Ahmed Ibrahim (Al-Arabi, Qatar)
Rebin Sulaka (Al-Shahania, Qatar)
Saad Natiq (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Raad Fanar (Al-Naft)
Maitham Jabbar (Al-Karkh)
Uday Shihab (Al-Karkh)
Mustafa Nadhim (Al-Shorta)
Ali Faez (Al-Kharaitiyat, Qatar)
Alaa Mhawi (Al-Shorta)
Mustafa Mohammed (Al-Zawraa)
Sameh Saeed (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Khudher Ali (Naft Al-Wasat)
Niaz Mohammed (Erbil)
Midfielders:
Safaa Hadi (Al-Zawraa)
Bashar Resan (Persepolis, Iran)
Osama Rashid (Santa Clara, Portugal)
Karrar Nabeel (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Mohammed Qassim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Ibrahim Bayesh (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Mahdi Kamel (Al-Shorta)
Wissam Saadoun (Naft Maysan)
Ahmed Fadhel (Al-Zawraa)
Rewan Amin (Östersunds FK, Sweden)
Ahmed Yasin (BK Häcken, Sweden)
Mazin Fayyadh (Al-Naft)
Humam Tariq (Esteghlal, Iran)
Ahmed Jalal (Al-Zawraa)
Hussein Ali (Qatar SC, Qatar)
Amjad Attwan (Al-Shorta)
Justin Meram (Atlanta United, USA)
Attackers:
Mohammed Dawood (Al-Naft)
Mohanad Ali (Al-Shorta)
Alaa Abbas (Al-Zawraa)
Aymen Hussein (CS Sfaxien, Tunisia)
Mohannad Abdul-Raheem (Al-Zawraa)
Marwan Hussein (Al-Talaba)
