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Tuesday, March 18, 2025
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Kuwait set for Iraq test as World Cup qualifiers enter crucial phase

publish time

18/03/2025

publish time

18/03/2025

Kuwait players' last training session in Dubai.

BASRA, Iraq, March 18: Kuwait will wrap up its training session this evening, Wednesday, at the Basra Sports City Stadium in preparation for its crucial encounter against Iraq tomorrow, Thursday, in the seventh round of Group B matches for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

The Blues arrived yesterday afternoon from Dubai, where they had been in a training camp since March 9. During the camp, they played a single friendly match against China, which ended in a 3-1 defeat.

Kuwait currently sits in fifth place in Group B with four points. South Korea leads the group with 14 points, followed by Iraq with 11, Jordan with 9, Oman with 6, and Palestine with 3.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Football Association has announced the arrival of Mirjas Doski, a Viktoria Plzen player from the Czech Republic, and Zidane Iqbal, a forward for Dutch club Utrecht, to the national team camp in Basra this evening, Monday.

In an official statement, the Iraqi FA confirmed that the duo will join the national team's group training session tomorrow, Tuesday, before the squad is fully completed with the arrivals of Adam Rashid and Charbel Shimon.

Iraq continued its preparations this evening at Basra Sports City, with 25 players participating. The training session was attended by Adnan Darjal, Chairman of the Iraqi FA Board of Directors, Ahmed Al-Moussawi, a member of the Executive Office, and Badr Nasser, Chairman of the Basra Sub-Federation.

Iraq will host Kuwait on March 20 before traveling to face Palestine on March 25 in rounds 7 and 8 of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.

By Khaled Al-Enezi

Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff