Iraq men's national football team
Enable an AI agent to recognise Iraq's senior men's national football team, assess its sporting and operational state, and determine which representative-team actions are justified and authorised.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise Iraq's senior men's national football team, assess its sporting and operational state, and determine which representative-team actions are justified and authorised.
The Iraq men's national football team is the senior men's representative side of the Iraq Football Association in association football, selected to play official FIFA and AFC internationals and recognized as Iraq's A-team rather than any club, Olympic, or age-group side.
It can be Resolve an Iraq team reference to this registry entry or flag a likely youth, Olympic, club or unofficial-side mismatch.; Assemble an evidence-linked squad and availability view for an Iraq international window.; Assess Iraq's position and remaining pathways within a specified competition edition using its applicable rules.; Compare Iraq's performances across explicitly bounded periods while exposing changes in opposition and fixture classification.; Identify unresolved selection, venue or travel dependencies before proposing a team activity.; Prepare a recommendation or administrative draft for the responsible authority while distinguishing analysis from authorised selection or entry decisions..
Distinguishing features
The record identifies Iraq's senior men's association-football representative side, rather than an Iraqi club or another country's team.
A representative mandate ties the side to the competent Iraqi football authority; nationality, kit colours or a nickname alone do not establish identity.
A squad for a particular match or international window is a temporary selection belonging to the continuing team, not a replacement registry entity.
An Iraq-labelled Olympic or youth selection is not treated as this team solely because players or coaches overlap.
A fixture's senior international classification is checked independently of promotional descriptions, opponent identity and venue.
Scope
+ Continuity of Iraq's senior men's representative team across squad, coaching and administrative changes
+ Authority to select players and enter the team in international association football
+ Player eligibility, call-ups, availability and squad membership for specified windows
+ Coaching responsibility, preparation and evidence of sporting performance
+ Competition status, fixture recognition and match-specific hosting or travel constraints
- The Iraqi football governing association's corporate structure, finances and wider responsibilities
- Iraq's women's, youth, Olympic age-group, futsal and other separately constituted representative teams
- Players' complete biographies, club careers and private medical records
- The full rules and administration of international competitions
- Stadium ownership, infrastructure management and general national security conditions
Characteristics
- Representative mandate
- Authorising Iraqi football body, mandate evidence and effective dates Establishes who may act for the team and distinguishes it from unofficial representative selections.
- Team classification
- Country represented; senior or age-group level; men's category; association-football discipline Prevents results and squad records from other Iraqi national sides being merged into this entry.
- Competition participation state
- Per edition: prospective, entered, qualifying, qualified, active, eliminated, withdrawn, excluded or unresolved Determines which fixtures and progression scenarios are currently relevant.
- Window-specific squad status
- Player linked to a dated squad as called up, released, replaced or confirmed Separates enduring player association from a selection that applies to a specific commitment.
- Player eligibility determination
- Per player and applicable rules: confirmed, pending, disputed, ineligible or unknown, with evidence date Prevents heritage, citizenship reports or previous appearances from being treated as sufficient eligibility evidence.
- Selection availability
- Per player and fixture: available, unavailable, conditional or unknown, with a supported reason Keeps eligibility distinct from release, fitness, suspension and travel availability.
- Competitive performance
- Results, goals for and against, and points where applicable, bounded by fixture class and date range Supports assessments that distinguish official competition, friendlies and incomparable match samples.
- Fixture hosting status
- Proposed or confirmed venue; designated home, away or neutral status; applicable approval and restrictions Prevents a home designation from being mistaken for permission to play at a particular venue in Iraq.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Iraq representative identity Establishes which continuing representative side this entry denotes and whose authority supports its activities.
Iraq-labelled teams and temporary squads can overlap in personnel without sharing the senior men's team's identity.
Senior side boundaries
Separates this team from neighbouring Iraqi representative selections.
Classification before attribution
The model must require evidence of representative level and football discipline before attributing a squad, fixture or result to this team.
- What authoritative designation identifies the referenced side as Iraq's senior men's association-football team? definition
- Could this record instead concern Iraq's Olympic, youth, futsal or unofficial representative selection? boundary
Mandate and continuity
Tracks representative authority without equating the team with its governing organisation.
Dated representative authority
The model must connect team decisions to the competent authority and preserve identity across changes in staff and administration.
- Which Iraqi football authority is evidenced as responsible for this team's selection and international entries for the period concerned? provenance
- Does a reported organisational change alter the team's mandate, restrict participation or merely change who administers it? boundary
Iraq selection and eligibility Represents who may play for Iraq and who has actually been selected for a particular commitment.
Connections to Iraq, international eligibility, call-up and practical availability are separate determinations.
Eligibility evidence
Handles the basis for representing Iraq, including cases involving another national association.
