Soccer-Iraq turn to former captain Mahmoud as FA chief before World Cup comeback

The 43-year-old Mahmoud captained ⁠Iraq ​to its ⁠first Asian Cup title in 2007, scoring the winning goal ⁠in the final and finishing as the tournament’s top ​scorer and best player. He played professionally in ⁠Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, winning ⁠the ​Qatari league Golden Boot three times.

​Iraq elected former ​national team captain ‌Younis Mahmoud ​as president of its Football Association on Saturday, handing one ‌of its most celebrated players a leadership role weeks before the country’s return to the World ‌Cup after a 40-year absence.

Mahmoud secured 38 votes, ‌comfortably defeating incumbent Adnan Dirjal, who had chaired the federation since 2021 and received 20. The 43-year-old Mahmoud captained ⁠Iraq ​to its ⁠first Asian Cup title in 2007, scoring the winning goal ⁠in the final and finishing as the tournament’s top ​scorer and best player.

He played professionally in ⁠Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, winning ⁠the ​Qatari league Golden Boot three times. Iraq sealed their place at next month’s finals in ⁠the United States, Canada and Mexico by beating Bolivia ⁠in ⁠an intercontinental playoff and will face France, Senegal and Norway in Group ‌I.

(Reporting Ashraf ‌Hamed Atta; editing by ​Clare Fallon)