Iraq and Norway meet in World Cup Group I tonight, knowing that a win is crucial to their hopes of advancing to the playoffs.
Iraq and Norway have announced their starting line-ups ahead of the group stage match in Foxborough tonight.
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After being drawn in a group alongside 2018 winners France and African giants Senegal, a win for both teams here would provide a huge boost to their qualification hopes.
Norway has not played in a World Cup since 1998, but impressed in the qualifiers by winning all eight of their matches, scoring 37 goals and conceding only five goals during the process.
Iraq are in their second ever World Cup finals and their first since 1986. The Lions of Mesopotamia had a tough qualifying path, changing coaches midway through the process before Graham Arnold led them through the later rounds and eventually into the intercontinental play-offs, where victory over Bolivia secured their place in North America.
The Asian team has shown glimpses of promising play in recent months, including a creditable 1-1 draw against Spain in a pre-tournament pre-tournament tournament.
Iraq’s team against Norway
Iraq: Hassan, Ali, Tahseen, Hashim, Doski, Bayesh, Alammari, Ishmael, Alhamadi, Jasim, Hussein
Substitutes: Talib, Basil, Sulaka, Younus, Maknazi, Saadoon, Putros, Amyn, Iqbal, Yakob, Sher, Ali, Qasem, Yousif, Farji
Norway’s team against Iraq
Norway: Nyland, Ajer, Wolfe, Heggem, Berge, Ødegaard, Aursnes, Sørloth, Haaland, Nusa, Ryerson
Substitutes: Tangvik, Selvik, Østigård, Bjørkan, Pedersen, Langås, Falchener, Thorsby, Berg, Thirstvedt, Aasgaard, Schjelderup, Bobb, Hauge, Stand Larsen
Where to watch Iraq vs. Norway – TV channel and live streams
Kick-off on Tuesday is at 23:00 BST (18:00 ET / 15:00 PT). In the UK, the match will be broadcast live on BBC One.
The fans can stream the action on a wide variety of devices through the BBC iPlayer app or the BBC Sport website.
World Cup 2026: Iraq vs. Norway – statistics
- Iraq’s previous World Cup participation was in 1986, where they lost to Paraguay (1-0), Belgium (2-1) and Mexico (1-0)
- Only Canada and El Salvador have played more matches in the World Cup with a 100 percent loss rate (6/6 each)
- From the third round of the AFC World Cup qualifiers, eight of Iraq’s 15 goals came from set-pieces (four from free kicks, three from corners and one penalty)
- In the fifth round of the AFC qualifiers and intercontinental play-offs, Amir Al-Ammari was involved in three of Iraq’s five goals (1 goal, 2 assists). Across the entire qualifiers, only Aymen Hussein (9) had more assists than Al-Ammari’s seven (2 goals, 5 assists)
- Graham Arnold, Iraq’s head coach, is leading a team in the World Cup for the second time, after leading Australia to the last eight for the second time in their history in 2022, where they lost 2-1 to eventual champions Argentina
- This will be Norway’s fourth playoff and their first since 1998, when they produced their best campaign by reaching the last eight before being knocked out by Italy
- Norway participated in 1994, which was the only previous time the tournament was held in the United States. All four teams in their group finished on the same number of points and an identical goal difference (0) – still the only case of their kind in World Cup history – but Norway finished last because they scored the fewest goals
- Their two World Cup victories came against Mexico in 1994 (1-0) and Brazil in 1998 (2-1), making them the last European nation to beat Brazil in the group stage of the tournament
- With 4.6 goals per game in European qualification (37 goals in 8 games), Norway achieved the best average ever for a European nation in a single World Cup qualifying campaign with more than four games
- Erling Braut Haaland scored 16 goals in eight games in qualifying, which was twice as many as any other European player, averaging 2.04 goals per 90 minutes
- Ståle Solbakken is participating in his first World Cup as head coach and participated in the 1998 edition as a player, where he played three games in Norway’s last World Cup participation
