Wikipedia says he has 5 caps. Not sure if that's right.

More loved than he ever was as Socceroos coach, that's for sure.

I wouldn't be writing off Burgess post Asian Cup in just 9 months. He's only 30 years old and has shown across his career that he is incredibly resilient and misses very little football. The only outfield player to have played every single minute for his club in the Championship this season...

Goal for Suto off the bench.

I reckon Rugari's 26 man predicted squad is probably spot on. Is there anyone you think is any chance of being picked that is not mentioned in this article? https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/who-s-on-the-plane-piecing-together-the-socceroos-world-cup-squad-puzzle-20260330-p5zjtg.html

He got 7 caps according to Wikipedia which isn't a lot. I wonder if he'd have made the same decision with the benefit of hindsight if he'd known he would only ever get 7 caps.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/apr/03/usmnt-world-cup-squad-predictions

Yup, the fact that McGree and Metcalfe both have only 1 goal from >30 caps is definitely pretty telling of their contribution to the team.

Testing my memory there but I reckon he was on the scene around that time.

I was at the Melbourne game 3 days later.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7162043/2026/04/01/world-cup-48-teams-rankings/

Arnie has said before that he's not able to walk around in public in Iraq without being mobbed. Imagine now!

Arnie statue might get put up to replace Saddam.

I guess Arnie successfully got his team out of the group 4 years ago against France, a second tier European team and an African team, so why not again?! Plus it's easier to get through to the knock out rounds now.

I'm loving these Iraqi players in their cowboy hats. 😄 What a night for them!

France, Norway and Senegal await. If he can get a point, that would be an achievement.

I never loved Arnie as our manager, though I like him a lot more than Popovic. I'm so happy for him though in guiding Iraq to the WC. Amazing scenes post game. They'll build a statue of him. 40 year wait for Iraq!

Crowd of 49,000 to watch Iraq v Bolivia in Mexico! The 899th and final game of qualifying to determine the 48th and final participant!

Yup, the break came at a good time for Iraq. Arnie will be telling the boys to lean into their Iraqi DNA as we speak.

Crowd sounds quite pro-Iraq surprisingly.

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