{"id":24853,"date":"2026-03-04T17:20:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:20:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/"},"modified":"2026-03-04T17:20:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:20:51","slug":"iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) \u2014 Iraq’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup have been affected by: iran war<\/span> The players are unable to obtain visas for a playoff tournament in Mexico, and the team’s coach is stuck in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

“Due to airspace closures, head coach Graham Arnold is unable to leave the United Arab Emirates,” the Iraq Football Federation said in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday. “Furthermore, several embassies remain closed at this time, preventing several professional athletes, technical and medical staff from obtaining visas to enter Mexico.”<\/p>\n

Iraq is scheduled to play Bolivia or Suriname in Monterrey, Mexico, on March 31 for one of the last two spots at the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.<\/p>\n

The federation said it was “in constant contact with FIFA regarding arrangements regarding the participation of national teams” in the match. The Asian Football Confederation also said it was “fully aware of all developments regarding the team’s situation.”<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) \u2014 Iraq’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup have been affected by: iran war The players are unable to obtain visas for a playoff tournament in Mexico, and the team’s coach is stuck in the United Arab Emirates. “Due to airspace closures, head coach Graham Arnold is unable to leave the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24853","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\nIraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) \u2014 Iraq’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup have been affected by: iran war The players are unable to obtain visas for a playoff tournament in Mexico, and the team’s coach is stuck in the United Arab Emirates. “Due to airspace closures, head coach Graham Arnold is unable to leave the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T17:20:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin_ok9yktt6\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/\",\"name\":\"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T17:20:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg\",\"width\":980,\"height\":653},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\",\"name\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin_ok9yktt6\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","og_description":"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) \u2014 Iraq’s hopes of qualifying for the World Cup have been affected by: iran war The players are unable to obtain visas for a playoff tournament in Mexico, and the team’s coach is stuck in the United Arab Emirates. “Due to airspace closures, head coach Graham Arnold is unable to leave the","og_url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/","og_site_name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","article_published_time":"2026-03-04T17:20:51+00:00","author":"admin_ok9yktt6","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin_ok9yktt6","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/","name":"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-03-04T17:20:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Fa02F972F6754dd518cace67d187035524b282Ffd6090ce690d4d6da07d60cbc0d57b3d.jpeg","width":980,"height":653},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/iraq-faces-difficulties-in-world-cup-playoffs-as-embassies-and-airspace-are-closed-due-to-iran-war\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Iraq faces difficulties in World Cup playoffs as embassies and airspace are closed due to Iran war"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/","name":"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News & Updates","description":"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. Get the latest EPL news, live match updates, transfer rumors, team analysis, fixtures, and exclusive insights for true football fans.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9","name":"admin_ok9yktt6","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3caa6e0fae133a2d8ebe213abde6eafe85769664d063c8ab6c7960c877d904ea?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin_ok9yktt6"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/eplvip.com"],"url":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/author\/admin_ok9yktt6\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}