Iraq and Jesús Casas: Analysis
The relationship between Jesús Casas and the Iraq Football Association has officially come to an end. Iraq's surprising 2-1 defeat to Palestine in Amman led to the Spanish coach's sacking, and culminated in his acrimonious departure.
The 2026 World Cup was the goal.
When Srečko Katanec was appointed in 2018, the World Cup was also the target, neither achieved it, but Jesús Casas came closest. Had Iraq won their last two qualifying matches against Kuwait and Palestine, the Lions of Mesopotamia would have been top of Group B, while Casas would have certainly remained coach.
But after managing just a point from the two qualifiers, Casas and his assistants were sacked, not for the defeat in Amman, but “due to a serious breach of their contractual obligations,” according to the Iraq FA, who are now locked in a bitter legal battle with the coach.
Summary
Jesus Casas had been Iraq’s coach for over two years after he was appointed on November 6, 2022, and spent the first couple of weeks after his appointment observing the team’s training sessions and matches in Spain where they played Mexico and Ecuador.
The Spaniard was expected to oversee his first game in charge against Costa Rica in Basra on November 11, but the CONCACAF side pulled out of the friendly game only 24 hours before the game.
At the last minute, the Iraq FA and Casas, not wanting to waste the opportunity of having all the players available and local spectators missing out on watching the Iraqi team, organised an Iraq A and B match at the Basra International Stadium.
It was the first time the new coach was able to manage his players in a match setting and he played two mixed experimental teams.
Casas set out Iraq A in a 4-5-1 or 4-2-3-1, before switching to a 4-4-2, while the Iraq B side played a five-man midfield, which consisted of Amir Al-Ammari in a holding role in a typical 4-5-1 formation, later changing to a 4-1-2-2-1, allowing Ibrahim Bayish to drop into a two-man midfield.
The gifted Manchester United playmaker Zidane Iqbal was given a free role, allowing him to roam out onto the left wing, or drop into midfield to pick up the ball, or even play in a more advanced position.
In the second half, Zidane played more in the ‘hole’ behind the centre forward. It signalled Casas' intent to find the starlet’s best position as he pleased the 12,000 or so fans who came out to watch with his brilliance on the ball. The game ended in a 1-1 draw with goals from Aymen Hussein and Hassan Abdul-Karim.
Casas' tenure can be summarised in three stages, firstly, the Gulf Cup victory, and then the period before the Asian Cup and the period that came after.
The Gulf Cup
At the 25th Gulf Cup held in Basra, Casas had a small set group of 23 players to work with, however, the coach demonstrated what he could do with a limited pool of mainly local league players, in addition to Qatari-based players Amjad Atwan and Aymen Hussein who the Iraqi FA president Adnan Dirjal was able to get released after speaking to his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani.
Iraq went unbeaten in the tournament, beating Oman 3-2 in dramatic style in the final, with a 122-minute winner from Munaf Younis giving the Lions of Mesopotamia its first title in 35 years and its fourth Gulf Cup title overall.
During the competition, Casas didn't make many changes, though he did switch formations from game to game depending on the opposition.
The flexible 4-5-1, utilised by various Iraqi national coaches over the past twenty years eversince Adnan Hamad introduced it in 2004, was always Casas' default formation, but at the Gulf Cup against Saudi Arabia, he used the 4-3-3, while in the final with Oman, he switched to a 3-4-3 formation, demonstrating his intentions in the future.
Stage two
Then came the second phase of Casas' term. With the World Cup qualifiers and the Asian Cup months away, it gave Casas and his training staff almost the whole year to test out new players and experiment with different formations.
While the first phase had focused on forming a team from primarily local league players to win the Gulf Cup, the task handed to Casas and his staff was to build a side able to challenge for one of the eight AFC spots for the 2026 World Cup.
In the first game against Russia in Saint Petersburg, Casas tried out Zidane Iqbal in the 'hole' behind a front-two pairing of Ali Al-Hamadi and Aymen Hussein.
It was the first time the coach attempted to play Zidane, wearing the No.10, in a playmaking role in a 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2 formation. He stood out and performed well, but the team, despite a good start, didn't seem balanced in the 2-0 defeat.
Casas had also recalled midfielder Osama Rashid after more than four years, and he became a mainstay in his team during 2023.
In a period spanning almost a year, where Iraq played seven friendly matches in St Petersburg, Valencia, Jerez, Bangkok, and Amman, trying out a host of different formations and players, Casas searched for his best starting eleven.
Prior to the start of the Second Round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, Casas seemed to have settled on the 4-5-1 formation, though he would often shift styles during games depending on match circumstances or conditions.
For years, Iraq had a problem in defence because they lacked a competant left-footed defender at centre half.
Casas persuaded 31-year-old Rebin Sulaka to go back on his decision to retire from international football, after trying a variety of defenders in the position and even playing three at the back. Rebin seemed to be the best solution.
After Sweden’s Kevin Yakob, the Iraq FA and Casas were also able to persuade another Swedish-based expatriate, right back Hussein Ali, to switch his allegiances from Sweden to Iraq. Two other players, Montader Madjed of Hammarby IF and Peter Gwargis, who had moved to Duhok in 2024 to play in the Iraq Stars League, later opted to play for Iraq.
Casas gave debuts to Olympic players, right-back Mustafa Saadoun and winger Ali Jassim, along with Ahmad Allée and Danilo Al-Saed, which further strengthened the squad.
Ali Jassim, having already dazzled with his performances for the U20s and the Olympic side, impressed the national team's coaching staff in his first two senior appearances for Iraq and started the first World Cup qualifier.
Over a year after taking over, Casas looked like he was starting to settle on a starting eleven with the team he played against Indonesia in Basra.
Despite receiving criticism for recalling Bashar Resan, after his stale performances during the 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign, the coach remained strong-willed and backed the player publicly.
Under Casas, Iraq played a 4-5-1 formation, with a central midfield of Osama Rashid and Amir Al-Ammari, with Ibrahim Bayish on the right wing, Ali Jassim in the centre, and Bashar Resan on the left flank. Aymen Hussein was upfront.
He also gave a debut to Youssef Amyn, a former German U19 player, who would come on as a substitute to play out on the wing. The move signified the shift in expatriate players opting to play for Iraq
The Iraqi team looked solid, and more importantly, had options, if needed, to change things formationally and in personnel from the bench, with Ali Al-Hamadi, Youssef Amyn, Ahmad Allée, or Hassan Abdul-Karim.
The Lions of Mesopotamia won their opening two group matches against Indonesia (5-1) and Vietnam (1-0) before going to the Asian Cup in Doha at the turn of the year.
Asian Cup
In Doha, Iraq had been grouped with tournament favourites Japan and World Cup group opponents Indonesia and Vietnam.
On the day of the draw, the FA president had told Iraq's Spanish coach that the Japan game was Adnan Dirjal and Casas against Japan, signifying that it represented more than just a game.
The FA president had wanted Japan from day one and when the Lions of Mesopotamia surprisingly beat the Blue Samurai 2-1 with two headed goals from Aymen Hussein, Adnan Dirjal insisted that Iraq had to return to the top of Asian football where it had once been when he was playing.
For the first time in its history, Iraq won all three of their matches to top their group, and after their victory over Japan they were even tipped as one of the favourities to lift the trophy, rekindlng memories of the Lions' 2007 Asian Cup win.
However, that was as far as the team got. In the Round of 16, Iraq faced the organised and impressive counterattacking team of Jordan and lost 3-2 in dramatic style despite leading 2-1 in stoppage time.
Iraq's defeat to Jordan
Up until 94 minutes and 13 seconds, Iraq were winning the Round of 16 tie and going through to the quarter-finals, but in the space of just two minutes and 13 seconds, everything turned, even the fate and path of Casas and his team.
Aymen Hussein's sending off after celebrating putting Iraq 2-1 up and the injury to Saad Natiq had changed the course of the game completely.
The injury to the centre back and his subsequent replacement had meant Iraq had used all three of their windows to bring on a substitute by the 73rd minute. So when Aymen Hussein scored three minutes later and was shown a second yellow card and was sent off, Casas couldn't make any changes. As minutes ticked away, the ten-man Iraqi team continued to drop deeper to try to consolidate their one goal lead, but in the nine minutes of stoppage time, Jordan came up with two goals to win the game.
It was a moment that seemed to drastically alter the futures of everyone, from Casas, the players, to the FA president. The defeat, when looking back retrospectively, seemed to have changed everything.
Casas faced an instant backlash from a group of Iraqi journalists who walked out of the post-match press conference, blaming him for the defeat because he had agreed to be interviewed on Al-Kass TV's Al-Majlis program three days before the Round of 16 game, rather than focus on the tie with Jordan. Casas had been the only coach out of the remaining 16 competing nations at the Asian Cup to agree to an interview.
The attacks on the coach were blamed on journalists with links to people who opposed the FA president, using the Asian Cup exit as a pretext. Those old wounds were reopened by the same protagonists, using the defeat to Palestine in Amman as an opportunity to vent their grievances and pile more pressure on the FA president.
When the Second Round of the qualifying stages kicked off, Iraq under Casas looked a different proposition in competitive matches, there was a serious approach and mindset from the coaching staff that transmitted to the players, in the qualifying matches, a switch seemed to have been turned on, it was very visable in the early rounds, where Iraq went onto top their Second Round World Cup qualifying group with six wins in six, and also topped their group at the Asian Cup, winning all three of their matches.
Everything was going smoothly, but then came the slump. In the Third Round of the qualifying stages, the team looked uncertain, there was a fear which wasn't present in the earlier stage, with the fear at the back of the players' mind of defeat or making a costly mistake which would lead to dropping points.
Did doubts begin to emerge within the coach? Did the players become slightly more cautious of making similar errors or mistakes. Did the defeat in Doha instil fear into some of the players? We just don't know, but what many noticed was a change from the Iraqi team after the Asian Cup exit.
