Iraqi football legend Younis Mahmoud hopes for the Lions of Mesopotamia to win the Arab Cup title

Younis Mahmoud, the former Iraqi national team star and ambassador of the Qatar Legacy Program, expressed his hope that his country would win the title of the 2021 Arab Cup, which will be hosted by Qatar from November 30 to December 18, stressing that the Lions of Mesopotamia aspire to preserve its gains in the previous versions of the tournament, as the team with most crowned Arab Cup.

The Iraqi football legend, who is supervising the Iraqi national team, said that winning the title will have a great impact on Iraq and its people who are passionate about football, and the joy will spread throughout the country, and will include millions of Iraqis abroad, because any success of the team will resonate widely across the globe.

The Iraqi national team will participate in the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021™ in Group A, and will start its first match on Tuesday against the Omani team at Al Janoub Stadium, before meeting the Bahraini team on the third of December at Al Thumama Stadium, to conclude its matches in the group stage against Qatar on December 6th at Al Bayt World Cup Stadium.

On the confrontations that Iraq will play in the tournament, Younes, who is the most representative player for his country in 148 matches, said: “There is no doubt that the tournament draw put the Lions of Mesopotamia in a difficult task against the Gulf teams in the first group, but the Iraqi team is up to the challenge, and ready to compete. The championship title, especially with the current squad that includes a number of stars from the European leagues, the Qatar Stars League, and the Iraqi League.”

The Iraqi national team has not reached the podium since 2007 when it won the Asian Cup in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, after Younis Mahmoud managed to lead the Lions of Rafidain to win the cup with a header that settled in the net of the Saudi team, to decide the result of the final match with a clean goal in the 72nd minute, to win their first title in the Asian Cup, so that the joy spread throughout Iraq and the world as millions of Iraqis celebrated the historic victory of their country’s team.

In this context, and about the victory that filled the hearts of the masses with joy during a period in which the country witnessed many challenges; Mahmoud said: “I still remember how happy people were with the victory, which confirmed to me the importance of that achievement, and that what happens outside the stadium in terms of interaction and celebrations that bring people together and unite them may sometimes be more important than the course of the match.”

Fourteen years after winning the Asian Cup, the former Iraqi national team star, with his long history in the stadiums, is looking forward to his country’s victory in the 2021 Arab Cup, in which 16 teams from all over the Arab world participate, and is held for the first time under the umbrella of the International Football Association (FIFA).

Younis Mahmoud aspires to restore Iraq to its football glories, and he knows very well what winning the cup means for his country, as the Iraqi team is considered the black horse in the tournament and has won the Arab Cup since its inception in 1963, as it leads the golden record of the tournament after winning the title 4 times in 1964, 1966, 1985 and 1988.

The former Iraqi national team star, who played in the ranks of a number of football clubs in the region, including Al Khor, Al Gharafa and Al Sadd clubs in Qatar, confirmed that the tournament allows fans from around the world to see the level of football in the Arab world, and Younis Mahmoud pointed out that the confrontations that bring together Arab teams from Asia with others from Africa, are characterized by a competitive nature, and are considered an important opportunity to enhance expertise and hone skills, as well as an opportunity to improve operations in the World Cup stadium before the start of the tournament after less than one year.

Mahmoud explained that the Arab Cup provides a valuable opportunity for fans from Iraq and all over the region to learn about the unique experience that awaits them when Qatar hosts the World Cup at the end of next year.

The 2021 Qatar Arab Cup will host six Qatar 2022 World Cup stadiums, including Al Bayt Stadium and 974 Stadium, and they will welcome fans for the first time next Tuesday, along with Al Thumama, Al Janoub, Ahmed Bin Ali and Education City stadiums. In the Arab Cup qualifiers in June, seven teams qualified for the finals of the tournament: Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Palestine and Sudan.

The seven teams joined nine teams that qualified directly to the finals of the tournament after topping the list of Arab teams in the FIFA rankings last April, and they include Qatar, the host country, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, UAE and Syria.

It is noteworthy that tickets for the Arab Cup matches are now available on a first-come-first-served basis via the website: fifa.com/ar/tickets, and fans can purchase match tickets and receive the mandatory Haya card (Fan Card) to attend matches from the Doha Exhibition Center and many ticket outlets in across Qatar.

Fans can apply for a Haya pass through the website FAC21.QA. Tickets for all matches of the tournament are available, with reasonable prices starting from 25 Qatari riyals for a category four ticket (for residents of Qatar only) with the exception of the semi-finals and final matches.

The State of Qatar established the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy in 2011 to take over the responsibility for implementing the infrastructure projects necessary to host an impressive historical version of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022, setting plans, and carrying out the operational processes that Qatar is conducting as a host country for the first edition of the World Cup in the Arab world and the Middle East, with the aim of contributing to accelerating the pace of development and achieving the country’s development goals, and leaving a lasting legacy for the State of Qatar, the region, and the world.

The stadiums, other sports facilities and infrastructure projects that we are overseeing in cooperation with our partners, will contribute to hosting a convergent and interconnected tournament, based on the concept of sustainability, accessibility and movement in a comprehensive manner. The most important pillars of the legacy that we are working to build for the benefit of future generations.

The Supreme Committee continues its efforts to ensure that guests of Qatar, families and fans from all over the world, can live safely in the atmosphere of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, enjoying the warm hospitality that the State of Qatar and the region is known for.

The Supreme Committee harnesses the positive impact of football to stimulate human, social, economic and environmental development across Qatar, the region and Asia, through distinguished programs, such as Generation Amazing, Challenge 22, worker welfare, and meaningful initiatives such as community outreach, the Jusoor Institute, the center of excellence in the sport management sector and organizing major events in the region.