Kuwaiti, Iraqi football teams ready for friendly in Basra Wednesday

BASRA, Jan 27 (KUNA) -- The Kuwaiti and Iraqi national football teams will meet Wednesday in a friendly match at Basra International Stadium south of Iraq.
Both teams met 39 times in their history as the Iraqi team won 16 times, whereas the Kuwaiti team won 14 times and tied nine times. The Iraqis scored 51 goals as opposed to Kuwait's 43.
The last time both teams met in Iraq in a friendly match was on October 15, 1989, when Iraq took the win with a clean goal, scored by Natik Hashim.
Today's match is part of the teams' preparation for the resumption of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers and the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.
Kuwait national football team will participate in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Group B, gathering Australia, Jordan, China, Taipei, Nepal, while the Iraqi team will participate in Group C, which includes Bahrain, Iran, Hong Kong and Cambodia. (end) fr.lr