Iraq forces a draw against Spain in its last friendly before the 2026 World Cup

The Iraqi national team snatched a thrilling 1-1 draw from European champions Spain on Thursday (June 4th) in a friendly match in the city of La Coruña, seven days before the start of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Spain entered the match with a significantly modified squad, with coach Luis de la Fuente preferring to rest most of his key elements such as Rodri, Pedri, Lamine Jamal and Nico Williams. Iraq's coach, Australian Graham Arnold, also sought to test the readiness of his players, making 11 changes during the match.

Captain Ferran Torres opened the scoring early in the 16th minute after a counter-attack, before the Mesopotamian Lions were able to equalize after a cross ball by Mirjas Dusque deceived goalkeeper Juan Garcia (27), and Torres had a chance to double the score before the end of the first half, but his shot bounced off the crossbar (40).

As  the second half began, substitute Jesús Rodriguez surprised Iraq's defenses with a powerful shot that went past substitute goalkeeper Jalal Hassan (46).

The match saw the participation of a number of new faces from the Spanish side, as many players were given the opportunity to make their debuts, such as Marc Bernal, Jon Martin, Gonzalo Garcia, Benat Torrientes, Javier Guerra, Javier Rodriguez, and goalkeeper Leo Roman,  and Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino returned to the competition after a long absence due to injury.

With the pace of the two teams declining in the second half, Iraq succeeded in keeping pace with Spain for most of the minutes, without witnessing any significant danger to the goal of the two teams.

Spain, who will play in Group H alongside Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay, are preparing to travel to their camp in the United States, where they will begin their campaign in the tournament with the ambition of winning their second world title.

Iraq played their second friendly in Spain after beating Andorra 1-0 on May 29, before heading to Chicago, where they will host their final pre-season match against Venezuela on the ninth of this month.

Iraq, which is participating in the World Finals for the second time after the first in 1986, will play in Group N alongside France, Senegal and Norway.

Ivory Coast defeats France

France suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in Nantes in a friendly despite the participation of their main stars, led by Kylian Mbappe, one week before the start of the 2026 World Cup in North America.

The first goal of the match came in favor of France by Manchester City's English player Ryan Sharqi at the beginning of the second half (46), but the Ivorian team later succeeded in turning the tables during the second part of the match.

Ivory Coast scored the equalizer in the 53rd minute through Gila Doyeh, and then Manchester United winger Amad Diallo scored the winning goal in the 84th minute.

The French coach relied on most of the key elements in this match, led by Real Madrid's Spanish star Kylian Mbappe and Bayern Munich's German winger Mikael Ulisse.

With this fall, the French national team received its first defeat in a long string of positive results that spanned ten matches, and it is also their first loss at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

Deschamps' men will have a chance to turn the tide when they face Northern Ireland in a new friendly in Lille, before travelling to the United States for the World Cup.

The French national team is scheduled to play a second friendly against Northern Ireland on the 8th of this month, before heading to the United States to participate in the World Cup.

France are in Group E alongside Senegal, Iraq and Norway, while Ivory Coast will play Group E matches with Germany, Ecuador and Curaçao.