National team legend Younis Mahmoud elected Iraqi Football Association president

BAGHDAD — Former Iraq national team star Younis Mahmoud was elected president of the Iraqi Football Association on Saturday, winning 38 votes to incumbent president Adnan Dirjal’s 21 in elections held at Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad.

Mahmoud, who previously served as the association’s deputy president, will lead Iraqi soccer for the next four years. A third candidate, Iyad Bunyan, received one vote.

Members of the association’s general assembly, heads and members of affiliated football federations, and club presidents participated in the voting process.

Mahmoud is one of the most celebrated figures in Iraqi soccer history. He captained the national team for a decade and scored 57 goals in 146 international appearances. The defining moment of his career came at the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, where he scored the winning header in the final against Saudi Arabia to give Iraq its first and only continental title. He was nominated for the 2007 Ballon d’Or.

The election comes as Iraq prepares for its first World Cup appearance in 40 years, having qualified by defeating Bolivia 2-1 in the intercontinental playoff final in Monterrey last month. It is only the country’s second World Cup appearance in history, following Mexico 1986.