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The Iraq national under-23 football team (also known as Iraq Olympic football team) represents Iraq in international under-23 football, Olympic Games and at the Asian Games, The team is controlled by the governing body for football in Iraq, Iraq Football Association (IFA).

Iraq U-23

Nickname(s)	Asiad Asia Lions of Babylon
Association	IFA
Confederation	AFC (Asia)
Sub-confederation	WAFF (West Asia)
Head coach	Radhi Shenaishil
FIFA code	IRQ
First colours Second colours Third colours
Summer Olympics
Appearances	2 (first in 2004)
Best result	Fourth place (2004)
Asian Games
Appearances	2 (first in 2006)
Best result	Silver medalist (2006)
AFC U-23 Asian Cup
Appearances	5 (first in 2013)
Best result	Champions (2013)
Website	Website

Iraq reached fourth place in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens and were champions in the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. Other achievements include silver medal in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, and the bronze medal in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon.

History

Summer Olympics

2004 Athens Olympics

After 16 years without participation, Iraq qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics after winning the 2004 Olympic Asian Qualifiers under head coach Adnan Hamad and were scheduled to play against Costa Rica, Morocco and Portugal in the group stages. At the Olympics Iraq started with a shocking 4–2 win against Portugal. That was followed by a 2–0 win against Costa Rica and a 2–1 loss to Morocco. The quarter-finals saw them beat Australia 1–0, and in the semi-final against Paraguay, Iraq lost 3–1. In the bronze medal match, Iraq lost 1–0 to Italy and finished fourth.

2016 Rio Olympics

Iraq qualified for the 2016 Olympics by clinching third place at the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. The first game saw Iraq play against Denmark, and the score turned out as a 0–0 draw, despite Iraq having 18 shots in the match. The second game was played against the hosts and pre-tournament favourites, Brazil, which also ended up as a 0–0 draw, which was hailed as a great result for Iraq. In the third game, Iraq tied South Africa 1–1, despite having a huge 29 shots in the match. This result, coupled with Denmark's defeat to Brazil, saw Iraq get eliminated at the group stage. Brazil eventually went on to win the tournament.

AFC U-23 Asian Cup

2013 AFC U-22 Championship

Iraq's first major honour on U-23 level was the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. The tournament started with a 3–1 win against Saudi Arabia. That was followed by a 2–1 win against Uzbekistan and a 1–0 win against China. The quarter-finals saw them beat Japan 1–0, and the semi-final against favourites Korea Republic with another 1–0 win.

The final was against local rivals Saudi Arabia, and Mohannad Abdul-Raheem scored the only goal to win the tournament for Iraq. This victory secured Iraq's first Asian Cup U-23 title.

2016 AFC U-23 Championship

The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship final tournament is to be held in Qatar from 12–30 January 2016. Iraq qualified for the tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Oman in March 2015.

Iraq advanced from the group stage, beating Yemen 2–0, Uzbekistan 3–2, and a 1–1 tie with South Korea. In the quarterfinals, Iraq beat UAE 3–1 in extra time to progress to the semifinals. Iraq lost 2–1 to Japan.

In the third place match, Iraq came back from behind to beat Qatar 2–1 to qualify for 2016 Olympics.

2018 AFC U-23 Championship

Iraq qualified for the 3rd tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Saudi Arabia in July 2017.

In the final tournament, with the defending champion Japan not bringing their strongest squad and South Korea fielded a relatively inexperienced squad, Iraq had many chances to repeat 2013 success. In the group stage, they finished at the top of the group after beating Malaysia 4–1 and Jordan 1–0, with a 0–0 draw against Saudi Arabia. Iraq advanced into the quarter-final as the first seed of group C and was scheduled to face off against Vietnam, which was widely regarded to be Iraq's easiest ever opponent in this stage, boosting the enthusiasm among Iraqis. However, thing didn't go as planned, which an unexpected 3–3 draw after extra time meant that the result would be settled via a penalty shoot-out, in which Vietnam emerged victorious with the score of 5–3, thus eliminating Iraq from the tournament in the shock of its supporters.

2020 AFC U-23 Championship

Iraq qualified for the tournament by topping the group in the qualification stage in Iran in March 2019.

In the final tournament held in Thailand, Iraq was grouped in group A together with host Thailand, a resurgence Australia and the unknown Bahrain. For the first time, Iraq did not make it out of the group stage, drawing all three games.

