Confederations Cup preview: Iraq – New Zealand

Iraq still have a small chance to reach the semi final stage in the Confederations Cup. The Asian champions would have to beat New Zealand, while South Africa lose to Spain. And even then, goal records may not be in their favor.

After a draw and a defeat in their first two group games, Iraq would normally be very unlikely to make it through to the semi’s. The only good news is that while Spain may be qualified already, they might want to beat South Africa to set a new world record of 15 consecutive victories. This is Iraq’s only chance of survival.

New Zealand are already out of contention after losing their first two matches, and the question is how motivated they will be to give Iraq some trouble in their final match at this tournament.

While Iraq haven’t showed much in previous games, they should be able to get a few points from this game as New Zealand simply seems to lack the skills to perform at this international stage.

The match will be played in Johannesburg at 8:30pm local time.