# 267: Graham Arnold & One Of The Sports Stories Of The Year (Part B)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 29 Apr 2026, 40 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/cj0zif3azh9kv044ry9a5kf8.mp3

The former Socceroos coach walked into the unknown… and emerged a national hero in Iraq. The details behind this extraordinary World Cup qualifying journey will take your breath away. If you haven't, take a listen to Arnie’s full story back on Episode 221, the grit, the setbacks, the relentless belief. But what has unfolded since is something else entirely. At the helm of Iraq national football team, Arnold has guided a nation of 46 million people to their first World Cup appearance in 40-years. It’s been a journey that’s had everything: chaos, courage, pressure, pride… and moments that were as frightening as they were inspiring. This is the story of the Lions of Mesopotamia rising again. Now, it's time for the group of excitement at the World Cup. This story already sits among the most extraordinary in world sport, and Graham Arnold isn't done yet! *** Follow the Howie Games on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehowiegamespod/ Follow the Howie Games on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thehowiegames *** Download the Saily app (iOS or Android) and use the promo code howie at checkout for 15% off. Visit https://saily.com/howie to get started See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:07] You are listening to episode 267 of the Howie Games Part B, featuring Aussie Graham Arnold and the pride of Iraqi football, the Lions of Mesopotamia.
[0:17] Roll it, Tommy.
[0:17] Tommy.
[0:19] Arnie, this is the bit where it really becomes fascinating for me because you're scheduled to head off to Mexico and eventually the game is played on the 1st of April, 2026, which we'll get to that point.
[0:32] But world events intervene.
[0:36] So what's...
[0:39] What's your memory of what occurred?
[0:41] And were you in Iraq or were you back in Australia?
[0:45] Like what happened?
[0:47] I was just saying this, Howie.
[0:49] I lived for six, seven months in Baghdad because I wanted to understand the culture of the people.
[0:54] Yep.
[0:54] Because I didn't want to try and change the Iraqi boys to become Australians.
[1:00] I had to adapt to them.
[1:02] I love that.
[1:02] With their sleep patterns, with praying times, prayer times, how they eat, when they eat.
[1:09] and things like that.
[1:11] So I lived there for six or seven months, and as I said, I felt safe the whole time.
[1:16] But the first, after the South Korea-Jordan game, the war broke out between Iran and Israel.
[1:24] Yep.
[1:25] And the bombs were going pretty much over the top of Baghdad.
[1:28] When you were there?
[1:29] I was there.
[1:30] So tell me about that experience.
[1:32] Well, I heard the helicopters one morning right opposite the Babylon River is the U.S. Embassy.
[1:39] And I heard the helicopters at 4 o'clock in the morning.
[1:42] I'm thinking, what's that noise?
[1:43] I got up and had a look out, saw the helicopters.
[1:46] Next morning comes out that Donald Trump has evacuated the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad in fear of...
[1:55] the Iranians attacking the US embassy.
[2:00] And so then I got advice from the Australian embassy, ambassador Glenn Miles, to get out of Baghdad.
[2:09] I had to drive.
[2:11] I got driven down because the airspace got shut, drive down through the borders of Kuwait to get on a plane and get out, to get out of Iraq that way.
[2:22] This time,
[2:24] It was much harder.
[2:26] I went from Baghdad, I went to Dubai.
[2:30] So you were in Baghdad?
[2:32] Sorry, go on.
[2:32] No, I was in Baghdad at the time.
[2:34] And just before the war broke out, I went on the 24th of February, I went to Dubai to watch two of my two players who play in the local league in the UAE.
[2:45] And my wife was on her way back from London as her mother has dementia and she went over there to see her.
[2:52] And I said, okay, well, I'll go watch these two players.
[2:54] Let's catch up on your way back so you fly London to Dubai.
[2:59] And I said, and we'll have four days.
[3:01] I've got to come back to Baghdad and she goes back to Sydney.
[3:05] We are sitting in the hotel in, if you know what the UAE is like, people will understand it when I say it.
[3:11] On one side of the UAE you've got Dubai.
[3:14] On the other side, you've got a place called Fujita, which is on the Storm Hood Outs, the river that they're blocked now, the Hormuts.
[3:27] And so we were there and I went to watch a player play at 8.45am on the 28th of Feb.
[3:36] I was due to go home at 1pm.
[3:40] A bomb went off like I'd never heard before in my life.
[3:45] Israel had attacked Iran and killed Bolida, right, that bomb.
