Graham Arnold

Graham Arnold, the Australian who guided the Socceroos to the 2022 World Cup round of sixteen, took charge of Iraq in 2024. He favours a compact, transition-based structure — defensively organised in a mid-block, quick to release forwards on the break. His Iraq side leans on the European-based diaspora players he has actively recruited, shifting the squad's identity toward a more physically athletic and technically consistent unit than previous Iraqi generations.

Arnold typically deploys Iraq in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 shape, using Zidane Iqbal as the dynamic box-to-box midfielder who links defence to attack. The fullbacks Hussein Ali and Frans Putros, both with European club experience, push high to create width. Iraq press in the middle third rather than high up the pitch, looking to win the ball and transition quickly through Ali Jasim and Aymen Hussein.