“What we did before, it’s nothing up to now because if we don’t achieve our goal tomorrow you won’t remember the game against Indonesia, the game we played in Bahrain so the most important is tomorrow,” said Herve Renard.
It’s a winners-take-all match with the victors booking their place at the FIFA World Cup 2026 while the beaten side will advance to a playoff against the Group A runners-up, with the winners to bid for one final chance in the FIFA Playoff Tournament.
Both achieved wins against Indonesia with Saudi Arabia’s 3-2 success giving them a slight advantage over Iraq – who picked up a 1-0 win – with the group hosts needing only a draw to take the automatic berth.
Herve Renard’s side have had better recovery time, having played on Wednesday but the Frenchman will be without midfielder Mohamed Kanno who was sent off in stoppage time against Indonesia.
Renard’s faith in the dynamic 23-year-old Saleh Alshamat – who only had three international caps prior to the Indonesia match – paid off handsomely with the Al Ahli Saudi FC forward netting the equaliser against Indonesia. Feras Albrikan is also in good form, having bagged a brace.
It is the defence, however, that is a cause of concern for the French tactician with Indonesia registering 17 shots, 10 of which were on target with Renard urging his players to keep their concentration for this crucial encounter.
“What we did before, it’s nothing up to now because if we don’t achieve our goal tomorrow you won’t remember the game against Indonesia, the game we played in Bahrain so the most important is tomorrow,” said Renard.
“I’m lucky because I have some players with experience like Saleh Al Shehri, Salem Al Dawsari our captain, now Hassan Al Tambakti is getting more experience. I always tell them to stay focused, it’s not always easy with the Saudi players but the most important is when they are listening, so we prepare for this game very quietly. We are concentrated on our goal and we don’t have to do something else, just focus on us. This is the most important.”
Head coach Graham Arnold is charting an appearance on the global stage for just the second time for Iraq.
Iraq only failed to score in three of the 16 matches since Round 2 of the Qualifiers but the availability of topscorer Aymen Hussein remains in doubt after the forward wasn’t in the matchday squad on Saturday.
Like his counterpart Renard, Arnold will also have to contend with a suspension with centre-back Zaid Tahseen unavailable following his red card in the closing minutes of the tie against Indonesia but the Australian tactician believes that his Iraq side will be heading into the match under less pressure than their rivals.
“Everything is great,” said Arnold. “It’s a very special game tomorrow night and it’s one I’m really excited about.
“I think the pressure’s more on Saudi. They have in their brain two ways to qualify, that is draw or win. We have one way and that’s win. So our full focus is going out and go for it.
“We’ve already captured the spot for the playoff in November and we go for it because Saudi will have 90 percent of the fans, the pressure from the media, pressure from FIFA so the pressure is on Saudi.”
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