[3:52] And it was so loud, I said to my wife,
[3:57] My God, what was that?
[3:58] And she's gone, geez, the building was half shaken.
[4:01] All right?
[4:03] And it's only a couple of kilometres of river in width, all right, and then Iran's across from the UAE.
[4:11] So then we were packing our bags as I was going back to Baghdad.
[4:15] I was going to go back to Baghdad, one o'clock flight.
[4:18] We had the driver pick us up and just before we left the room, I said to my wife, let me just check and see if there's something on the news.
[4:26] BBC News, I put it on.
[4:28] Breaking news, breaking news, breaking news.
[4:31] Israel's just dropped a bomb on Iran and killed the leader.
[4:35] And I've gone, oh, my God, here we go.
[4:38] Next thing we get in the car, as I said, going back towards the airport, and the driver says, sorry, airport's been shut.
[4:48] The airspace is shut due to missile attacks and that.
[4:53] And I said, well, yeah, I said, so what does that mean?
[4:56] He said, well, you can't fly anywhere.
[4:58] So I went to a place called where I took the Socceroos many times, a place, a training facility and a hotel, beautiful resort, called Jebel Ali.
[5:09] So we went there.
[5:11] Honestly, Howie, just unpacking the bags in Jebel Ali, the hotel, a bomb goes off about 750 metres away where the cargo ships and the air freight, where the cargo freight and everything is, and it shook the hotel apart like you wouldn't believe.
[5:32] 750 metres away.
[5:33] I did take a photo of a piece of ash from the bomb a few days later.
[5:37] It was about the size of a discus.
[5:41] So are you frightened?
[5:42] Are you physically frightened about the situation?
[5:44] No.
[5:46] Well, not really because you're in a resort and you sort of think, well, they're not going to attack this resort, but just in case something happens by mistake.
[5:56] And then when you can hear the fighter planes going all around you and that you're worried about potential drones or missiles.
[6:04] So that went off and then all of a sudden on my phone I'm getting emergency alert
[6:11] You know, it's E or E or E or get back inside, you know, stay in your room, get away from windows, stay safe.
[6:21] We will let you know when it's safe again.
[6:23] So I was stuck in Dubai for...
[6:26] About 10 days.
[6:27] My wife, I managed after four days to open a few flights, a bit of airspace.
[6:33] But the only airspace they opened was flying away from Dubai to the east, back towards Australia or Asia.
[6:42] So I managed to get her on that flight on my way out.
[6:46] But I was stuck in Dubai for another six days.
[6:49] And I was probably only one of five people left in the hotel by the time I managed to get out of there.
[6:57] So this is all on the path to what needs to be a game in Mexico.
[7:05] You don't know you're playing Bolivia at that stage because they've still got another period to go through.
[7:10] So lead me through the run-up to this game because...
[7:14] Well, I don't know about you, but reading about it, your boys can't get there for a start.
[7:19] It was horrendous, mate.
[7:20] I was on the phone in Jebel Ali every day to FIFA.
[7:26] And I don't know if you saw, I did a BBC interview, CNN interview, and I asked for the game to be postponed.
[7:33] Saw that.
[7:33] Because it's not fair.
[7:34] Yeah.
[7:35] It wouldn't be fair if you could only get kind of a B team to this game, right?
[7:42] That would not be a satisfactory solution.
[7:44] What has FIFA's engagement been like with you?
[7:47] Are they receptive to your issues and concerns?
[7:51] Yeah, the communication with FIFA in the AFC has been very good with the president, Adnan.
[7:57] You know, all we can do is I've got to prepare that the game is on and we're going.
[8:01] I would, as I said, for me...
[8:05] You know, the question, there's a couple of big questions.
[8:07] One is, is Iran going to go to the World Cup?
[8:11] or if they're not going to go to the World Cup, it would give FIFA time to make that decision.
[8:16] If we had that playoff game the week before the World Cup starts, Bolivia and Suriname can play in March, they've got no complications with flights or anything, they can get themselves there straight away.
[8:30] And we can play the winner of that game just before the World Cup starts.
[8:34] The winner stays to play the World Cup, the loser goes home.
[8:37] But, and that would also give FIFA the time
[8:40] to, you know, deal with the Iran situation if they go or if they don't go?
[8:45] My biggest concern was we originally had a chartered flight from Baghdad directly to Monterey from the Prime Minister of Iraq, which was great support, but obviously with the airspace shutdown, they couldn't do that.
