Iraq 2026 Schedule & Game Calendar

Iraq’s Group I task at the 2026 World Cup

Iraq go into the 2026 World Cup as the kind of side that has to earn everything the hard way. No world title, a place in the first 48-team field, and a Group I draw that paired them with Norway, France, and Senegal. The three matches stretch across the United States and Canada between June 16 and June 26.

The opener went against them. Iraq lost 4-1 to Norway at Boston Stadium on June 16, a result that drops them to the back of the group before the second round of fixtures. From there the road is long: France in Philadelphia on June 22, then Senegal in Toronto on June 26. Three games, three host cities, all of them inside the Eastern time zone.

The maths after one game is unforgiving but not hopeless. Two of the four teams in each group advance automatically, and the eight best third-placed sides across the 12 groups also make the Round of 32. For Iraq, the Norway defeat means the France and Senegal games now carry the weight of the campaign. A result in either, and especially against Senegal, is what keeps Iraq’s tournament breathing when the knockout bracket is drawn.

The first 48-team World Cup runs 104 matches across the USA, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, and Iraq’s slice of it covers three of those host cities in the eastern half of the map. Their single home assignment came first, in Boston, before two trips that send them down to Philadelphia and then over the border to Toronto. For a team that has to make up ground, the travel and the time between games shape the recovery as much as the football, and the Eastern kickoffs at least keep the routine consistent from one matchday to the next.

The three group games and what each one asks

Iraq’s World Cup began on Tuesday, June 16 at 6:00 PM ET against Norway in Boston. Boston Stadium hosted it, and the 4-1 scoreline means Iraq came away from their one home group game with nothing. A heavy opening defeat is a difficult place to start in a four-team group, because it leaves no slack in the two fixtures that follow.

The middle match takes Iraq to Philadelphia on Monday, June 22 to face France, a 5:00 PM ET kickoff with Iraq on the road. On paper it is the toughest fixture in the group, a meeting with a two-time world champion. Iraq travel as clear underdogs, but a tournament this size has already produced upsets, and even a point here would change the shape of the table heading into the final round.

The group ends in Toronto on Friday, June 26 against Senegal, a 3:00 PM ET start, with Senegal the nominal home team and Iraq away. This is the fixture most likely to decide Iraq’s fate. By kickoff the picture in Group I may hinge on it directly, and goal difference could come into play. Toronto is the date to circle, because it may well determine whether Iraq are still standing when the knockout rounds begin.

There is a neat symmetry to that final match. Senegal lost their opener too, so both sides may arrive in Toronto needing the points, which is the sort of setup that produces an open, nervy game rather than a cautious one. Iraq are listed away despite Senegal having no home crowd to speak of at a North American World Cup, so the tag means little beyond the kit and the technical area. What it cannot soften is the stakes, because for two teams chasing the group, a single result in the last round can be the difference between flying home and playing on.

Could Iraq reach the 48-team knockout bracket

Survive Group I and the new format takes charge. The 2026 World Cup runs to 104 matches and adds a Round of 32 that the old 32-team structure never carried. Group winners and runners-up join the eight best third-placed teams, and from there it is straight elimination: Round of 32, Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final on July 19.

Who Iraq might meet in that Round of 32 cannot be known yet, and it will not be until all 12 groups have played their final round. The bracket fills from the top as group placings lock in, so any knockout opponent for Iraq only comes into focus in the last days of the group stage. You can follow the whole spread, every group and the bracket as it forms, on the 2026 World Cup overview.

For Iraq, simply reaching the knockouts from a group with two UEFA sides would stand as a marker for the tournament. The expanded field gives more nations a genuine route through, and the third-place lifeline is part of why the early defeat does not end the story. Every group result from here is a step toward that target, and the calendar above keeps the path in view.

Saving and syncing Iraq’s World Cup schedule

Every Iraq fixture listed here can move straight onto your own calendar. Use the download button on the schedule above to grab the full set as an ICS file, a CSV spreadsheet, or a printable PDF, and you can take the entire Group I run or pick out a single match.

The ICS file is the option most people choose. Load it into Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook and Iraq’s group games appear with their kickoff times already converted to your own zone, along with the venue and host city. Because the schedule is wired to live tournament data, it keeps itself right: if a kickoff time changes, or once an Iraq knockout opponent is confirmed, those entries adjust on their own.

Tracking a few teams at once? The same downloads are ready for every nation at the 2026 World Cup, so you can place Iraq’s fixtures alongside another side and read the tournament from one calendar. Lock in the Group I dates first, June 16, June 22, and June 26, then let any knockout match drop in as the bracket comes together. The PDF is handy for printing and pinning up, while the ICS and CSV files suit anyone who would rather keep Iraq’s World Cup on a phone or a shared digital calendar. Whichever you choose, the three group dates are the place to start, and everything past them follows the bracket.