Iraq World Cup Journey: Graham Arnold Urges Pride In Performance Despite Defeats

Senegal kept hopes of reaching the last 32 of the 2026 FIFA World Cup alive with a 5-0 win over Iraq at Toronto Stadium, recording the biggest World Cup victory by an African nation, while Iraq left the tournament without a point from three matches.

The match also continued Iraq’s difficult history at the finals, as the team have now lost all six World Cup games played, sharing the record for most matches with a 100% defeat rate, though coach Graham Arnold insisted the squad should still feel pride.

Senegal struck first through Habib Diarra, who scored before Rebin Sulaka received a red card in the 13th minute, and that dismissal made Iraq only the second team to have a player sent off and concede within the first 15 minutes of a World Cup game.

Senegal did not immediately exploit the extra player and Iraq reached half-time just one goal behind, but Ismaila Sarr doubled the advantage with a strike in the 56th minute, opening the scoring surge that later saw Pape Gueye net twice and Iliman Ndiaye add a late fifth.

The result meant Senegal became the first African side to score five goals in a World Cup match and also delivered Senegal’s largest victory at any major tournament, underlining the scale of Iraq’s defeat in Toronto despite two competitive earlier performances in the group.

Arnold highlighted the broader gap between domestic football in Iraq and the international level, stating: "Everyone in Iraq should be proud of the fact that we made it here and we performed very well in two out of the three games. The reality is, your national team is as strong as your local league. If your local league is not that strong, when you play against these type of opponents, you get punished."

Arnold described the players’ step up in opposition quality, explaining that many squad members had only watched such stars on television before this tournament and were facing this standard for the first time, which contributed to the shock during key moments against Senegal.

He reflected on the campaign and qualification path, saying his initial task had been to secure a World Cup spot for Iraq after a 40-year absence, which Arnold called a "miracle", and stressed the value of learning from mistakes made on this stage despite three defeats.

Arnold expanded on that experience for the group, adding: "These boys, they’ve only ever seen these kinds of players play on TV. They’ve never played against this calibre of players before. Everything about it, it was a surprise to them. My job when I first came in was to qualify them for the World Cup. The miracle happened. It’s been an enjoyable journey, an enjoyable World Cup, even if the results haven’t been that great. But hopefully, the players will go away from this, enjoying the experience of being at a World Cup for the first time in 40 years, but also learning from mistakes."

The match timeline underlined how the pattern shifted after half-time.

Senegal coach Pape Thiaw still identified areas to work on despite the margin, telling reporters: "Even though we scored five goals, there are still improvements to be made," and Senegal must now wait for Saturday’s fixtures to confirm whether England will be their opponents in the next round.

The heavy defeat ended Iraq’s World Cup journey, yet the campaign delivered rare finals experience for the squad and coaching staff, set against a backdrop of a long absence from the competition and underlined by Arnolds repeated message that qualification itself represented an important achievement.