[9:03] So then all of a sudden,
[9:05] All the players and backroom staff, when I say that, not the technical staff, the backroom staff, they're all stuck in Baghdad.
[9:14] So the biggest concern was, obviously, how do I get them out?
[9:18] So I said to FIFA, this is not fair, this is not right.
[9:21] I can't get these players out.
[9:24] So how are we going to play this game?
[9:27] And FIFA, I'll be honest with you, they were fantastic where they helped out with,
[9:32] getting a chartered flight for us from Amman in Jordan.
[9:39] So the players had to get on a bus with security, police escort, from Baghdad to Amman in Jordan, took them 28 hours in a bus.
[9:52] They were then in a hotel that was meant to be in there.
[9:55] They were meant to be in there for eight hours.
[9:58] But due to missile attacks and drone attacks, and some of them, a couple of bombs went off very close to the hotel.
[10:06] Players got stuck there for 30 hours.
[10:09] Then, finally, FIFA were able to get the chartered flight into Amman.
[10:14] The airspace opened a little bit and let...
[10:19] let FIFA in with the plane and then the players were able to get on that flight and fly from there to Lisbon to Portugal and then from there to Monterey, which was about another 18-hour flight.
[10:35] So the leading up to it was very, very difficult.
[10:40] But, you know, I don't know, again, if you saw, but they arrived at 2 a.m. in the morning.
[10:45] I greeted them when they arrived.
[10:47] That fantastic vision.
[10:48] They're getting off the bus and there you are saying, righto.
[10:51] What are you saying?
[10:52] Yeah.
[10:52] But the biggest, again, Howie, the biggest thing was the day after I gave them pretty much the day off to recover, relax, relax,
[11:02] First meeting, social media band meeting.
[11:07] Because I had to be very, very cautious on the way I said it because of what was going on in the Middle East at that time.
[11:19] And I said to them, you know, I said to the players, listen, you've got to trust your family.
[11:23] I understand your concerns that you have for your family, your concerns for friends and everything that's going on in the Middle East at the moment.
[11:31] But if you're going to sit there and read social media about it, you've got to trust your parents or your friends will call you if anything happens.
[11:42] If you want to call your family, no problem, call them.
[11:45] But please, don't look at social media and see until 6am in the morning, 5am in the morning, reading everything that's going on in the Middle East.
[11:56] If we do that, we will not win this game.
[12:02] Let's use it as motivation.
[12:05] Let's do the Middle East proud.
[12:07] And the only way we can do that is get a good night's sleep, get off social media, and be mentally ready for the biggest moment of your life.
[12:18] So Iraq versus Bolivia.
[12:20] Bolivia get through.
[12:22] So Bolivia, a proud South American football nation, gets to April 1, 2026.
[12:26] So if people are still following, this is Australia versus Uruguay.
[12:30] This is at the MCG, Australia versus Iran.
[12:33] The winner...
[12:34] Gets the last place, it's got to be said, in the World Cup.
[12:37] Everyone else is qualified.
[12:39] The loser, she's back in the qualifying pool, and we'll see you in four years' time.
[12:43] So this is the ultimate jeopardy in world football at the Estadio BBVA Monterrey, Mexico.
[12:51] Now, I read Arnie.
[12:54] that you mentioned earlier on holidays, I read that the time this was going back into Iraq, the public servants, a bit of the old Bob Hawke, anyone that sacks their worker is a bum, the public servants were told they could turn up to work late so they could watch this game.
[13:12] So that's how big the background is of what you and your boys are about to do, mate.
[13:16] Yeah, I think it was 6 a.m. in the morning in Baghdad in Iraq.
[13:20] But...
[13:22] No, it was insane.
[13:24] The match day was, I just had this gut feeling from the moment I woke up.
[13:30] And, you know, things happen for a reason in life, if you believe it.
[13:34] But the last time Iraq qualified was 1986 and the World Cup was in Mexico.
[13:41] Of course.
[13:42] And here we were 40 years later playing off the big game in Mexico.
[13:47] And it was like it was meant to happen.
[13:50] And, you know, match day, as I said, I just woke up and my gut was saying, it's going to happen.
[13:57] It's going to happen.
[13:58] We're going to win this.
[13:59] And I really believed in the players technically and tactically and that, that we would be right.
[14:07] We had one small issue, match day.
[14:09] It was about 5,000 Iraqis outside the hotel, our hotel, and...