Eligibility requires a supported determination
The model must distinguish a reported connection to Iraq from eligibility under the rules applicable to the player and fixture.
- What evidence establishes this player's eligibility to represent Iraq under the applicable rules? provenance
- Is any required association-change decision or other eligibility determination still pending before selection can be relied upon? action
Dated squad composition
Tracks official selections, replacements and availability for a defined Iraq match window.
Call-up versus availability
The model must preserve the difference between an announced Iraq call-up and a player being available for a specific fixture.
- Which dated squad announcement or replacement notice supports this player's inclusion? provenance
- What confirmed release, suspension, fitness or travel condition affects the player's availability for the named Iraq fixture? measurement
Iraq competition pathways Locates Iraq within specific international competitions and separates recognised fixtures from other team activity.
Qualification, progression and result attribution depend on the edition, stage and recognised status of each match.
Entry and progression
Records Iraq's participation and remaining routes through a competition edition.
Edition-specific standing
The model must express Iraq's standing against the actual format, results and decisions governing the named edition.
- What is Iraq's evidenced entry and progression state in the specified World Cup, Asian Cup or other competition edition? measurement
- Which remaining results, tie-break rules or official decisions determine Iraq's possible next stages? action
Fixture recognition
Establishes which Iraq matches belong in each competitive and statistical account.
Recognised match record
The model must retain fixture classification and official result status, including later corrections or administrative outcomes.
- Which responsible authority classifies this Iraq fixture as a senior international, and is it competitive, friendly or another category? provenance
- Is the recorded outcome played, awarded, abandoned, cancelled or subsequently amended, and how does that affect its use? boundary
Iraq sporting readiness Connects coaching responsibility and preparation to a bounded assessment of Iraq's playing capability.
An agent needs to judge readiness for Iraq's next commitment without treating reputation or isolated results as sufficient evidence.
Technical direction
Identifies who directs the senior team and what preparation is supported by evidence.
Coaching tenure and preparation
The model must date technical appointments and distinguish announced training plans from completed preparation.
- Who holds evidenced technical responsibility for Iraq during this window, including any interim arrangement? provenance
- Which camps, training sessions and preparation matches have been confirmed or completed for the upcoming commitment? measurement
Performance interpretation
Makes assessments of Iraq's form traceable to comparable observations.
Bounded form assessment
The model must identify the match sample and contextual limits behind claims about Iraq's strengths, weaknesses or improvement.
- What do Iraq's results and supported performance measures show over the chosen period and fixture class? measurement
- How do opponent strength, venue, squad continuity and coaching changes limit the conclusions available from that sample? boundary
Iraq fixture delivery Captures the approvals and practical dependencies that determine whether Iraq can fulfil a specific match commitment.
Nominal home status, venue approval and the ability to assemble and move the selected squad require separate evidence.
Hosting and venue permission
Distinguishes home designation from the approved location and conditions of play.
Fixture-specific hosting evidence
The model must establish venue permission for each relevant Iraq fixture without generalising from historical restrictions or approvals.
- Where is this Iraq home-designated fixture approved to be played, by whom, and under what dated conditions? provenance
- What unresolved approval or venue condition would require relocation, postponement or a revised match plan? action
Assembly and travel
Records match-specific dependencies for bringing Iraq's selected personnel together.
Operational readiness and authority
The model must expose unresolved squad assembly and travel dependencies and identify who can authorise the corresponding operational response.
- Which documented arrival, entry-permission, transport or scheduling dependencies remain unresolved for Iraq's selected personnel? measurement
- Who may approve a replacement, itinerary change or escalation, and what may an agent prepare within its delegated authority? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- FIFA A-team (senior men's)
- AFC Asian Cup squad
- FIFA World Cup qualifying squad
- Arabian Gulf Cup squad
- WAFF Championship squad
- Olympic / U-23 side (often nicknamed similarly but a distinct team)
- youth age-group sides (U-20, U-17)
- futsal and beach soccer national teams (same association, different codes)
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q186243 - Iraq men's senior national football team
- FIFA country code - IRQ - Three-letter code used in FIFA competitions and ranking lists
- FIFA numeric code - 368 - Numeric association code in FIFA systems
- IOC country code - IRQ - Same trigram as FIFA; Olympic football is a different team (U-23 plus overage)
- AFC member association - Iraq Football Association (IFA) - The body that fields the team
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- IFAB Laws of the Game (International Football Association Board) - on-field play
- FIFA Statutes and FIFA Regulations Governing International Matches - eligibility, official A-matches, ranking points
- FIFA Laws and Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players - player release for internationals
