After the departure: will Hossam Hassan take charge of the Iraq national team?
A decisive statement
The Iraqi Football Association has set the record straight on reports linking Hossam Hassan, the former head coach of Egypt's national team, to the vacant Iraq job following his departure from the Pharaohs.
Ahmed Al-Mousawi, a member of the Iraqi Football Association, denied any negotiations with Hassan over the role, insisting the matter had never even been raised within the association.
Al-Mousawi told the "Modern MTI" channel: "Hossam Hassan did not reject any talks with him regarding coaching the Iraqi national team, because the matter was not put to him in the first place, and no negotiations took place between the Iraqi Football Association and Captain Hossam Hassan."
He added: "No negotiations took place on our part to sign Captain Hossam Hassan, and all the news circulating in this regard is baseless."
That ends the speculation. The Iraqi association flatly denied any contact with the Egyptian coach, killing off the talk of a new chapter abroad after his spell with the Egyptian national team came to a close.
Hassan took charge of Egypt in February 2024. He steered the Pharaohs to qualification for the 2026 World Cup and a first ever place in the round of 16 at the tournament. Egypt handed him a contract extension until 2030 last September, yet his tenure ended just a few weeks later, with Ali Maher taking over the technical leadership.
Controversy clouded the final stretch. Reports spoke of tension with several players, chiefly Mohamed Salah and Mohamed El-Shenawy. FIFA also slapped a three-match suspension on Hassan and his brother Ibrahim Hassan, the national team's manager, over the clash with Argentina at the World Cup. Family crises piled on top of it all.