Saad Natiq, who had sung the praises of the coach when he first took over, recently stated that there seemed to have been a change in Casas.
The centre back, who made seven appearances under the coach, had previously told Al-Rabiaa Sports TV presenter Taha Aburagheef on August 22, 2024, when he was asked who was the first coach to teach him to play from the back.
“Honestly, when the coach Casas came. Why lie? Before, all the coaches used to say it in training, but we wouldn’t implement it on the field.”
“Of course, the coach Casas, there are matches we had. The match with Indonesia, you know, he said no one is allowed to play the ball long. And if you passed it forward, see what happens in the match. It's as if he read it. We played two passes and we scored a goal.”
”He said, ‘Saad or Rebin receives it, and pass to the right or left defender, and the left plays behind their left defender.’ You know, it worked for us, and we scored, they even had a player sent off. The coach reads the game.”
But after being dropped because of an injury in October 2024 before the Iraqi delegation flew to Yongin to play South Korea, the player’s view of the coach had changed, citing his contract renewal in August 2024, and last month when the same presenter asked him about the Spaniard, Saad Natiq stated:-
“Before the contract renewal, he was a different person and coach. After the contract renewal, I didn't see him as the same Casas.”
“I wasn't around recently, but the players talk to me and say there were changes in his style and attitude. I gather it all in one, he is not the same Casas, he even shouts during training, he doesn't listen to anyone, and is stubborn in his opinions.”
Constant changes
As Iraq’s coach, Jesús Casas was the 'tinkerman', making 161 changes to his starting line-up over 34 matches, using a total of 66 players in that period.
Before the 26th Gulf Cup game with Bahrain, Casas was asked about the frequent changes.
”About our line-up, it's the same. In Spain, it's normal that all teams play with different line-ups in each match. In this tournament, you play each three days. All players, it's impossible to be recovered. So we need to change. And all teams are different. So if we play, against Bahrain is different to play against Saudi or against Yemen. So we need my players on the bench, on the opponent too.”
”And I say that a lot of times. When we won seven matches continuously, nobody said anything about line-up. If tomorrow, we lost, changing the team, people say, oh, you all time change the team. If tomorrow, I put the same line-up and I lost, all people, ah, you don't recover the players. So I put my players in, it all depends on me.”
Overall, Casas had selected 87 different players during his time as Iraq’s coach, which included 11 goalkeepers, 28 defenders, 39 midfielders, and nine forwards.
Even though during the early qualifying stages, the Spaniard looked to have a stable spine to his side, with Jalal Hassan, Rebin Sulaka, Merchas Doski, Ibrahim Bayish, Amir Al-Ammari, Ali Jassim, and Aymen Hussein, over the past few months the team has had an unsettled look to it, with almost half of the starting line-up being changed from game to game.
Unsurprisingly, Ibrahim Bayish, a player who performs consistently but is often unjustly criticised by fans and even the media, was present in every one of Casas' match day squads, starting 29 games (with five substitute appearances), playing in a number of positions in defence, midfield, and even in attack, and performing a variety of roles. A truly unappreciated footballer and unsung hero whose lack in flair is compensated by his determination and work ethic on the field.
In 34 games under the Spaniard, only 5 players made 20 or more starts, while in total only eleven started ten games or more, demonstrating how volatile Casas' team selections have been over his two years.
He handed 24 players their debuts, the last being Charbel Shamoon in the defeat to Palestine in Amman. (19 were expatriate players).
In Iraq's recent matches, the frequent changes in formations and players, both at the start of games and during, have been a reoccurring theme.
However, while Casas' selections and substitutions can look chaotic at times, there is a method to the perceived madness, every move is calculated and not made by chance or whim. Looking at the game against Kuwait in Basra, to anyone watching, when Casas sent on the big and physical defender Akam Hashim, who could also play in midfield, it seemed as if it was just a random last throw of the dice, but the coach had noticed they could take advantage with an extra body in and around the opposition's penalty area. He sent him on to play in midfield and scored from the same spot with a tremendous strike from Aymen Hussein's knock down.
But then in the following game against Palestine, Casas gave Akam Hashim his first start, though not in midfield but on the left of a back-three, who had never before played together. Such strange decision-making made people question whether the coach knew what he was doing.
The Ahmed Basil affair was one of the strangest of the coach’s time in charge. Before Iraq's qualifiers with Jordan and Oman in November, Casas and his coaching cadre had selected three goalkeepers, but just two days before the first game in Basra against Jordan, when it became apparent first choice keeper Jalal Hassan wouldn't be fit to play, a fourth goalkeeper, Ahmed Basil, was called up. It was believed that the second choice keeper Fahad Talib would start, but astoundingly, Ahmed Basil, who was technically the fourth choice goalkeeper was given the nod ahead of Fahad Talib and Hussein Hassan, and no one could understand how the coaching staff had come to its decision.
