The Matchday 9 encounter of the third stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers between Iraq and South Korea will take place on June 5 at the International Stadium in Basra. Iraq vs. South Korea: prediction and betting odds, statistics.
Yusuke Araki (Japan)
Matches – 8 (International matches, 2024/25);
Yellow cards shown (including second yellows) – 35;
Average yellow cards per match – 4.4;
Red cards shown – 2;
Average fouls per match – 23;
Penalties – 25%.
South Korea have progressed through the current stage of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers with a perfect record, and their upcoming match in Basra against Iraq could confirm their place in the final tournament. Even without their full-strength line-up, the visitors appear notably superior to their hosts, who still have a viable chance of direct qualification.
A relatively manageable group has allowed Iraq to remain among the top three heading into the final two rounds. However, their March performances were underwhelming: a 2:2 draw with Kuwait followed by a 1:2 loss to Palestine led to a managerial change. Under Graham Arnold, the former Australia coach, the squad remains in contention for a spot in the finals, although their squad value is nearly ten times less than that of South Korea.
Earlier this year, a disappointing Asian Cup campaign and internal issues prompted significant changes within the South Korea camp. Since then, they have gone unbeaten in 12 matches. Recent draws against Palestine, Oman and Jordan (all 1:1) featured an experimental line-up. South Korea lead Group B in attacking output, scoring 14 goals while conceding just seven over eight matches — the same number as Jordan and Iraq.
The two teams have faced each other three times since November 2021, with South Korea winning on every occasion. While Iraq will hope to take points at home against the group leaders, backing the visitors with a handicap (0) appears the more secure option.
| Team |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Played
Matches played
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
Goals
Goals
|
Points
Points
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
South Korea
|
1:1
|
3:2
|
1:1
|
0:0
|
4:0
|
8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
14:7
|
16 | |
|
2
Jordan
|
0:2
|
0:1
|
4:0
|
3:1
|
0:0
|
8 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
13:7
|
13 | |
|
3
Iraq
|
0:2
|
0:0
|
1:0
|
1:0
|
2:2
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
8:7
|
12 | |
|
4
Oman
|
1:3
|
0:3
|
0:1
|
1:0
|
4:0
|
8 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
8:10
|
10 | |
|
5
Palestine
|
1:1
|
1:3
|
2:1
|
1:1
|
2:2
|
8 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
7:12
|
6 | |
|
6
Kuwait
|
1:3
|
0:0
|
0:0
|
0:1
|
0:2
|
8 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
7:14
|
5 |
|
Graham James Arnold
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
|
Jalal Hassan Hachim
|
gk. | 10 | -3 |
|
Hussein Haydar Hussein Ali
|
df. | 13 | 1 |
|
Rebin Gharib Sulaka
|
df. | 13 | 0 |
Merchas Ghazi Salih Doski
|
df. | 9 | 0 |
|
Zaid Tahseen Abd Zaid Hantoosh
|
df. | 8 | 1 |
|
Ali Jasim El Aibi Al Tameemi
|
mf. | 14 | 2 |
Ibrahim Bayesh Kamil Al Kaabawi
|
mf. | 14 | 2 |
Amir Fouad Aboud Al Ammari
|
mf. | 13 | 1 |
|
Osama Jabbar Shafeeq Rashid
|
mf. | 7 | 1 |
Youssef Wali Faeq Amyn
|
fw. | 13 | 2 |
Ali Ibrahim Karim Al Hamadi
|
fw. | 4 | 1 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Ahmed Basil Fadhil Al Fadhli
|
gk. | 4 | -4 |
|
Fahad Talib Raheem
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ahmed Yahya Mhmood Al Hajjaj
|
df. | 5 | 0 |
|
Munaf Younus Hashim Al Tekreeti
|
df. | 5 | 0 |
|
Frans Dhia Jirjis Haddad
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
|
Ali Faez Atiyah
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Saad Natiq Naji
|
df. | 2 | 0 |
|
Hasan Abdulkareem Jabbar Sayyid
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
|
Marko Hussein Farji
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Mohammed Qasim Majid
|
mf. | 0 | 0 |
|
Myung-bo Hong
|
coach | ||
| Player | Matches | Goals | |
|
Line-up
|
|||
Hyeon-Woo Jo
|
gk. | 12 | -7 |
Young-Woo Seol
|
df. | 12 | 0 |
|
Yu-Min Cho
|
df. | 8 | 0 |
|
Kyung-Won Kwon
|
df. | 4 | 0 |
|
Tae-Seok Lee
|
df. | 3 | 0 |
Jae-Sung Lee
|
mf. | 14 | 4 |
In-Beom Hwang
|
mf. | 13 | 0 |
Kang-In Lee
|
mf. | 13 | 4 |
Yong-Woo Park
|
mf. | 9 | 0 |
Hee-Chan Hwang
|
fw. | 9 | 4 |
|
Se-Hun Oh
|
fw. | 8 | 2 |
|
Substitutes
|
|||
|
Chang-Geun Lee
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
|
Dong-Heon Kim
|
gk. | 0 | 0 |
Han-Beom Lee
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Hyun-Taek Cho
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Ju-Sung Kim
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Jun Choi
|
df. | 0 | 0 |
|
Jin-Seop Park
|
mf. | 2 | 1 |
|
Seon-Min Moon
|
mf. | 1 | 0 |
Hyeon-Gyu Oh
|
fw. | 7 | 2 |
Hyun-Jun Yang
|
fw. | 2 | 0 |
|
Jin-Gyu Kim
|
fw. | 0 | 0 |
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