[14:18] You know, I love being an old man.
[14:21] I love my afternoon nap match day at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon until about 4.35, and the players like to have a nap, especially when you're having a 9 p.m. kickoff at night.
[14:35] We were staying at the Hilton Hotel.
[14:37] I was on the sixth floor, but it was only eight floors high.
[14:40] The players were on the third floor.
[14:43] And I went up to my room, 2.30, to have a bit of a nap,
[14:47] And all I could hear was boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
[14:52] Iraq.
[14:52] Boom, boom, boom, boom.
[14:53] Iraq.
[14:54] Boom, boom, boom, boom.
[14:55] I'm thinking, oh, my God, I can't sleep.
[14:59] So I got up and went downstairs, right, and the lobby was jam-packed and we had security that was like all the way across the lobby so no one could get, like any more people could get in the lobby.
[15:13] Outside where the driveway was.
[15:16] Two or three thousand Iraqis.
[15:17] That's where the band, the drums are getting beat.
[15:21] I've come down.
[15:22] I'm bashing on the door trying to get the security.
[15:25] I opened the door and I ended up, one of them's open.
[15:28] He goes, what's wrong?
[15:30] What's up?
[15:30] What's up?
[15:30] I said, they've got to stop.
[15:33] I can't sleep.
[15:34] They've got to stop.
[15:36] And the security led me through out to the band.
[15:40] And there was one security guard that was, honestly, he was about...
[15:46] two and a half metres tall.
[15:48] He was massive.
[15:50] And he had the loudest voice and he yelled out, he yelled out, shut up, shut up.
[15:57] The coach wants to talk to you.
[15:58] The coach, coach is here.
[16:02] And I'm standing there and they've all seen me and they're looking at me and I said, please, please, no more singing, no more drums,
[16:12] We can't sleep.
[16:14] Do you want to affect the performance tonight?
[16:17] If you keep this up, there's a big chance we won't win.
[16:22] Honestly, they looked at me.
[16:24] They were dead silent.
[16:26] One guy says, who was beating the drums, he goes, coach, okay, no problem, but what time can I start again?
[16:35] Yeah.
[16:39] And I went, right, 2.30, quarter to three, right, 5.30, because the players have to have a pre-match meal about quarter to six, six.
[16:51] Yeah.
[16:52] Okay, 5.30.
[16:53] I swear to you, Howie.
[16:55] 5.30 on the dot.
[16:57] Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
[16:59] E-rock.
[17:00] E-rock.
[17:00] I need you to come to my joint when I'm in bed and my kids are going to bed and waking the whole house up as teenagers.
[17:06] I need you to come and lay down the law.
[17:09] Back to Arnie shortly.
[17:11] Now, if you've got to this point, this episode has obviously grabbed you like it grabbed me.
[17:15] If you have not heard Graham's full episode, go back to episode 221 of the show.
[17:20] Check it out.
[17:21] Life as a young man was very, very tough for Arnie.
[17:26] As a young fellow growing up, you mentioned your mum, and then you just sort of said casually that your dad was a cab driver and he was an alcoholic, which is a very honest thing to say to someone you don't really know.
[17:34] How'd that affect your life?
[17:36] He was, I have to say, I look at it completely different these days.
[17:41] He made me the person I am, and probably that's where I don't care what people think or people say, I'm hard with that.
[17:49] Yeah.
[17:50] You know, he was my coach and he demanded so hard on me.
[17:54] So he was your junior coach?
[17:55] He was my junior coach all the way from six up to 16.
[17:58] And what is a hard, demanding junior coach in time?
[18:01] I never played well, not once.
[18:03] Didn't matter what you did.
[18:04] And one of the last games he ever saw me play was before he died.
[18:09] We played against New Zealand at Allianz Stadium.
[18:12] So you're playing for the Socceroos now?
[18:13] Socceroos, yeah.
[18:14] We won 4-1.
[18:15] Yeah.
[18:16] I scored twice.
[18:17] I rang him up half the game.
[18:18] Did you watch the game?
[18:19] And he said, yes.
[18:21] I said, what do you think?
[18:23] He said, you embarrassed the Arnold name.
[18:25] Is that what your old man said?
[18:27] Yeah.
[18:27] And I said, oh, thanks for that.
[18:29] In those days, no mobiles.
[18:30] And I just hung up on him.
[18:32] How would you embarrass the... You've scored twice.
[18:34] Yeah, because I missed two.