Locals and expatriates
The expatriate question reared its ugly head once again during Casas' time in charge, heavily fuelled by social media sites, TV sports programs, and even opponents of the Iraqi FA. Each side complaining and believing they were not given a real opportunity or claiming the other side wasn't worthy of a place in the team or was taking their place, but Casas was one of the few coaches who actually gave everyone a chance regardless of where they played, there was no quota, believed to have been imposed by previous FA administrations, and more importantly, the coach saw every player as equal, unlike in the past when the expatriate player had to be seen as better than the options in the local league. Crucially, Casas defended and backed all his players.
The on-running debate had a negative effect on both expatriates and local league players, with right backs Hussein Ali and Mustafa Saadoun being a prime example. The two in their early twenties, who were both handed their international debuts by the Spanish coach, were fairly inexperienced, and the constant criticism, both on social media and on TV sports programs, clearly impacted the performances of the two and their form suffered for it, which in turn effected the Iraqi team, with no real alternatives to the pair at right-back.
At the 26th Gulf Cup, Casas was irked by a specific question about Mustafa Saadoun before the Bahrain game from journalist Mohammed Ghasem from Bahrain’s Minsat Ala7mar (Red Platform), who said the player had made a lot of mistakes, with Iraqi analysts and critics declaring that the player wasn't good enough to play for the team, and then he asked why the coach was insisting on selecting him.
"About Mustafa Saadoun, this is the problem in our country, (I say this), because I feel like (an) Iraqi. Mustafa Saadoun is a good player. Mustafa Saadoun, the other day only has one mistake, but this is very easy, to be a fat-man sitting in the TV and talk bad about our players, okay. Mustafa Saadoun is a very good player, he is young and all players, they take (sic) a mistake, all players, in Iraq, in Real Madrid, in Argentina, in all teams in the world, but you in social media, the people talking bad about Mustafa Saadoun, after that the player is nervous into the pitch, so I think we have to change, because Mustafa Saadoun is not take a mistake, one mistake the other day, all players in Iraq, take a mistake the other day, all players, and the people now, six months ago was Aymen (Hussein), one year ago was Bashar (Resan) and now is Mustafa. It’s a shame in my opinion, but you know… Tomorrow, we will play Mustafa Saadoun and ten players more."
Casas declared that the backing he and his staff had received from the Iraq FA to make changes to the national team set-up, including persuading expatriate players who had previously not wanted to play for Iraq and preferred to play for other teams, would be the legacy they would leave for the Iraqi team. “I'll leave one day, I don't know when, or I'll leave, or they'll kick me out, but that legacy will remain,” he stated.
“Young players from other countries who are Iraqi nationals and who we've naturalized, that backing (from the Iraq FA and everyone) has been for that. In other words, the backing isn't for me; the backing is for the national team to come here to play and for our country."
Casas, March 24, 2025
Recent form
Despite a good start in the Third Round group stages, Iraq's recent form, the worst under Casas, with three defeats in their last four games, has been poor.
Casas' constant changes over the past few months brought with it team instability, even Iraq's captain and goalkeeper Jalal Hassan has not been guaranteed a place in the last months, with only three players, Merchas Doski, Ibrahim Bayish and Aymen Hussein, being regular starters under the Spaniard, with Ali Jassim and Rebin Sulaka close behind, the rest, like Amir Al-Ammari, Youssef Amyn, to Hussein Ali, have been in and out the starting line-up, either being rotated, dropped, or rested from game to game, making it almost impossible to know what Iraq's best starting eleven was and is at present.
Over the past two years, Casas had widened Iraq's pool of players, but the team still looks like a side with deficiencies, or to be more exact, a team lacking in certain areas especially in central defence and in attack. Casas would say otherwise, in September last year, a journalist told him that Iraq suffered from a weak defence, and that it threatened impacting the national team negatively. But Casas' reply was, "If you follow world teams closely, such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain, you will know how many goals these teams have conceded and what their defensive struggles are. As for us, we have conceded only one goal in our last four matches."
The centre back positions were crucial to Casas' playing style. He had wanted defenders who could initiate attacks, and in addition to being able to defend, he wanted centre backs who were comfortable on the ball and able to build out from the back.
But even more than two years after Casas took over, the problem at centre back has not been solved, with the Spaniard never having settled on a partnership at the heart of the defence, while dropping and recalling several players in the position during his time as coach.
Over the last few months, the coach frequently switched from a back four to a back three. While the coach picked teams and formations based on the type of opposition or game, the constant changes in players and formations seemed to demonstrate indecision rather than a conceived plan, especially in the last few months in the World Cup qualifiers and the Gulf Cup in Kuwait, where many of the decisions Casas made have not come off.
In his spell in charge, Casas had gone through a host of centre backs, from Mustafa Nadhim, Ali Faiz, Munaf Younis, to Saad Natiq, before each lost favour with the coach.
The same occurred with Olympic captain Zaid Tahsin who looked like a serious contender to start at the heart of the Iraqi defence, but despite a good start to his international career, he went the same way as Saad Natiq.
