Indonesian Vs Iraq National Team: Mission To Break Eggs

JAKARTA - The Indonesian national team will face Iraq in the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualification in the Asian Zone at the Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, Thursday, June 6, 2024.

Garuda's squad not only targeted victory in that match, but also wanted to break a bad record over Iraq.

During five meetings, the Indonesian national team has always lost against Iraq in various events since 2006.

No wonder, this meeting has a mission to win so that two targets are achieved at once.

Victory will bring Shin Tae-yong's team to the third round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers as well as breaking eggs for the first time beating Iraq.

Shin Tae-yong has certainly reflected on the two meetings against Iraq since he led the Red and White Team.

The first encounter occurred in the 2026 World Cup Qualification on November 16, 2023. When they visited the Iraqi headquarters, the Indonesian national team lost 1-5.

The intention of revenge resurfaced when Indonesia and Iraq were brought together in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup. However, the Garuda Squad again had to recognize Iraq's advantage with a score of 1-3 in the tournament that took place in Qatar.

This time they clashed again. The motivation of the Indonesian national team is clearly bigger than the previous two meetings.

In addition to the factor of playing at home alone, the mentality of Garuda employees has been tested after going through several major tournaments.

The Indonesian national team will certainly be much different later than when they met Iraq twice before.

Moreover, a series of preparations have been carried out by the Red-White Team since May 28, 2024. In fact, they have already played a test match against Tanzania on June 2, 2024, which ended with a score of 0-0.

No wonder the match is predicted to be tight. Even though Iraq has confirmed their qualifying for the third round as winners of Group F of the second round, they will still perform optimally.

The draw seems to be the most realistic score in the Indonesia vs Iraq match if you look at the home ambitions and the strength of the visitors.

Head-to-Head Indonesia vs Iraq

15/01/24 Indonesia 1-3 Iraq (Asian Cup 2023)

16/11/23 Iraq 5-1 Indonesia (World Cup Qualification 2026)

19/11/13 Indonesia 0-2 Iraq (2015 Asian Cup Qualification)

06/02/13 Iraq 1-0 Indonesia (2015 Asian Cup Qualification)

18/11/06 Indonesia 0-6 Iraq (Asian Games 2006)