Town striker Ali Al-Hamadi was red-carded after 25 minutes of his return to the Iraq side in this evening’s World Cup qualifier against South Korea in Basra.

The 23-year-old, who was winning his 15th full cap, was dismissed after a VAR check for catching Cho Yu-min in the face with a high boot. The game ended 2-0 to the South Koreans, who confirmed their qualification for the 2026 finals.

Former AFC Wimbledon and Wycombe striker Al-Hamadi was making his first Iraq appearance since October last year.

Al-Hamadi, who spent the second half of the season on loan at Stoke City, will be suspended for Iraq’s second June World Cup qualifier Jordan on Tuesday.

Elsewhere, Axel Tuanzebe was absent from the DR Congo squad facing Mali in a friendly in Orleans this evening. The Congolese won 1-0.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia won 2-0 in Bahrain to move three points behind Cameron Burgess’s Australia, who are second in their World Cup group and on the cusp of confirming qualification.

The teams meet in the group’s final match in Jeddah on Tuesday with the Saudis, who have scored six goals in their previous nine qualifiers, needing to win by five goals in order to turnaround the current goal difference of eight.

Photo: REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

RobITFC added 20:18 - Jun 5 Harsh!
1

dirtydingusmagee added 20:29 - Jun 5 He is young and raw, Hasn't really shown much imo yet but it's early days
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BrandonsBlues added 20:38 - Jun 5 oh dear
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Nutkins_Return added 21:05 - Jun 5 That's a dreadful call. Clearly accidental. I know you can say putting opponent at risk but there is no force there at all.
2

itfc2024 added 21:28 - Jun 5 Clear red card can't go. Round kicking people in the face accidentally or not it's a red card I hope we get rid of him this summer If this club has ambition then players like Al-hamadi shouldn't be at this football club like a few others Id like to say
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Gforce added 23:01 - Jun 5 Still can't believe he's only 23,looks about 35.
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Tractor_Boy_in_HK added 04:15 - Jun 6 Contact with the face, it literally doesn't matter if it's intentional or accidental.
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Dug added 07:43 - Jun 6 It’s a ten minute SIN bin offence not a sending off, he didn’t do it intentionally that’s the key point but the ref had no other choice but to send him off. Time for a Sin Bin in Football, I have seen some harsh sending offs this season which effectively kills off the game.
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Bazza8564 added 08:04 - Jun 6 Accidental contact with face but you simply can't do that these days, has to go.
1

bluebullet29l added 08:45 - Jun 6 Who cares...
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billlm added 09:26 - Jun 6 Worst penalty at PR ever he can go as far as I'm concerned
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EatonBlue added 10:01 - Jun 6 It is a difficult one. The ref was stuck between Iraq and a hard place.
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