Iraq hosts United Arab Emirates in round 9 of the third stage of the World Cup qualification. The match will be played on Thursday, March 24th at Al-Madina Stadium (Baghdad)
The national team of Iraq is remembered only by the victory at the 2007 Asian Cup. Even at this continental tournament, Lions of Mesopotamia couldn’t take a place higher than fourth either before or after. And the whole history of performances at the World Cup is limited only to a trip to Mexico in 1986, when all three matches were lost. Therefore, the fact that the Iraqi national team reached the decisive round of qualification can already be considered as a certain achievement. Plus, the Lions of Mesopotamia managed not to lose to South Korea and the UAE in 2021. But on the other hand, they didn’t gain a single victory and shared points even with an outsider, Syria.
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The United Arab Emirates played at the World Cup in 1990. As for the current qualifiers, the Whites have long lost their chances for a direct ticket to Qatar. But third place allows continuing the fight in the playoffs. Intermediate results of Rodolfo Arruabarrena can hardly be called impressive: two victories over Syria and Lebanon, three draws, and three defeats. The goal difference is 6-6. But the point is that other teams (except for a couple of leaders) show even more terrible statistics. Therefore, the UAE is in third place in the group standings. And if they win now, they may become virtually unattainable for Lebanon, which is three points behind. And this must be done because the Whites will face the Koreans in the last round of these qualifiers.
These national teams quite often cross paths in different qualifiers and in the Gulf Cup. And Iraq has not lost to the United Arab Emirates in regulation time in four previous official matches. Now Lions of Mesopotamia will play at home, but their opponents will be extremely motivated. It is worth betting on the visitors to win with a +0.5 handicap.
Prediction for the match: United Arab Emirates to win with +0.5 handicap
