Nepal is taking on Iraq in their home soil as a part of their preparation for the FIFA World Cup and AFC Asia Cup qualifiers matches. After the completion of the friendly match, team Nepal will head towards Kuwait to play Chinese Taipei, Australia and Jordan.
The match against strong Iraq will be the first test for recently appointed head coach Abdullah Almutairi. Almutairi announced his first in reference to the performance of the players in recently completed Nepal Super League (NSL). He has made drastic changes in the squad that sa2 13 new faces from previous squad. Only 10 players from the team that won Three Nations Cup are included in the final team.
Almutairi left behind various bigger names like Bharat Khawas, Bikesh Kuthu, Ranjit Dhimal and Ravi Pasawan. Goalkeeper Bishal Sunar, Defender Gautam Shrestha, Midfielder Kamal Thapa, Manish Dangi, Suraj Thakuri and Ayush Ghalan cemented their place for the first time in the national team.
Head-to-Head against Iraq
Nepal has played against Iraq in three occasions, losing all those three. The last time, Nepal played against Iraq was back in 2001, around 20 years ago and Nepal lost 4-2 in that match.
| S.no. | Score | Tournament | Date |
| 1. | Nepal vs Iraq | FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | 23 Apr 2001 |
| 2. | Iraq vs Nepal | FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | 14 Apr 2001 |
| 3. | Iraq vs Nepal | Asian Games | 23 Nov 1982 |
Nepali Team: Kiran Kumar Limbu (GK), Deep Karki (GK), Bishal Sunar (GK), Ananta Tamang, Gautam Shrestha, Suman Aryal, Abhishek Rijal, Bishal Rai, Sunil Bal, Aashish Lama, Pujan Uparkoti, Arik Bista, Suman Lama, Anjan Bista, Manish Dangi, Santosh Tamang, Nawayug Shrestha, Ayush Ghalan, Suraj Jeu Thakuri, Kamal Thapa, Rohit Chand, Dinesh Rajbanshi, Bikash Khawas.