[18:38] That's Graham Arnold, full story on episode 221 of the pod.
[18:46] Let's get back to the closing stages of this remarkable story.
[18:50] Okay.
[18:51] As best you can remember, what is your last message to this group who have no right to be where they are?
[19:02] You explain what this group has been through.
[19:05] What are you saying to them?
[19:06] Yeah, look, I think honestly they're great people.
[19:09] The boys I've loved every minute coaching them.
[19:12] And they are like sons.
[19:15] And, you know, but the last thing I pretty much said to them, I kept the day very simple.
[19:23] And normally I do like a motivational type thing.
[19:29] video to inspire or to show, but I cut it out because I felt that that was just adding more pressure.
[19:37] And I just pretty much the last message was, let's do it for ourselves.
[19:44] Let's do it for your family.
[19:47] Let's do it for your friends and make yourselves proud.
[19:53] And, you know, because I just, again, I'm not sure.
[19:57] We had a really good training week, Howie.
[19:59] After the first three days, I let them recover completely.
[20:02] You know, I gave them some downtime where they could go.
[20:07] I let them go to the shopping mall to get out of the hotel
[20:11] And we had a really good training week.
[20:12] I just felt that mentally they were ready for it.
[20:14] These 90 minutes, they're life changing.
[20:17] Either Bolivia qualify for the first time in 32 years or Iraq for the first time in 40.
[20:24] There is no more recourse.
[20:26] Only one place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup remains.
[20:31] And you know, the game, the way that we started the game really proved that that was the case.
[20:38] Amin gets the first touch for Iraq, and we're underway.
[20:42] Al-Amarie!
[20:43] Oh, hit the woodwork!
[20:46] I got the match report here, Arnie.
[20:47] But from the resultant corner, delivered impeccably by Al-Amarie, striker Ali Alhamadi headed the ball in from close range to give Iraq a 1-0 advantage.
[20:57] Ten minutes in.
[20:58] Corner, Iraq.
[21:00] Headers, now got it in!
[21:03] Ali Alhamadi!
[21:07] Puts a rock on the verge of the World Cup.
[21:12] He's played through five tiers of English football.
[21:17] No moment will ever top this.
[21:20] Al Hamadi has put a rock in front.
[21:24] So they're flying.
[21:26] However, Bolivia responded seven minutes before halftime when Moses Panigua, Panadon pronunciation, collected a teammate's long-range attempt and then shot himself from just outside the six-yard box, putting the ball past Iraqi custodian Ahmed Basil Fadi in the 38th minute.
[21:47] Vaca, ball knocked out, shot is on and in!
[21:51] Paniagua has done it again!
[21:53] His first two goals for Bolivia, equalizers in the playoff.
[21:58] He has got a idea, he catches it, Paniagua has got it!
[22:00] Goal!
[22:00] Marca Bolivia, empata the game!
[22:11] So you go in at the halftime break, 45 minutes to decide who's going for the last spot.
[22:17] She's all square one a piece, coach.
[22:19] Yep.
[22:19] And pretty much what I reinforced was I always had this – obviously I did all my homework on Bolivia and how they played and we were able to watch them play in Suriname before.
[22:33] They loved going wide with the ball and getting crosses in the box.
[22:39] And they had two number eights, two attacking midfielders that liked to make late runs in the box.
[22:44] So it was important that our defensive midfielders tracked.
[22:49] But then they had a number nine who was 1m74.
[22:53] Okay.
[22:55] My two central defenders were 1m95.
[22:59] So I was confident that if they got wide and got crosses in, we'd be able to deal with them all.
[23:06] As people have said recently,
[23:08] To me, they had 16 corners to our one.
[23:13] We scored off our one.
[23:15] They didn't score one off their 16.
[23:17] But I was never worried about them scoring against, with a corner against, a corner for them, because of our height factor and how Rob Stanton does a great job in setting up us defensively off set pieces.
[23:34] So...
[23:36] It was important second half that we started and we played the second half with our defensive structure the same way we started the first 20 minutes of the game where we went up 1-0 and we believed in ourselves and stopped giving the ball away cheaply because it was bringing Bolivia, a South American team that are technically good, back into the game.
[23:59] So we get to what is the most famous moment in Iraqi football in 40 years.
[24:06] And the match report started by saying, and this is not a word of a lie, Arnold,
[24:12] with a stroke of tactical genius, and this is without a word of a lie, swung the match back Iraq's way with a double substitution on the other side of the break, partly forced by an injury to Yusuf Armin.