2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup

Iraq were drawn with Jordan, Australia and Kuwait.

Iraq pulled back the equaliser through Wakaa Ramadan to draw with Jordan 1-1 in the opening matchday, before drawing again to a 10-man Australia side through a Hasan Abdulkareem volley cancelling out a scorpion kick goal scored by Alou Kuol. Needing a win to qualify for the quarter finals, Iraq came back from a goal down to beat Kuwait 3-1 thanks to goals scored by Muntadher Mohammed, Moammel Abdulridha and Mohammed Al-Baqer.

Iraq qualified out of Group B as runner-up, only behind Australia, so they were drawn against the winner of Group A, hosts Uzbekistan. The game went to extra time and later, penalties. Merchas Doski and Ahmed Naeem converted their penalties while Uzbekistan's second penalty was saved by Hassan Ahmed. However, Wakaa Ramadan hit the post, Moammel Abdulridha had his tame penalty saved and Hasan Abdulkareem blazed his penalty over the bar, while Uzbekistan converted their last three penalties to win 3-2 on penalties and advance to the semi finals.

Recent results and fixtures

• The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.

Legend

  Win   Draw   Lose

2021

2022

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Radhi Shenaishil
Assistant coach	Nazar Ashraf
Goalkeeping coach	Saleh Hameed
Fitness coach	Ismail Salim
Team analyst	Abdul-Amir Naji
Team manager	Mahdi Karim

Players

Current squad

The following players were called up for the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
Caps and goals correct as of 11 June 2022 after game against Uzbekistan.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Mustafa Adhab	(1999-03-02)2 March 1999 (aged 23)	0	0	Al-Najaf
12	1GK	Hussein Ali Joli	(2002-09-18)18 September 2002 (aged 19)	0	0	Erbil
22	1GK	Hassan Ahmed	(1999-10-04)4 October 1999 (aged 22)	5	0	Al-Talaba
2	2DF	Abbas Badeea	(2000-01-09)9 January 2000 (aged 22)	0	0	Al-Naft
3	2DF	Ahmed Maknzi	(2001-09-24)24 September 2001 (aged 20)	3	0	Erbil
4	2DF	Hussein Ammar	(2001-06-16)16 June 2001 (aged 20)	6	0	Naft Al-Basra
6	2DF	Cardo Siddik	(2002-09-21)21 September 2002 (aged 19)	0	0	Crystal Palace U23
14	2DF	Merchas Doski	(1999-12-07)7 December 1999 (aged 22)	4	0	Slovácko
15	2DF	Mohammed Al-Baqer	(2000-04-08)8 April 2000 (aged 22)	6	1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
19	2DF	Hassan Raed	(2000-09-23)23 September 2000 (aged 21)	6	0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
23	2DF	Ahmed Naeem	(1999-01-29)29 January 1999 (aged 23)	4	0	Al-Najaf
5	3MF	Baqer Attwan	(2002-01-20)20 January 2002 (aged 20)	1	0	Karbala'a
8	3MF	Moamel Abdulridha	(2000-03-28)28 March 2000 (aged 22)	6	2	Al-Talaba
10	3MF	Hasan Abdulkareem	(1999-01-01)1 January 1999 (aged 23)	6	1	Al-Zawra'a
11	3MF	Muntadher Mohammed	(2001-06-05)5 June 2001 (aged 20)	6	1	Al-Taawon
13	3MF	Ali Majid	(2000-10-22)22 October 2000 (aged 21)	2	0	Naft Al-Wasat
16	3MF	Muntadher Abdulameer	(2001-10-06)6 October 2001 (aged 20)	6	0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
17	3MF	Maytham Waad	(2002-04-28)28 April 2002 (aged 20)	1	0	Al-Sinaa
18	3MF	Hiran Ahmed	(2000-04-06)6 April 2000 (aged 22)	3	0	FC Thun
20	3MF	Alexander Aoraha	(2003-01-17)17 January 2003 (aged 19)	2	0	Queens Park Rangers
21	3MF	Ammar Ghalib	(2001-03-13)13 March 2001 (aged 21)	3	1	Al-Shorta
7	4FW	Amin Al-Hamawi	(2003-12-17)17 December 2003 (aged 18)	0	0	Helsingborgs
9	4FW	Wakaa Ramadan	(1999-04-17)17 April 1999 (aged 23)	5	4	Al-Talaba

