Australian coach Graham Arnold, the coach of the Iraqi national team, confirmed that his team relies on two important factors before facing Indonesia at the start of their campaign in the decisive Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Arnold said at the press conference held before the match:

He added: "The Iraqi team continues its training in preparation for the match against the strong opponent Indonesia, which has shown great potential in its match against Saudi Arabia, and we are preparing for the scenarios of the match and looking forward to achieving a positive result, and things are going very well since our arrival in Jeddah."

He continued: "The discipline rate among the players of the national team reaches 100%, and there are no issues, everyone is ready to play, and we rely on these two important factors to achieve the desired result."

He added: "Focusing on the referee and his decisions will reduce concentration; the players will focus only on the tasks assigned to them and implement the ideas we have set, and we will work to control any similar situations through our performance on the pitch, and the players watched the match between Saudi Arabia and Indonesia and learned from it."

He also added: "As a coach, I have gone through many difficult and decisive matches like this, and we will focus on each match separately; currently, we have one match, which is against Indonesia, and after that, we will open the preparation for the match against Saudi Arabia. We are preparing the players mentally and will not think about both matches together."

Regarding the physical fitness of the players, Arnold said:

He clarified: "There is a significant difference compared to the previous period; the players have become more prepared thanks to their continuous participation with their clubs, and they are now ready to play matches."

Regarding the possibility of the striker Ayman Hussein participating, Arnold pointed out:

He explained: "We have not finalized Ayman Hussein's situation yet; during the last training session, things will become clear, and our goal is for the players to be in optimal readiness for tomorrow's match, and we will see how ready he is in training."

For his part, Iraqi national team player Rabin Solaka expressed his optimism before the match, saying:

He added: "The readiness that the team is experiencing is unprecedented, and there is great enthusiasm and momentum from everyone; we rely on the fans' support and hope for its continuation to achieve the dream of qualifying for the World Cup together, as it is a long-awaited dream."

The Iraqi national team is preparing today to conduct its last training session before facing Indonesia, in which the Lions of Mesopotamia hope to achieve victory and ensure second place at least in the Asian playoff.