PARIS: Iraq scored a penalty in the 17th minute of injury time to beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 in the second leg of their 2026 World Cup qualifying tie on Tuesday and secure a place in the inter-confederation play-offs.
Substitute Mohanad Ali, who plays in the UAE for Dibba, and Amir Al-Ammari scored in Basra as Graham Arnold’s men came from behind to secure a 3-2 aggregate victory after last week’s 1-1 first-leg draw.
Iraq, whose only appearance at a World Cup was a group-stage exit in Mexico in 1986, progressed to the six-team play-offs where the last two tickets to the finals will be decided.
The UAE broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute, as Yahia Nader slipped the ball through for Brazilian-born forward Caio Lucas to fire the ball past Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hachim.
But Iraq hit back midway through the second half when Mohanad Ali headed home Al-Ammari’s free-kick.
The home side piled on the pressure late on, with Mohanad Ali missing two good chances to score a winner.
But VAR awarded Iraq the latest of penalties for a handball, and Al-Ammari stepped up to net the spot-kick and keep alive his nation’s hopes of ending their 40-year wait to play in a World Cup.
Bolivia, New Caledonia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have also booked their places at the inter-confederation play-offs.
The other two play-off spots will be decided by the final round of CONCACAF qualifiers later Tuesday, with Jamaica and Panama currently in position to qualify for the mini-tournament.
Last-gasp penalty snatches Iraq World Cup play-off berth
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Last-gasp penalty snatches Iraq World Cup play-off berth
- Substitute Mohanad Ali, who plays in the UAE for Dibba, and Amir Al-Ammari scored in Basra
- Iraq progressed to the six-team play-offs where the last two tickets to the finals will be decided
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
