The Iraq - Lebanon match takes place at 9:30 p.m. (Vietnam time) on October 7 at Khalifa Stadium in Doha (Qatar). In the first two matches, Iraq drew 0-0 with South Korea away but then lost 0-3 to Iran at home. Meanwhile, Lebanon drew 0-0 with the UAE and then lost 0-1 to South Korea. The two teams are sharing the bottom two positions in Group A.
In terms of head-to-head record, Iraq has the advantage over Lebanon. The 2007 Asian Cup champions have won 10 of their previous 16 meetings with Lebanon, the remaining 5 matches ended in a draw. Lebanon's only victory over Iraq came in 1997, in a friendly match.
The match on the evening of October 7 was the first meeting between the two teams since July 2019, when Iraq beat Lebanon 1-0 in the group stage of the West Asian Championship.
Iraq changes coach before entering the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup. Dutch strategist Dick Advocaat is trusted to sit in the hot seat to replace Srecko Katanec. However, Advocaat does not seem to have found his most satisfactory lineup.
Against Lebanon, his team will suffer a big loss when striker Mohamad Ali suffered a knee injury and could not participate. However, the neighboring Iranian team still has two other quality strikers, Ayman Hussein and Alaa Abdul-Zahra, to take on the scoring task.
Like Iraq, Lebanon also had problems in the attack, when the strikers could not score against the UAE and South Korea, despite clear opportunities. Against Iraq, Lebanon will welcome the return of attacking midfielder Bassel J radi. He is expected to bring many breakthroughs to the home team's attack, alongside strikers Hassan Maatouk and Mohamed Kdouh.
Playing at a neutral stadium in Qatar added to the appeal of this match. The Iraq team is superior to Lebanon in terms of strength, as well as understanding the opponent. Dick Advocaat's team has a great chance to relieve the drought of goals, thereby getting their first victory in the World Cup qualifiers. However, Iraq will find it difficult to beat Lebanon, and it is likely that the match will end with a 1-goal difference.
Expected lineups of the two teams:
Iraq (4-5): Fahad Talib; Sherko Karim Gubari, Ahmed Ibrahim, Alaa Mhawi, Ali Adnan; Safaa Hadi, Ibrahim Bayesh, Amir Al-Ammari, Amjad Attwan, Alaa Abdul-Zahra; Ayman Hussein.
Lebanon (4-2-3): Mostafa Matar; Kassem Al Zein, Joan Oumari, Robert Melki, Abbas Assi; George Melki, Walid Shour; Soony Saad, Bassel J radi, Hassan Maatouk; Hilal El-Helwe.
Prediction: Iraq 2-1 Lebanon