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called up since January 2021

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
GK	Waleed Atiyah	(1999-02-04) 4 February 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Al-Diwaniya	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022
GK	Emad Eissa	(1995-08-24) 24 August 1995 (age 27)	0	0	Zakho	Training Camp, January 2022
GK	Mohammed Azad Noori	(2000-03-27) 27 March 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Erbil	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
GK	Nadeem Omar	(2001-08-20) 20 August 2001 (age 21)	0	0	Falkenbergs	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
DF	Mustafa Walid	(2002-04-28) 28 April 2002 (age 20)	1	0	Al-Karkh	2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup
DF	Zaid Tahseen	(2001-01-29) 29 January 2001 (age 21)	2	0	Al-Talaba	2022 AFC U-23 Asian CupPRE
DF	Martin Haddad	(1999-12-08) 8 December 1999 (age 22)	0	0	Örebro Syrianska	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022
DF	Mohammed Delawar	(2000-02-13) 13 February 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Newroz	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022
DF	Rafed Talib	(1998-11-25) 25 November 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Al-Karkh	Training Camp, January 2022OVR
DF	Aisen Ishak	(2002-03-13) 13 March 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Melbourne Victory	Training Camp, January 2022
DF	Youssef Khaled	(2002-04-14) 14 April 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Linköping	Training Camp, January 2022
DF	Ibrahim Ali		0	0		Training Camp, January 2022
DF	Yohan Zetuna	(2000-03-31) 31 March 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Oaxaca	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
DF	Matin Saleh	(2002-03-22) 22 March 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Brøndby	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
MF	Zidane Iqbal	(2003-04-27) 27 April 2003 (age 19)	3	1	Manchester United F.C.	2022 AFC U-23 Asian CupINJ
MF	Sadeq Zamel	(1999-07-15) 15 July 1999 (age 23)	2	0	Al-Shorta	2022 AFC U-23 Asian CupPRE
MF	Ahmed Sartip	(2000-02-20) 20 February 2000 (age 22)	2	1	Al-Zawraa	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022WD
MF	Kevin Yakob	(2000-10-10) 10 October 2000 (age 22)	0	0	AGF	2022 AFC U-23 Asian CupPRE
MF	Danilo Al-Saed	(1999-02-24) 24 February 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Sandvikens	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	Ramez Matti	(1999-03-06) 6 March 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Trosa-Vagnhärad SK.	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	André Alsanati	(2000-01-06) 6 January 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Eskilstuna	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	Hadi Haidar	(2000-11-19) 19 November 2000 (age 21)	0	0	Sokol Moscow	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	Ahmed Hussein	(2001-10-19) 19 October 2001 (age 21)	0	0	Erbil	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	Aiser Qasim		0	0	Dalkurd	Training Camp, January 2022
MF	Ali Mohsin	(1998-03-04) 4 March 1998 (age 24)	0	0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
MF	Hasan Al-Mayahhi	(1999-02-12) 12 February 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Al-Duhail	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
MF	Suhaib Raad	(2000-04-17) 17 April 2000 (age 22)	0	0	Al-Naft	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
FW	Ali Al-Hamadi	(2002-03-01) 1 March 2002 (age 20)	0	0	Wycombe Wanderers F.C.	2022 AFC U-23 Asian CupINJ
FW	Ridha Fadhil	(1998-11-23) 23 November 1998 (age 23)	2	0	Baghdad	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022OVR
FW	Salem Ahmad	(2000-12-28) 28 December 2000 (age 21)	0	0	Al-Mina'a	2022 Dubai Cup, March 2022
FW	Ibrahim Ghazi		0	0	Newroz	Training Camp, January 2022
FW	Yousuf Zetuna	(1999-03-10) 10 March 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Kastrioti	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
FW	Nihad Mohammed	(2001-01-01) 1 January 2001 (age 21)	0	0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	v.  United Arab Emirates, 4 September 2021
PRE Part of the preliminary squad INJ Player injured IRQ Player moved up to the first team OVR Player overaged and ineligible to represent this age group WD Player withdrew for non-injury related reasons

Competitive record

Overview
Event	1st place	2nd place	3rd place	4th place
Summer Olympics	0	0	0	1
AFC U-23 Asian Cup	1	0	1	0
Total	1	0	1	1

Summer Olympics

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