Iraq manager Srečko Katanec has revealed the final 23-man squad for the upcoming 2019 WAFF Championship, which will be hosted in Iraq for the first time, in the cities of Karbala and Erbil.
The squad does not include any players that currently ply their trade outside of Iraq as their clubs are not obliged to release them for the tournament with most teams around the world currently preparing for pre-season. This includes the likes of Justin Meram, Ali Adnan, Ahmed Yasin and Al-Duhail’s new striker Mohanad Ali among a whole host of others. Meanwhile, exciting youngsters Ahmed Jalal and Mohammed Dawood both miss out on the squad due to injuries.
Iraq are in Group A of the tournament along with Yemen, Syria, Palestine and Lebanon, with the Lions kicking off their campaign against the latter on 30 July. The winners of the two groups face off in the final in Karbala on 14 August.
Goalkeepers:
Jalal Hassan (Al-Zawraa)
Mohammed Hameed (Al-Shorta)
Mohammed Salih (Al-Karkh)
Defenders:
Ahmed Ibrahim (Unattached)
Maitham Jabbar (Al-Karkh)
Saad Natiq (Al-Shorta)
Najm Shwan (Al-Zawraa)
Alaa Mhawi (Al-Shorta)
Sameh Saeed (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Dhurgham Ismail (Al-Shorta)
Mustafa Mohammed (Al-Zawraa)
Midfielders:
Safaa Hadi (Al-Zawraa)
Amjad Attwan (Al-Shorta)
Hussein Ali (Unattached)
Mazin Fayyadh (Al-Naft)
Karrar Nabeel (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Mohammed Qassim (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Mahdi Kamel (Al-Shorta)
Ibrahim Bayesh (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya)
Humam Tariq (Unattached)
Attackers:
Alaa Abbas (Al-Zawraa)
Mohannad Abdul-Raheem (Al-Zawraa)
Aymen Hussein (Unattached)