# Iraq at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Iraq competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Summer Olympic Games since its debut in 1948.
The National Olympic Committee of Iraq selected a team of 23 male athletes to compete in six sports at the Games, with the men's football squad staging its Olympic comeback for the first time since 2004. Waheed Abdul-Ridha, Iraq's highest-ranked boxer and world no. 31 in the middleweight division, led the Iraqi team as the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony.
Iraq, however, failed to win its first Olympic medal, since the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where Abdul Wahid Aziz took the bronze in men's weightlifting.

## Boxing

Iraq has entered one boxer to compete in the men's light welterweight division into the Olympic boxing tournament. Waheed Abdul-Ridha had claimed an Olympic spot with a quarterfinal victory at the 2016 AIBA World Qualifying Tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Waheed Abdul-Ridha | Men's middleweight | Rodríguez (MEX) L 0–3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Football
### Summary

Key:
* A.E.T – After extra time.
* P – Match decided by penalty-shootout.
| Team | Event | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Group Stage | Quarterfinal | Semifinal | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Team | Event | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Opposition Score | Rank |
| Iraq men's | Men's tournament | Denmark D 0–0 | Brazil D 0–0 | South Africa D 1–1 | 3 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 12 |

### Men's tournament

Iraq men's football team qualified for the Olympics with a remarkable victory over the host nation Qatar in the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship bronze medal play-off, signifying the nation's Olympic comeback to the sport for the first time since 2004.

#### Team roster

The following is the Iraq squad in the men's football tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The team of 18 players was officially named on 14 July.
Head coach: Abdul-Ghani Shahad
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Fahad Talib | (1994-10-21)21 October 1994 (aged 21) | 9 | 0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2 | 2DF | Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf* | (1992-02-25)25 February 1992 (aged 24) | 6 | 0 | Al-Dhafra |
| 3 | 2DF | Hawbir Mustafa | (1993-09-24)24 September 1993 (aged 22) | 0 | 0 | MVV Maastricht |
| 4 | 2DF | Mustafa Nadhim | (1993-09-23)23 September 1993 (aged 22) | 28 | 4 | Naft Al-Wasat |
| 5 | 2DF | Ali Faez | (1994-09-09)9 September 1994 (aged 21) | 9 | 1 | Çaykur Rizespor |
| 6 | 2DF | Ali Adnan Kadhim | (1993-12-19)19 December 1993 (aged 22) | 10 | 5 | Udinese |
| 7 | 4FW | Hammadi Ahmed* | (1989-10-18)18 October 1989 (aged 26) | 0 | 0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 8 | 4FW | Mohannad Abdul-Raheem | (1993-09-22)22 September 1993 (aged 22) | 15 | 5 | Al-Zawraa |
| 9 | 3MF | Mahdi Kamil | (1995-01-06)6 January 1995 (aged 21) | 26 | 6 | Al-Shorta |
| 10 | 3MF | Ali Husni | (1994-05-23)23 May 1994 (aged 22) | 9 | 3 | Çaykur Rizespor |
| 11 | 3MF | Humam Tariq | (1996-02-10)10 February 1996 (aged 20) | 12 | 5 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 12 | 1GK | Mohammed Hameed Farhan | (1993-01-24)24 January 1993 (aged 23) | 7 | 0 | Naft Al-Wasat |
| 13 | 4FW | Sherko Karim | (1996-05-25)25 May 1996 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Grasshopper |
| 14 | 2DF | Saad Natiq | (1994-03-19)19 March 1994 (aged 22) | 11 | 1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 15 | 2DF | Dhurgham Ismail | (1994-05-23)23 May 1994 (aged 22) | 12 | 1 | Çaykur Rizespor |
| 16 | 3MF | Saad Abdul-Amir* (c) | (1992-01-19)19 January 1992 (aged 24) | 4 | 0 | Al-Qadisiyah |
| 17 | 2DF | Alaa Mhawi | (1996-06-03)3 June 1996 (aged 20) | 5 | 0 | Al-Zawraa |
| 18 | 3MF | Amjad Attwan | (1997-03-12)12 March 1997 (aged 19) | 5 | 2 | Al-Shorta |
* Over-aged player.

#### Group play

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Brazil (H) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | +4 | 5 | Quarter-finals |
| 2 | Denmark | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 4 | Quarter-finals |
| 3 | Iraq | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | South Africa | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 | |

## Judo

Iraq has qualified one judoka for the men's half-middleweight category (81 kg) at the Games, signifying the nation's Olympic return to the sport for the first time since 2004. Hussein Al-Aameri earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region as the highest-ranked Iraqi judoka outside of direct qualifying position in the IJF World Ranking List of May 30, 2016.
| Athlete | Event | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Repechage | Final / BM | Final / BM |
| Athlete | Event | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Opposition Result | Rank |
| Hussein Al-Aameri | Men's −81 kg | Bye | Kibikai (GAB) L 000–000 S | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance |

## Rowing

Iraq has qualified one boat in the men's single sculls for the Olympics at the 2016 Asia & Oceania Continental Qualification Regatta in Chungju, South Korea.
| Athlete | Event | Heats | Heats | Repechage | Repechage | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| Athlete | Event | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank |
| Mohammed Jasim Al-Khafaji | Men's single sculls | 7:25.04 | 5 R | 7:14.38 | 2 QF | 8:29.76 | 6 SC/D | 7:48.31 | 6 FD | 7:03.73 | 21 |
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; QF=Quarterfinals; R=Repechage

## Weightlifting

Iraq has qualified one male weightlifter for the Rio Olympics by virtue of a top seven national finish at the 2016 Asian Championships. Meanwhile, an unused women's Olympic spot was added to the Iraqi weightlifting team by IWF, as a response to the vacancy of women's quota places in the individual World Rankings and to the "multiple positive cases" of doping on several nations. The National Olympic Committee of Iraq, however, chose to keep the women's place vacant, allowing the deadline of allocation to pass without selecting a female weightlifter. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by June 20, 2016.
| Athlete | Event | Snatch | Snatch | Clean & Jerk | Clean & Jerk | Total | Rank |
| Athlete | Event | Result | Rank | Result | Rank | Total | Rank |
| Salwan Jassim Abbood | Men's −105 kg | 180 | 8 | 214 | 10 | 394 | 9 |