Iraq has been given the go ahead is to host a West Asia Football Federation championship this November, the first international tournament to be staged in the country since the 1990s.
This came following the decision in March by FIFA to lift a three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football.
Speaking to the media Iraqi Football Association spokesman Kamel Zaghir said that they were eager to organise a major footballing event and to show that it is ready at all levels.
FIFA’s decision followed an international friendly between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the ultra-modern stadium in Basra on February 28.
Iraq has not played competitive internationals on home turf since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
The ban, covering all but domestic matches, stayed in place after the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.