Earlier this month, Iraq coach Graham Arnold was stranded in Fujairah, on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates, due to the Mideast war. He wondered if his national team would even be able to compete for one last chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
After traveling a long and winding road to reach Mexico, Arnold and Iraq will seek to return to a World Cup after an absence of 40 years when they face Bolivia in the final of their intercontinental playoff in Monterrey in northern Mexico on Tuesday.
