In Iraq’s preparations to face Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, not to mention Sadio Mane and Michael Olise, it would have been easy to get hung up on individuals. Head coach Graham Arnold has naturally been emphasising the collective, the shuttling backline, which is basically the only way to face a task that otherwise would be overwhelmingly daunting.
The surprise Asian qualifiers arguably have the tallest task at the entire World Cup 2026. They are considered the team that everyone else will beat in what would usually be known as the group of death.
Such terms feel absurdly out of place when you consider what Iraq have been through. If a trio of games against France, Norway and Senegal are more difficult than anyone else has at this tournament, this team knows all about overcoming difficulty.
That naturally applies to much more than their long route to qualification, the difficulties in even getting to the play-off against Bolivia in Mexico due to the Iran war, or even star forward Aymen Hussein enduring hours of questioning on trying to enter the United States.
The striker, who scored the goal that beat Bolivia to bring Iraq here, has a personal story that illustrates enough.