Less than a year into the job, Casas had persuaded Rebin Sulaka to return, and even resorted to playing full-backs, Ali Adnan and Frans Dhia Putros, at centre back, trying to find a solution to his problem, unable to find the right style of defender or partnership at centre half.
Then a few months ago, Casas recalled Ali Faiz and Munaf Younis, which demonstrated the coach didn't believe there were any good options in the league to make his squad.
20-year-old Olympic defender Adam Rasheed of Slovenian club FK Maribor had been in named in Casas' recent squads but clearly the coaching staff believed he was one for the future rather than for the present. He was either on the bench or in the stands whenever he was called up, not considered ready for international football. He has yet make a single international appearance.
Aymen Hussein was arguably the best performing player under the Spaniard, however, the overreliance on the striker, especially in the Third Round of the World Cup qualifying campaign, has meant the team has suffered whenever he missed a game through injury or suspension, or even if he was substituted. There was no other forward who could take his place.
He was Iraq's top scorer under Casas, scoring 21 goals in 31 games. But while the Spaniard and his staff managed to get the best out of the 6ft 3 inch striker, they couldn't get the same output from the other forwards, with Mohanad Ali scoring only four and Ali Al-Hamadi netting three.
When Casas first met FA officials in Baghdad, the Spanish trainer, in a PowerPoint presentation he gave to the FA president, listed Mohanad Ali “Mimi” on the team roster despite the forward being injured at the time. Casas and his training staff knew they possessed a talented goalscorer in Mimi and they monitored his rehabilitation closely.
Mohanad Ali finally returned in late 2023 after two years out of the national team. However, Casas failed to fully rehabilitate him into the starting line-up despite his impressive form with Al-Shurta in the Iraqi Stars League over the past couple of seasons. The striker failed to rediscover the form that made him one of the most coveted talents on the continent after his performances at the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE.
Under the coach, the forward made just seven starts, with a further 13 substitute appearances, highlighting how Mimi failed to stamp his authority on Casas' team. Whether that was the fault of the coach or the player, only time will tell.
With the Iraqi team needing an extra striker, a potential goalscorer to challenge for a place, the decision to select Ali Yousef of Al-Zawraa, who this season almost achieved the Martin Palermo hat-trick, by missing two penalties in a single game, was a puzzling one. At 29, the forward rarely gets on the scoresheet nor has he ever finished a season in double figures over his whole career, and this season he currently has only 6 goals in 21 league matches. Even in Iran, he managed just four goals in 28 games for Sanat Naft Abadan FC. Despite his other notable attributes, with his strength, movement, and pace, Ali Yousef was never going to the type of match-winner Iraq needed.
Even with the added caveat of Iraq typically playing with one forward, the goal returns for Iraq's strikers, apart from Aymen Hussein, has not been good enough Each player has his own circumstances, for example, Ali Al-Hamadi often found himself injured at the most crucial times during the World Cup qualifiers, however, even in his absence, Casas never found a suitable replacement or backup to Aymen Hussein, nor was he able to get Mohanad Ali a consistent run of games to rediscover his form.
Palestine defeat
The Iraq FA terminated the contracts of Casas and his assistants on April 15, claiming a serious breach of contract, for leaving Iraq without permission and then failing to comply to FA requests to return. However, the FA's decision had already been made on March 27, two days after the 2-1 defeat to Palestine in Amman, a result that left Iraq's place in the 2026 World Cup finals in the balance.
After the 2-2 draw with Kuwait in Basra five days earlier, in which Casas' side salvaged a point with two goals in stoppage time, Iraq desperately needed to beat Palestine, a nation who had not beaten the Lions of Mesopotamia in 18 meetings since 1965.
The Iraq FA, the fans, and the media, expected victory, but it all ended in disaster for Casas and his team.
One of the players who turned the game for Palestine was substitute Adam Kaied. He came on with his team trailing 1-0.
The Swedish-born right-footed left winger, making only his second appearance for Palestine, caused the Iraqi defence no end of problems when he came on just before the hour-mark. On the night, the NAC Breda midfielder was the only player from either side willing to take on an opponent on the difficult playing-surface at the Amman International Stadium.
Adam Kaied, who played mainly out on the left wing, was also able find space in-between the lines, even positioning himself in the centre at times, and the right side of the Iraqi defence, firstly with Rebin Sulaka, and then Alai Ghasem, when he came on, couldn't stop the threat, even with the right-sided midfielder Ibrahim Bayish dropping back.
Iraq had opened scoring with a trademark header from Aymen Hussein in the 34th minute. They had dominated the first half, with 55.8% possession.
Iraq’s three-man defence had played a high-line in the opening forty-five minutes, but in the second, Palestine saw more of the ball and the Iraqi defence dropped further and further back, as the Palestinians had 66.7% of the possession.
Even before Palestine’s first substitution, in the 59th minute, Iraq were dropping deep, and in the last 15 minutes, Palestine had almost 70% possession to demonstrate their dominance.
The significant change was not Adam Kaied coming on for Palestine, though he was a factor, but the combination of the injuries to left-sided midfielder or wing-back Ahmed Yahya and the bookings to right-sided centre back Rebin Sulaka and centre forward Aymen Hussein. The Iraqi coaching staff might have been worried about having a player sent off, so they were both replaced.
