The Iraqi national team begins the Asian Cup with the ambition of achieving the second title

Ahmed Bin Ali World Cup Stadium will host the Iraqi team’s first match in the Qatar 2023 Asian Cup, which Doha will host from January 12 to February 10, with the participation of 24 teams, including 6 Gulf countries.

Iraq, which plays in Group 4 with Japan, Indonesia, and Vietnam, will meet Indonesia in its first group stage match today, Japan on January 19 at Education City Stadium, and Vietnam on January 24, at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Iraq, champion of the 25th Gulf Cup, under the leadership of its Spanish coach Jesus Casas, who took over the leadership of the national team in November 2022, and succeeded in winning the first challenge (the Arabian Gulf Cup), seeks to continue the path towards the second coronation of the Continental Cup after the 2007 title, and it is competing in the finals for the tenth time in its history. Iraq participated for the first time in the 1972 edition, and since 1996 it didn’t miss it.

While the Indonesian national team appears in the Asian Cup finals for the first time after 16 years, and for the fifth time in its history (after versions: 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007), and aspires to skip the first round for the first time, relying on the experiences of its South Korean coach, Shin Tae-yong, who got the technical leadership of the Indonesian national team in December 2019.