The reserve national team won, Iraq, in its last match for the group stage of the 11th edition of the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2025.
Coach Madjid Bougherra’s squad scored two goals to achieve its second successive victory on the floor of Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, on Tuesday evening.
This victory enabled Yassine Brahimi’s teammates to lead their fourth group with seven points.
For its part, Iraq fell to second place with a total of six points.
A valuable victory for the Desert Foxes 🇩🇿#FIFArabCup pic.twitter.com/Dv1ow7IdqH
– FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@fifaworldcup_ar) December 9, 2025
The team benefited from the early expulsion
Coach Madjid Bougherra made three changes to the starting lineup, touching all three lines of the field.
Mohamed Al-Amin Togay replaced Abdelkader Badran in defence, while Zakaria Darawi replaced Sufyan Ben Dabke and Yacine Brahimi, succeeding the injured Amir Saeoud.
The reserve national team benefited from Iraq’s unsuccessful start, as player Hussein Ali violently interfered with Brahimi.
The violation required Qatari referee Abdul Rahman Al-Jassim to resort to video technology, where he reviewed his first decision to award a yellow card and replaced it with a red card.
Early expulsion.
The referee of the match shows the red card towards Iraqi national team player Hussein Ali 🟥#Arab_Cup #MBCACTION pic.twitter.com/mt158Pgn2U
— MBC Action (@mbcaction) December 9, 2025
The expulsion was followed by the referee announcing a penalty kick after pulling Tugay from the shirt, but the presence of the Tunisian Esperance player in the offside position hastened its cancellation.
The players tightened their grip on the match after that, and their superiority was evident through the opportunities created by both Berkane and Brahimi.
In turn, the Al-Rafidain Lions tried to end the first half with minimal damage, as they clustered in their areas and defended the largest number while focusing on counterattacks.
This did not prevent the national team from seizing the lead, after Tugay rose to receive a ball that came from an indirect free kick.
Mohamed Amine Togay scores Algeria’s first goal after a perfect header into the net 🇩🇿 🔝 #Arab_Cup pic.twitter.com/wms2iAenBk
– Sada Almalaeb (@sadaalmalaeb) December 9, 2025
Captain Brahimi deceived the opponent upon returning from the half-time break.
The Qatari Al-Gharafa player penetrated the right side of the Iraqi defence, shooting a ball that goalkeeper Fahd Talib did not manage to block.
⚽️ Goal
Al-Jazaiz increased their lead with a second goal through friendly fire after the ball hit Saad Natiq and entered the Iraqi net.#Algeria: 2⃣#Iraq: 0⃣#Dubai_Sports #Arab_Cup2025 🏆 pic.twitter.com/jvCk70xz8z– Dubai Sports Channel (@dubaisportstv) December 9, 2025
The Iraqi team then collapsed, surrendering to the control of Adel Boulbena’s teammates. The latter insisted on scoring the third by repeatedly asking for balls inside the penalty area, but to no avail.
Look
Fahd Talib, the Iraqi national team goalkeeper, blocked a shot by Adel Boulbena, the Algerian player #Arab_Cup2025#Cass_channels || #Show_platform pic.twitter.com/X8ne79jcIj– Al Kass Channels (@AlkassTVSports) December 9, 2025
The coach avoids adventure
Bougherra decided to make changes as the match reached the 56th minute, to avoid injury to some key players.
The technical director replaced Islam Soleimani in the place of Barkan, Adam and Nas in the place of Brahimi, and Reda Halaymiya in place of Youssef Atal.
These substitutions did not bring anything new in terms of the result, despite the opportunities created by Ounas, Ben Zia, and then the fourth substitute, Rafik Guitan.
Once again, the Iraqi goalkeeper shines and prevents the third goal of the Algerian national team 🧤#Algeria_Iraq#Arab_Cup pic.twitter.com/8Ts8dtdkMl
— ADSportsTV (@ADSportsTV) December 9, 2025
Referee Abdul Rahman Al-Jassem ended the interview after adding four minutes as substitute time for stoppage time.
The reserve national team will face the UAE team, which qualifies second from Group C, three days later.
While Iraq faces Jordan, the leader of the third group with a full score.
Find out the dates for the quarter-final matches of the Arab Cup Qatar 2025 #Arab_Cup2025 #Cass_channels || #Show_platform pic.twitter.com/bqggCLs4Oz
– Al Kass Channels (@AlkassTVSports) December 9, 2025
#Arab #Cup #reserve #national #team #wins #Iraq #qualifies
#oussama_boulegheb #elhiwardz #alakhibariat.xyz #elhiwar #elhiwar-en