Casas was asked about the changes after both Rebin Sulaka and Aymen Hussein were booked, and his response was, “I'm worried about more things than the cards of Rebin Sulaka and Ayman Hussein. If we don't get back to our level, if we don't regain our personality, our desire to have the ball, and our pressing, it doesn't matter if Aymen plays, if Aymen doesn't play, if Rebin plays, or whoever plays. This is a team sport, not a one-player or two-player sport, and today as a team we weren't good.”
The booking for Aymen Hussein meant he would miss the next game and it clearly affected the striker, from there, looking like he was also carrying an injury, his head dropped, before the exhausted goalscorer was replaced minutes later.
The decision to replace Rebin Sulaka, being the organiser at the back and the most experienced defender, meant the Iraqi team lost two leaders in defence and in attack, and it showed.
While Iraq’s late changes might have seemed Casas had switched the team’s formation, the 3-4-3 remained the same, however, the only difference was the defence and the rest of the team had dropped a few metres back as the second half had progressed.
Moments later, Palestine had its first chance from Wessam Abou Ali, which was saved by Iraq’s goalkeeper Ahmed Basil, winning the first of six corners, they had managed just five in the previous 75 minutes.
The absence of Rebin at the back and Aymen upfront in both presence and stature, compounded by Palestinian pressure in the attacking third in the final minutes, ultimately, ended up in two late headed goals from corners.
“The match, there's little to say. In the first half, we were more or less fine. First, in the second half, we were a disaster. We lacked personality to keep possession. We weren't able to make four consecutive passes. They won almost every challenge and duel. So, it's impossible to win like this. We played by far the worst match since I've been here. I apologise to the people and here. And we'll have to keep fighting to win the situation, but it's impossible this way.”
“We're all to blame: the coach, the players, we're all to blame. It's clear we didn't play well, we were a disaster. We lost, period.”
“Do they want to take me out? Obviously, it's not up to me. If they want to take me out, I'll have to leave. It's not something that depends on me. It's up to me to improve the team, and we've been very bad.”
“The mistake was a lack of personality, in wanting to have the ball. We got very nervous in the second half. We missed easy passes. Players are starting to get injured, probably due to nerves. Coaches can only do so much. When they're on the field, it's the players who have to do it. Today, I'm sorry, I didn't do my best, I imagine, but neither did the players. None of us were good, neither the coaches nor the players.”
Jesús Casas, March 25, 2025
Casas blamed the defeat in Amman on falta de personalidad or a lack of personality or character from the players, for not being able to keep possession or make four consecutive passes. The players may take some blame, but who picked them?
A reason for the defeat were the late substitutions, and for this, the coach takes a large portion of blame, firstly for selecting the players who started the match, and secondly for naming the players on the bench. Four of the subs who came on to play in defence and midfield were inexperienced, one player, who was only 21, was making his debut, another had last played for Iraq more than two years prior and had only just returned to to first team football after a long lay-off and returning from a failed stint playing in the Iraq Stars League, while the other two had made only 8 appearances and had just two starts between them. Casas had thrown them all in the deep end and expected them to swim before they knew how to, a metaphor to Casas' philosophy in international football, or more precisely, what he demanded and expected from a player, to play in any circumstances, he expected a player he selected to handle any situation they were put in. But experience in matches and in a team environment has to be taken into account, not every player can play in such difficult circumstances, like the crucial World Cup qualifier against Palestine in Amman, where a player is up against it from the moment they step onto the field, and expect to succeed, having never been in the same situation or even played many matches with the team or the same group of players. For this, Casas takes blame for not picking the right players for the right positions or roles, if you need to defend a one-goal you don't send on your least inexperienced players to do it.
On the bench against Palestine, Casas had outfield players Hussein Ali, Osama Rashid, Zidane Iqbal, Peter Gwargis, and Mohanad Ali, but instead brought on players with the least experience, Alai Ghasem, Charbel Shamoon, Mohamed Al-Taay, Lucas Shlimon, and Ali Yousef. While Frans Dhia Putros, who could have played in a variety of positions in defence and in midfield, was one of five players dropped from the match day squad, three of whom had been in the 23-man match day squad from the previous game. In addition, Casas had made a staggering seven changes to the starting line-up from the 2-2 draw with Kuwait in Basra.
Conclusion
Jesús Casas' downfall was the defeat to Palestine, however, the Spaniard leaves Iraq still in with a good chance of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup so his two years at the helm cannot be seen as a total failure.
When compared to Iraq's recent longest-serving coaches, Jesús Casas did possess a decent record, with the team having a marginally better win percentage (52.94%) than it did under Srečko Katanec (52.63%), while Iraq also scored more goals, with 54 goals in four less matches than under Katanec, who managed 52 goals in 38 games. However, overall, the records of Iraq's last three longest-serving coaches have been relatively the same, though it shouldn't be viewed negatively but seen as a vast improvement of the national team's results over the last 35 years.
