{"id":28431,"date":"2026-04-01T06:38:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:38:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:38:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:38:32","slug":"iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq defeats Bolivia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the finals. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">2026 world cup<\/span> They overcame last-minute logistical problems with a 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental play-off on Tuesday, ending a 40-year wait.<\/p>\n<p>Ali Al-Mahdi took the lead in the 18th minute, Bolivia&#8217;s Moises Paniagua equalized in the 38th minute, and Iraq&#8217;s Aymen Hussein scored the winning goal in the 53rd minute. Iraq will be in Group I along with France, Norway and Senegal.<\/p>\n<p>Iraq, Australian director <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">graham arnold<\/span> The Iraq tour begins against Norway in Foxborough on Tuesday, June 16th, followed by games against France in Philadelphia on June 22nd and Senegal in Toronto on June 26th.<\/p>\n<p>Bolivia advanced to the final playoffs with a victory over Suriname and was aiming for their second World Cup appearance.<\/p>\n<h2>Congo advances<\/h2>\n<p>Congo scored in extra time to defeat Jamaica 1-0 early on Tuesday, leaving them in 47th place. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">48 teams<\/span> to be played in <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">world cup<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Axel Tuanzebe scored from a corner kick in the 100th minute of the first half. <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">intercontinental playoffs<\/span>. Jamaican defenders were unable to clear the ball and Tuanzebe, who plays for Burnley in the English Premier League, smashed the ball into the net.<\/p>\n<p>Congo played in Germany in 1974 as Zaire, but has never played in a World Cup under that name. <\/p>\n<p>Congo won the intercontinental play-off held at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico, and advanced to Group K of the World Cup, where they will face Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n<p>Congo captain Chancel Mbemba said: &#8220;We are going to enjoy qualifying, but we will continue to work hard. We know that we will be playing against top countries that participate in the World Cup every four years.&#8221; \u201cWe will remain humble, keep our feet on the ground and continue to work. We will do everything we can to make our supporters and our people proud.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Jamaican team known as the Reggae Boyz missed out on what would have been their second World Cup appearance. <\/p>\n<p>Congo had two chances to take the lead during regulation time. Nathanael Mbuku&#8217;s shot in the fourth minute and Samuel Mutosamy&#8217;s shot in the 85th minute were ruled out for offside.<\/p>\n<p>___<\/p>\n<p>AP Soccer: <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\">https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/iraq-congo-jamaica-bolivia-world-cup-playoffs-5cb90adaad725c6e2bb6f9e50db27bc5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the finals. 2026 world cup They overcame last-minute logistical problems with a 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental play-off on Tuesday, ending a 40-year wait. Ali Al-Mahdi took the lead in the 18th minute, Bolivia&#8217;s Moises Paniagua equalized in the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Iraq defeats Bolivia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; 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\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Iraq defeats Bolivia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) \u2014 Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the finals. 2026 world cup They overcame last-minute logistical problems with a 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental play-off on Tuesday, ending a 40-year wait. Ali Al-Mahdi took the lead in the 18th minute, Bolivia&#8217;s Moises Paniagua equalized in the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-01T06:38:32+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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/\",\"name\":\"Iraq defeats Bolivia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff42F912F0cf34711712b49dd6258ea742a4c2F9b7f55a4ca4a49119da9bd814ae57a02.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-01T06:38:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#\/schema\/person\/6b2ade58a96ab056f743f12490573ae9\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff42F912F0cf34711712b49dd6258ea742a4c2F9b7f55a4ca4a49119da9bd814ae57a02.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/urlhttps3A2F2Fassets.apnews.com2Ff42F912F0cf34711712b49dd6258ea742a4c2F9b7f55a4ca4a49119da9bd814ae57a02.jpeg\",\"width\":980,\"height\":653},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/01\/iraq-defeats-bolivia-to-qualify-for-the-world-cup-for-the-first-time-in-40-years\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Iraq defeats Bolivia to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/\",\"name\":\"EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\",\"description\":\"EPL VIP is your ultimate source for all things related to the English Premier League. 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