[24:24] Moments after he entered the fray, his replacement, Marco Fagi, found space on the right and crossed the ball in for his captain, Ayman Hassan, to sweep it into the net in the 53rd minute.
[24:37] Edge of the area, lifting across, hammered in by Hussein!
[24:42] The Iraqi captain!
[24:44] And Ayman Hussain, the leading scorer in qualifying throughout for Iraq.
[24:51] Bolivia's backs are against the wall again.
[24:54] Positive that you're 2-1 up, Arnie.
[24:57] Negative, there's 40 minutes of the bloody thing still to go.
[25:00] But, Howie, I have to say...
[25:04] The hardest job in the world is coaching your own nation.
[25:09] And I didn't feel half the pressure of that game against Bolivia than I felt against Peru.
[25:18] For the Socceroos, right.
[25:19] Because it's not my nation.
[25:21] And I'm being respectful to the Iraqis as well because, you know, I had a job to do to go and get them qualified.
[25:32] But that time went quick.
[25:34] Did it.
[25:35] From that time we scored, the second goal, eight minutes of extra time, it went quick because I could just focus on the game, focus on the tactics, what their coach was doing tactically, you know, when they were down 2-1 with five minutes to go and things like that without any real massive stress and pressure on my shoulders.
[25:59] So as I said, it went quick in that time.
[26:03] Substitutions these days are always so important because when you look at it now, with five subs, that's half of the field team that you can change.
[26:18] So without the goalkeeper, of course.
[26:20] So we add depth.
[26:23] You know, in the attacking department with Marco Fudgi when he came on, great ball across for Eamon Hussain to score.
[26:32] And then it was all about making sure that they stayed switched on and made sure that they kept their discipline
[26:40] I was never afraid for the boys to give away corners, as I said, and it was just important that we were ready to put our body on the line and show that Iraqi fighting spirit that they have in them right to the final whistle.
[26:55] For the first time in 40 years, the Lions of Mesopotamia will roar at the World Cup.
[27:04] Graham Arnold arrived after the third round of qualifying.
[27:10] a lesser team would have folded how close they came to qualifying months and months ago.
[27:20] But on the 899th and final game of World Cup qualifying, Iraq secured the 48th and final position at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
[27:34] So what you say to the all Iraqi fans, all Iraqi supporters?
[27:39] I just say to them, I am so happy that I've made, that we've made 46 million people happy.
[27:47] And especially with what's going on in the Middle East at the moment, you know, I'm just so happy for them.
[27:54] Thank you so much.
[27:55] You're doing well.
[27:55] See you in America soon.
[27:57] Thank you.
[27:57] Thank you.
[27:59] So I've looked at a lot of videos.
[28:01] I've watched videos from cafes in Baghdad.
[28:09] I've watched a street parade in La Paz where I've been in Bolivia and seen their devastation.
[28:18] Like the difference between the victors and the losers in this, it's everything to people that are football mad.
[28:26] The siren sounds, you've come in.
[28:29] and followed through a very difficult time with world events, languages, living away from home, and you've taken this team into the World Cup.
[28:41] As the whistle sounds, describe to me what happens, Arnie.
[28:45] Thank God it's over.
[28:46] That's a good, honest answer.
[28:53] No, because it just seemed like, Howie, it just seemed like from November the UAE game to March, every day that's all I could think of was who we're going to play against, whether it's going to be Bolivia or Suriname, you know, players fit.
[29:10] We don't need players injured.
[29:12] There's not a lot of depth in the squad.
[29:17] So it's important that we had our best players available.
[29:20] And every day you're thinking about, you know, thinking about this game, how big it is for 46 million people and all that.
[29:26] And after the final whistle, it was like, ah, it's over.
[29:32] Thank God for that.
[29:33] And thank God we won to make, you know,
[29:39] The country we are very, very proud, very, very happy, and we're now looking forward to the next journey in the next month of getting ourselves ready for the World Cup.
[29:50] Which I'll get to.
[29:51] A couple of last questions for you.
[29:53] Incredible scenes in the rooms afterwards.
[29:57] There's only a couple of clips floating around on social media.
[29:59] I want people to look at them because the players are all about you and they're all around you.
[30:05] I'll win it!
[30:10] How does an Iraqi football team, how do the Iraqi people celebrate a momentous occasion like this?
