What Are the Reasons for Iraq's Defeat Against France in the World Cup

The Iraqi national team suffered a new loss in the 2026 World Cup held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, this time against France, in a match that brought the two teams together at the Philadelphia stadium, as part of the second round of the group stage in the tournament.

The Iraqi team had previously lost to Norway with a score of (4-1) in its first World Cup match last Wednesday, in a game that witnessed a historic goal by striker Ayman Hussein and a distinguished appearance by the "Lions of Mesopotamia" in the first half, before the players later collapsed.

In this match, four scenes stood out from the performance of the Iraqi team, which faced the French team for the first time in its history. The task was difficult as they faced first-class players like Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, and others.

The Iraqi team entered the match against France with a strong and confident performance, showing great cohesion in the first half and being good defensively, as the first half ended with a clean goal scored by Mbappe from a long shot.

While everyone expected the Iraqi team to enter the match with three players in the heart of defense, to be conservative and close spaces against France, Iraq played with its usual plan with a four-man defense consisting of Hussein Ali, Zaid Tahseen, Akam Hashim, and Mirhas Doski, all of whom were outstanding in the first half.

There is no doubt that Ayman Hussein is one of the best players in Iraq's lineup, and with his exit, the Iraqi team lost much of its shine. This is what happened today when the striker left the field injured in the 26th minute.

Ayman's departure affected the team's situation. Although Ali Al-Hammadi participated and tried to perform the offensive roles, he could not fill the void left by the goal scorer against Norway, as initial indications suggest the player suffered a groin muscle injury that might prevent him from playing against Senegal.

The Hadith states that "a believer is not stung from the same hole twice," but unfortunately, defender Zaid Tahseen could not avoid the same mistake in the match against France, giving the Roosters their second goal at a critical time.

Zaid Tahseen committed a new mistake by powerfully passing the ball, causing goalkeeper Ahmed Basil to err in today's match, repeating the scene that happened with goalkeeper Jalal Hassan in the Norway match when he passed the ball slowly and striker Erling Haaland exploited it to score the second goal.

This was the first time the halftime period took a long time due to bad weather and thunderstorms that caused the match to be stopped for a long period of two hours.

The break did not positively reflect on Iraq's situation because the team's form changed compared to before that storm, becoming more confused, and after Zaid Tahseen's error, things worsened, and the Iraqi team could no longer keep up with its competitor.

The Iraqi team will play against Senegal in the third and final round of the group stage in the 2026 World Cup at ten o'clock in the evening next Friday, Mecca and Baghdad time, while the French team will face Norway on the same day.