Australian has had to contend with war, 50C heat and playoffs to steer country to a first World Cup in 40 yearsTwenty-eight months, 21 games, four rounds, a 117th-minute penalty and a playoff. A coach stuck in Dubai where he watches war start over the water, bombs shaking everything. A team trapped in Baghdad first and Jordan next, missiles flying around them. A scrambled 9,000-mile trip to Mexico where it all rests on one night, the very last country to make it. And, when they do finally land, the hero whose goal took them there is held up by the FBI and the man whose photographs are due to document history is turned back. There may never have been a journey to a World Cup quite like Iraq’s.“It’s been an experience,” Graham Arnold says. And the 62-year-old Australian coach who led them through it all – the “football nut” who is their other “dad” and gets mobbed everywhere he goes – is adamant that it’s not over yet. “Now it’s time to show the world what we’ve got.” Listening to him, you can’t help but believe it. Not least because he did when no one else would. Continue reading...
Graham Arnold’s team have overcome adversity on and off the pitch, but may benefit from the pressure being off them in a tough groupThis article is part of the Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from three countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 11 June Continue reading...
Head coach looks forward to leading Sweden at World Cup after reflecting on failures with Chelsea and West HamIf management has taught Graham Potter anything it is that there is no point in trying to run away from failure. “You’ve got to face the bad stuff,” the 51-year‑old says as he thinks about how he recovered from bruising spells at Chelsea and West Ham. “The more you face it, the more chance your life is better. Then you get these beautiful moments.”Potter is in reflective, occasionally punchy mood during a long conversation about a rollercoaster few years and the brutal life of a football manager. He points out there have also been some successes – he has, after all, lifted Sweden out of the doldrums and led them into the World Cup – but knows people tend to focus on the lows. Potter lasted seven months at Chelsea after leaving the stability of Brighton in September 2022. Then, after a long spell out, he was tempted back when West Ham came calling at the start of last year. Continue reading...
Prediction: Match to end in draw Best Odds: 5/2 Bookmaker: Dachbet Norway and Sweden will lock horns with each other in a friendly international next week. The match between Stale Solbakken’s side and Graham Potter’s team will be held at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and is scheduled to kick off at 6pm UK time […] The post Prediction: Norway vs Sweden appeared first on Soccer News.