[30:16] Like I can remember back to seeing shots of Aloisi and John Travolta was in the rooms there in Sydney.
[30:21] So that's stuck in my mind.
[30:22] So this will be stuck in the nation of Iraq's mind.
[30:26] How do they celebrate?
[30:27] Well, I'll remember the dressing room scenes from they poured freezing cold water over me.
[30:34] And they ruined my suit.
[30:37] So that was my memories of the celebration.
[30:43] But, you know, the boys were just ecstatic.
[30:46] And we didn't leave the stadium until 2.30 a.m. And a lot of the European-based boys had to leave the hotel at 6 a.m. to get on flights to get back to their club.
[30:55] So they had an amazing celebration that I was really disappointed with.
[31:00] that I couldn't go to back in Iraq.
[31:03] Yeah.
[31:05] But, you know, as I said to the boys after the game, in the dressing room, congratulations.
[31:10] But we've got the biggest job ahead of us now at the World Cup and we're going there to shock the world.
[31:17] Were you surprised by the reception when you got off the airplane in Sydney and I reckon every Iraqi in Sydney was there for you?
[31:26] Yeah, I was surprised.
[31:27] I was surprised when I got off the plane and the door opened and there's a security from the airport yelling out, who's Graham Arnold?
[31:35] Who's Graham Arnold?
[31:37] Who is he?
[31:37] Who is he?
[31:39] And I'm like, oh, hang on.
[31:41] Good reason or bad?
[31:44] And he's, who are you?
[31:46] Like, what's going on?
[31:47] I said, well, you tell me.
[31:50] He said, there's all these fans.
[31:53] He said, there's all these people out there.
[31:54] I said, oh, okay, well, I'm the Iraqi football coach.
[31:58] Oh, okay, right, well, we've got to do this.
[32:00] So then you stay behind me and we'll get you through and, you know.
[32:05] So walking out of the airport, it was crazy.
[32:09] but really appreciative, the fact that, as I said, I couldn't go back to Baghdad because the airspace was shut down and government advice.
[32:18] But to get back to Sydney and receive that type of welcome home was fantastic.
[32:23] To the beat of drums, a greeting party gathers at Sydney Airport.
[32:30] A welcome home for a former Socceroo coach, now a national hero in Iraq.
[32:36] Graham Arnold guiding the country to its first World Cup in 40 years.
[32:42] Crazy, crazy, bizarre.
[32:44] I didn't expect this here in Australia.
[32:46] Yeah.
[32:46] And he needed a police escort through a patriotic football mad crowd.
[32:51] It's funny, mate, when you do this show over 10 years, you form a connection.
[32:55] So, like, you know, we got Jackson Irvine coming up.
[32:59] So all of a sudden, you know, I'm following St Pauli and whether they're going to get relegated in the Bundesliga.
[33:05] You just get these weird connections.
[33:06] And I've followed where you're being.
[33:08] I've kept an eye on the Iraq scores.
[33:10] So, like...
[33:11] To say, it's the wrong thing to say, it seems ridiculous that I'm proud of you, but I've followed the journey intently.
[33:19] And, you know, to be getting up in the morning and checking scores from an Iraq football team seems bizarre to me, but that's why I described it.
[33:28] reading and following it as one of the great sporting achievements of the year.
[33:32] You took Australia out of the great group stages of the last World Cup, and I know that was a massive moment for you and the nation.
[33:41] Where does...
[33:43] With the backdrop of what's been going on, where does this sit with you?
[33:47] Because to me, truly, it's one of the great global sports stories of the year, mate, and you're to be massively congratulated that you've been able to, with your players in the Iraqi Football Federation, pull this off, I reckon.
[33:57] Thanks, Howie.
[33:58] And, mate, nothing is better than, as I said, it's the hardest job in the world to coach your own nation.
[34:06] But I don't think nothing will ever beat coming 11th in the world at the World Cup in Qatar.
[34:14] You know, it was something that I was so very, very proud of.
[34:18] But at the same hand, this is up there with it.
[34:21] You know, it was a challenge that I...
[34:24] was questioned about taking, but it was a challenge that I wanted to do.
[34:28] And, you know, I want more challenges after this one.
[34:32] But, you know, just to meet the people of Iraq and understand the way that they live every day and get to learn their culture and the way that they are as human beings.
[34:42] They're great human beings.
[34:45] But having a group of players that I've had,
[34:48] that are really, really sincerely good people and making them really happy and heroes for the rest of Iraq or their life with Iraq is probably the proudest thing I am.
