Iraq FA’s president, Abdul Khaliq Masood, today (Tuesday) announced that five Arab countries have spoken of their desire to face the Lions in Iraq.

Speaking to iq-pro.net, Masood said: “We were victorious against the Jordanian team in Basra and now we have a lot of work to do in order to convince FIFA to completely lift the ban for competitive matches.”

Masood stated that the five countries who have agreed to play Basim Qasim’s men in Iraq are Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Iran.

Riyad Mahrez, Mo Salah and Omar Al-Somah are among the names that could be on show over the next year with official invitations to be sent out within the next three months.