- AFC Statutes and competition regulations (Asian Cup, World Cup qualifiers in the AFC zone)
- Iraq Football Association statutes and selection rules - domestic nomination of the senior men's side
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- FIFA World Cup qualification in the AFC zone and, when qualified, the World Cup finals (one appearance: 1986)
- AFC Asian Cup (winners in 2007 in Jakarta; regular finalists/quarter-finalists thereafter)
- Arabian Gulf Cup (regional men's tournament among Arabian Gulf associations; Iraq are multiple-time winners, including 1979, 1984, 1988, 2023)
- WAFF Championship and other West Asian invitational events
- FIFA ranking lists, broadcasting rights packages, and national-team commercial kit contracts (Adidas historically; others in later cycles)
- Diplomatic and domestic political symbolism: the 2007 Asian Cup win was widely treated as a rare post-2003 national unifying event
- Home matches historically split among Basra International Stadium, Franso Hariri Stadium (Erbil), and, for long periods, neutral venues (Amman, Doha, Sharjah, Malmö, etc.) because of security
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- FIFA men's ranking - roughly 40-80 in the 2010s-2020s, with peaks near the top 40 after major tournament runs and troughs outside the top 80 - rank (dimensionless)
- A-match appearances (career, individual) - 1-140+ caps; modern era leaders exceed 100 - caps (official A-internationals)
- Squad size for a FIFA window / tournament - 23-26 for tournaments; 18-26 for a typical window - players
- Match duration - 90 plus stoppage; extra time 30 when required - minutes
- World Cup finals appearances - 1 (Mexico 1986) - tournaments
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- FIFA or AFC sanctions for crowd violence, pitch invasions, or administrative breaches (match behind closed doors, venue bans, point deductions)
- Player-release disputes with foreign clubs during FIFA windows
- Forced exile of 'home' matches to third countries after war, occupation, or security incidents (notably 2003-2010s)
- Political interference in the Iraq Football Association, including FIFA normalisations of the IFA when government or factional control is judged to breach FIFA's independence rules
- Match-fixing and eligibility fraud (ineligible players, age fraud more typical of youth sides but reputationally attached to the association)
- Crowd crushes and stadium-safety failures at high-demand fixtures
- Sectarian or regional boycotts of venues or of particular players, splitting the supposed national side along Baghdad / Kurdistan / Basra lines
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Arabic: المنتخب العراقي لكرة القدم (al-muntakhab al-ʿirāqī); nicknames أسود الرافدين / Lions of Mesopotamia, widely used in Arabic media
- Kurdish media may emphasise players from Erbil/Duhok/Sulaymaniyah and treat Franso Hariri as a true home, while federal Arabic media historically centred Baghdad
- Gulf Cup context treats Iraq as a Gulf side; AFC context treats it as West Asian; some older European sources still filed it under 'Middle East' without the Gulf Cup frame
- Home-venue practice has varied by era: Al-Shaab (Baghdad) historically, then long neutral-venue periods, then Basra as the de facto fortress after the 2013 Gulf Cup hosting
- Kit and federation English names have shifted (Iraq FA / IFA; 'lions of Mesopotamia' vs older 'lions of the two rivers')
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Iraq women's national football team - Separate FIFA women's ranking, different match calendar and eligibility list; not the A-team referred to in men's World Cup or Gulf Cup records
- Iraq Olympic / U-23 football team - Age-restricted (U-23 plus up to three overage at the Olympics); Olympic results are not A-match statistics and do not confer a senior World Cup place by themselves
- Iraqi club sides (Al-Shorta, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Zawraa, Erbil SC, etc.) - Clubs play the Iraq Stars League and AFC club competitions; players are loaned to the national side, not the other way around
- Iraq Football Association (the governing body) - The IFA is the member association; the team is one of the sides it fields. FIFA membership and statutes attach to the association, not to the XI
- Iraq national teams in futsal, beach soccer, or other football codes - Different IFAB/FIFA discipline, different ranking lists, overlapping nickname in casual speech
- Kurdistan Region representative / 'Kurdistan national' sides - Not FIFA- or AFC-recognised; ConIFA/NF-Board circuits. Players may also be eligible for Iraq's FIFA side
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Iraq men's national football team this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Iraq - FIFA membership and senior men's national-team identity
- Iraq Football Association - Governing association, AFC membership, and that the senior men's side is the IFA's representative team
- Iraq national football team (Q186243) - Stable item identifier, FIFA/AFC codes, and distinction from women's, Olympic, and club sides
- FIFA Statutes - Eligibility, international-match status, and the legal distinction of a national A-team
What the second pass must settle
- Does an existing Vercy world model already cover this exact senior men's team, requiring this registry entry to link to that publication?
- Which authoritative records establish the team's representative mandate and historical continuity, including any disputed periods?
- Which source hierarchy should resolve disagreements over Iraq squad announcements, player eligibility determinations and senior international match attribution?
- What dated decisions currently govern venue approval and hosting conditions for Iraq's relevant fixtures?
- Which performance and availability evidence is sufficiently reliable and accessible to support readiness judgments, and which judgments must remain unresolved?