[35:02] I love that.
[35:03] So France ranked one, Senegal ranked 14, Norway ranked 31, Iraq 57.
[35:08] That is the group that you're in.
[35:11] You didn't get to go back to Baghdad, which, yeah, as you say, I'd be flat because the scenes looked amazing.
[35:19] Who contacted you from, I don't know, from the Iraqi Football Federation?
[35:25] I don't know how high up in Iraq contact was made with you to say, well done, well done.
[35:31] Prime Minister.
[35:32] The Prime Minister.
[35:33] So you get a phone call from the Prime Minister of Iraq?
[35:36] It's not like Albo.
[35:37] I bet she's not, mate.
[35:41] It's not.
[35:42] I appreciate football over there.
[35:45] The Prime Minister, I've caught up with him a few times, but he was one of the first to call and say thank you.
[35:51] He didn't really congratulate.
[35:54] It was more a thank you for what you have done for Iraq and the people of Iraq, and we're so proud.
[36:02] And they want to offer me citizenship.
[36:06] Perfect.
[36:09] So, but, you know, it's just great for the country.
[36:16] And, you know, as I said before, you know, you just said, you know, the rankings of the opponents we're in.
[36:23] In Australia, they'd be calling that the group of deaf.
[36:26] They would, my word, they would.
[36:28] But in Iraq, we're calling it the group of excitement because all these boys have never been on a pitch with Mbappe or Haaland or Kane or all these players.
[36:42] They haven't been to a World Cup before and the nation for 40 years.
[36:46] We are really the ones without any pressure on us.
[36:51] Norway, Senegal, Franks, they've got the pressure on them.
[36:55] So we've got to go there with a mentality of shocking the world.
[37:00] And exactly like when we played against Bolivia and that, it's how you feel when you're walking out of that tunnel and onto the pitch.
[37:11] What that national anthem means to you when you're before the game and you're singing it.
[37:17] There's nothing more pure in sport for me than playing for your nation and more sincere.
[37:25] And that's the biggest thing is once you get there, when you get there, we go out there with that mentality of we hold nothing back.
[37:34] We give everything that we've got to shock the world.
[37:40] Arnie, I've pestered you for a couple of weeks and you've been trying to spend time with your family and you're trying to organise the campaign and you kept getting back to me and said, mate, we'll get this to happen.
[37:48] Sorry for pestering you, but I just wanted to bring your story to the people of Australia that wouldn't be aware.
[37:55] It's an incredible story.
[37:56] Thanks for sharing it on the Howie Games, mate.
[37:58] Your first episode went off the charts.
[38:00] This will as well.
[38:01] But, mate, good luck in the USA, Canada and Mexico to you and the Iraqi people.
[38:07] So we'll all have two teams to cheer for now, so we've doubled our chances.
[38:10] Well, I'll be sending you an Iraqi shirt so you can support us.
[38:14] My word, I'll whack that on with pride.
[38:17] When you interview Jackson Irvine, you wear the Iraqi shirt.
[38:20] Oh, now.
[38:23] Now we're taking it another step, mate.
[38:25] But, mate, I'm just so thrilled for you.
[38:28] Like, I don't know the Iraqi football team, but I know you.
[38:31] I'm just so thrilled that you said, you know, you needed another challenge and you took on the biggest challenge in world football and you've nailed it to this point.
[38:37] So may the journey long continue for you and the people of Iraq.
[38:41] Thank you very much, Howie.
[38:42] Thanks for having me.
[38:43] And I'm looking forward to the next interview, which will be after the World Cup.
[38:49] and the stories, no doubt, will carry on.
[38:53] Travel safe, great man.
[38:54] Thank you so much.
[38:55] No problem, Harry.
[38:56] Thank you very much.
[39:00] What a star Arnie is.
[39:01] So that's me with two teams to support in the upcoming World Cup.
[39:03] Australia and the Socceroos and Iraq and the Lions of Mesopotamia.
[39:07] What a name.
[39:08] What a team.
[39:09] Thanks to Graeme, who is beyond busy looking ahead to preparations for the World Cup.
[39:14] What a legend.
[39:14] What a legend for carving out some time to tell such a dramatic and inspiring story.
[39:20] Until next week with Socceroo Jackson Irvine and part two of our African adventure on Monday.
[39:26] Peace and love.
[39:27] And we can do it If we try, try, try If we try, try, try If we try, try, try

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