Zidane Iqbal
#8 · Midfielder · age 22
Manchester United academy graduate; key ball-progressor.
50
WC26 rating
- Recent form
- 29
- Career peak
- 33
- League level
- 78
- Competition pedigree
- 55
- International pedigree
- 64
- Longevity
- 45
Independent rating — league strength (Opta-anchored) × competition tier × position-normalized output. Not affiliated with EA or FIFA.
Career by season
Source: transfermarkt · fetched 2026-05-29
Iqbal is the highest-pedigree European-based player in the Iraq squad and the man Graham Arnold is most likely to build the team’s possession game around. A Manchester United academy graduate with a European top-five-league pathway behind him, he combines the technical comfort of a player developed in a major academy with the tournament hunger of a national team starved of major-event minutes for 40 years.
His role is straightforward: receive the ball under pressure, beat one or two opponents, and either feed Hussein in the channel or recycle to keep possession from a press. Iraq’s tournament credibility — their ability to compete with France and Norway in the middle third rather than just absorb pressure — runs almost entirely through Iqbal’s right boot.
Strengths
- Press resistance and tight-space dribbling
- Long-range passing and ball-progression
- Two-footed creativity in midfield
Recent form
Utrecht regular through 2025-26; Iraq's key creative midfielder.
Was the first British-born South Asian-heritage player to feature in a competitive match for Manchester United.