The Iraq coach is proud of his players despite missing out on a spot in the Asian futsal final.

Coach Joao Carlos trusts that the Iraqi team has shown significant improvement despite failing to secure a place in the 2026 Asian futsal final.

On the afternoon of February 5, the Iraq futsal team was unable to cause an upset against Iran in the 2026 Asian futsal semifinals, officially ending their run at the semifinal stage.

Reflecting on the match, Coach Carlos said Iraq’s performance demonstrated clear progress, especially in their ability to organize and control the game against one of the continent’s top teams. “We played well against a very strong team. We fully understood Iran’s quality and managed to control the match at times. Although we’re not satisfied with the result, the whole team can hold their heads high,” Coach Carlos shared.

According to the coach, losing the advantage was a result of inexperience during critical moments. “We led twice, but we need to play smarter and be more tactical. That’s something that only comes with match experience. Iran is an excellent team; they know how to control the game, and that made the difference,”he added.

Iraq, appearing in the Asian futsal semifinals for only the second time, took the lead through Salim Kadhim. The same player then scored again to put Iraq ahead 2-1 before Iran equalized and completed a comeback to reach the final.

Salim Kadhim was one of the standout players for Iraq in this tournament. The 23-year-old scored twice in the semifinal, raising his total to four goals after the group stage. After the match, Kadhim said the tournament is an important foundation for the development of Iraqi futsal in the future.

“We are proud of what the Iraqi team has accomplished. Reaching the semifinals is a big step forward. We want to go further, but that wasn’t possible this time,” Kadhim stated. “The semifinal was against one of Asia’s strongest teams, Iran, currently ranked fifth in the world. Even though we led twice, we couldn’t maintain the advantage until the end.”

The young player also apologized to Iraqi fans and affirmed that the whole team will strive to improve and deliver better performances in future tournaments.