Basim Qasim, who managed Iraq in 18 games from 2017 to 2018, had a record of 8 wins, 8 draws and only two defeats, with a win percentage of 44.4%, while Katanec, Iraq's longest-serving foreign coach, had a record of 20 wins, 13 draws, and 5 defeats, from 38 games.
In turn, Casas, who also won the Gulf Cup, supervised 34 matches, with a record of 18 wins, 8 draws and 8 defeats.
Casas was the first coach of Adnan Dirjal's leadership to implement the FA president's new vision for building a strong national side to return Iraq to the summit of Asian football.
A part of the plan was going in the route of selecting expatriate players, without restrictions placed on their selection, unlike under past FA administrations when there was seemingly a limit of five expatriate players in each squad, like the quota system in Iraqi politics. This all changed under Adnan Dirjal and Casas, with 29 expatriate players being used over the Spaniard's two years, with 19 players given their debuts by the coach. It has been relatively successful, with more expatriate players choosing to play for Iraq, which bodes well for the future, as more gain experience in international football and get acquainted with the FA's youth system, with expatriate players now regularly being selected for Iraq’s U17s and U19s sides, which wasn't the case in the past.
When Casas took over in 2022, the highly-rated defender Ameen Al-Dakhil chose to play for Belgium after coming through their youth system, had the Iraq FA scouted him years earlier, the player might be playing for Iraq today. Getting some of the best European-based players to play for Iraq's youth teams at a young age might be key in the future. One day, there might be an expatriate player who progresses through the Iraq FA's youth set-up from the U-17s to the senior side, something that was unthinkable before Adnan Dirjal became FA president.
In the senior national team setup, the formula Casas and his coaching staff had wanted to introduce was to have two or sometimes three players vying for each position, this was what Casas and his assistants had hoped to implement when they took over, but it never worked out as they had wanted. Inconsistency in performances or a loss of form meant a number of players were dropped, but the players who replaced them were either too inexperienced or hadn't adjusted to the national team environment.
In addition, while Casas had a talented young group of players to select from, he and his coaching staff were unable to get the best out of some of the players with the biggest potential, namely Zidane Iqbal and Ali Al-Hamadi, and to a lesser extent Danilo Al-Saed.
injuries blighted the early stages of one of Zidane Iqbal's international career under Casas while he was further hampered taking time to adjust to his new surroundings in the Netherlands at FC Utrecht and trying to win a place in the Eredivise club's first team, however, even taking this into account, the Spanish coach failed to find the player's best position in the Iraqi team, using him sparingly and often starting him in one game and then dropping him in the next, the inconsistency bred inconsistency, with Zidane making only nine starts and an additional seven appearances coming off the bench. We only saw glimpses of what the Manchester-born player could do in an Iraqi jersey.
The same can be said of Ali Al-Hamadi, who looked good in the early rounds of the World Cup qualifying campaign, but bad luck and injuries has led to a stop-start international career. With Al-Hamadi often out injured, the gradual re-introduction of Mohanad Ali became more important, but the Al-Shurta striker hasn't been at his best in the green of Iraq as he has in the green of the Police Club.
There were a number of factors for Iraq's loss to Palestine, but it seemed or even felt eventual that such a result was going to happen somewhere down the line. The Iraqi team since last year hasn’t been at its best.
What seemed to be obvious was that there were too many changes made to the team. Casas may have disagreed and defended his constant changes, even stating that no one had criticised him when the Iraqi team were winning, but over the past year, especially since the start of the Third Round qualifying stage, the team has seen a lot of changes for various reasons, whether it was the coach trying to rest players, make changes in formation, or players being out of form, but the large number of changes clearly unsettled the squad, especially when the players, with less experience, came in and did not perform.
Casas' philosophy of constantly changing the side depending on the form of players with their clubs, caused problems for players who were relatively new to the national team setup. New players were sometimes unfamiliar with the system, leading to poor performances or inconsistency.
Another factor may have been the increased expectations going into the World Cup qualifiers, and there was more pressure on everyone, from the coach, the players, to the Iraq FA (and its internal divisions), and this all had an impact on performances and results. A simple mistake in any of the qualifiers would prove costly and everyone could feel and sense it.
You got a sense that it was building up from the first game against Oman in Basra. A difficult opponent for Iraq over the years, the game wasn’t expected to be easy, and it wasn't it, but even though the Iraqi team won, we didn't see the entertaining football that we witnessed in the early stages and at the Asian Cup. It was a reoccurring theme and it continued throughout Iraq’s Third Round group matches.
In Iraq's recent matches, Casas has averaged almost five changes per game,
The naming of his starting line-ups has looked somewhat erratic at times, especially in the Third Round qualifying stage. In recent months, there didn’t seem to be any real core or spine to the side, and in the final moments of the Palestine game, the Iraqi team looked almost unrecognisable.
Since the start of the Third Round qualifying stage, there have been murmurs and whispers behind the scenes of a breakdown of relationship between the coach and certain players.
One of the players in question was Amir Al-Ammari, who was one of the first names on the teamsheet until Iraq's key qualifier in Muscat.
Al-Ammari had spoken to the FA president Adnan Dirjal after the player had talked with Casas, and the FA president had told him to implement his duties on the pitch, and the player responded by saying, “Do I listen to you or the coach?"
There was also an issue between Casas and centre back Munaf Younis before the game. The coach had instructed Munaf to play out from the back, wanting the defenders to initiate the attacks, not playing the ball long, but on the ground, to start moves off. However, Munaf Younis told the coach through the interpreter that there was no one in the middle to pick up the ball for him to start off moves.
Later on, Munaf Younis was dropped from the matchday squad and sent up to sit in the stands, while Amir Al-Ammari was named on the bench.
It seemed as if cracks were beginning to appear, however, despite being under pressure after their 0-0 draw in Basra with group rivals Jordan, Iraq managed to beat Oman 1-0, their first win in Muscat in 30 years and also the first time Iraq managed to win a World Cup qualifier on Omani soil.
But it only proved to be a temporary stay of execution. The FA's decision to send the Iraqi team to play at the 26th Gulf Cup in Kuwait rather than a B team now looks like a catastrophic error. The Iraqi team and coach had already been under immense pressure because of their below-par performances during the Third Round qualifying stages, Casas had even de-activated his Instagram account for a period, but rather than giving many of the team's key players a rest for the remainder of the year to recharge their batteries before the qualifying rounds resumed in March, the coach and the Iraqi players were put under even more pressure. In each of their three group matches at the Gulf Cup, the Iraqi team received heavy criticism, and it built up game by game, magnified by social media, the ever-demanding Iraqi sports media and the press in the Gulf. The team, already missing a few players, couldn't handle it. The defeats to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia meant the coach and the team were put under more scrutiny going into qualifiers with Kuwait and Palestine. In hindsight, the Iraq FA should have prioritised the World Cup qualifiers rather than defend their Gulf Cup title.
The whole situation had been building up like a pressure cooker, which evidently ended in the defeat in Amman. There were factors which contributed to it.
The relationship between Casas and Iraq’s key central midfielder Amir Al-Ammari, who was at fault for Jordan’s opening goal at the Asian Cup with a misplaced pass, looked to have broken down and he was even been dropped for the game in Muscat, it was the first time Casas had named him on the bench and not brought him on. He hasn’t completed 90 minutes for Iraq since the 0-0 draw with Jordan in November last year.
The long-term injury to Osama Rashid, the unexplained absence of Amjad Atwan, and the lack of a viable replacement in central midfield in their absence, disrupted the fluid chemistry in the middle of the park that had been seen early on under the Spanish coach.
In attack, the Iraqi team were too reliant on Aymen Hussein and his goals, while Casas’ inability to get Mohanad Ali to replicate his club form with the national side meant Aymen became even more important to the Iraqi team. The third forward, Ali Al-Hamadi, has been unlucky, due to injuries and circumstances, i.e. the red card to Rebin Sulaka in Kuwait, where Al-Hamadi started upfront, but was replaced at half-time as ten-men Iraq tried to avoid defeat.
Ali Jassim, one of Iraq’s brightest performers under Casas, hasn’t played a lot this season and has struggled with form with Iraq. In the summer, he had played at the Olympics in Paris carrying an injury, while a lack of a pre-season and failing to break into the Como’s first team hasn’t helped him. He is now at Eredivisie club Almere City and gradually getting more playing time.
Even Youssef Amyn, despite a good start to his career with Al-Wehda in the Saudi League, has not been the same player who broke into the national team setup before the Asian Cup.
There was also a lack of surprise from the bench especially in the final third, with Iraq looking like a team which lacked options or the ability to change things, something that hadn’t been an issue in the earlier qualifying round.
After the Asian Cup exit, a period of time where Iraq played 15 matches, Casas had tried out 12 new players, but only Ahmed Yasin and Safaa Hadi made more than one start, which likely highlighted how the coach hasn't been completely convinced with the options available to him as he tried to cope with players being either injured or out of form.
The coach had been frequently changing formations, not just from game to game, but during matches, and this all, combined with the team's other problems, led to defeat in Amman, Casas' final chapter with Iraq.
How will Jesús Casas be remembered, well, the Spaniard will always have the Gulf Cup win, the euphoria and elation in Basra, and the victory over Japan at the Asian Cup in Doha, however what will loom large over Casas' legacy with Iraq, even overshadowing it, will be the defeat to Jordan in Doha and the loss to Palestine, with the first connected to the other, from one end to another. Casas had gone full circle but not in the way he had wanted or intended.
Qualification to the World Cup finals was always the target from day one and having come up short, Casas and everyone involved will be deeply disappointed by the way events have unfolded, while Iraq still have qualification in their hands going into the two final group matches, Casas cannot be seen as complete failure, but he wasn't a complete success either, it was somewhere in-between and that is where Casas will remain in Iraq's eyes, eternally stuck in the middle.