As expected, Spain completely dominated possession in the early stages, and that was almost reflected by the scoreline eight minutes into proceedings, but Ahmed Basil reacted superbly to tip Alex Baena’s attempt wide after the ball had gone through Zaid Tahseen’s legs.
The Iraq goalkeeper was left helpless on the quarter-hour mark, though, as a swift move forward saw Ferran Torres collect the ball after a smart Borja Iglesias stepover and glide up the pitch before clinically finishing.
Undeterred, Graham Arnold’s men stunned their hosts to equalise in the 27th minute, as an audacious Merchas Doski strike from a tight angle sailed over Joan Garcia and into the net for the left-back’s first-ever international goal.
Basil was called into action again to deny Dani Olmo following a defence-splitting Torres pass, but Iraq carried a threat of their own with Marc Bernal and Gavi both receiving a booking for pulling down Marko Farji.
However, Torres continued to show intent with Basil getting the finest of touches on his strike to tip it onto the crossbar and send the game into the break level.
A total of eight substitutions were made ahead of the restart, and a handful of Luis de la Fuente’s were straight into the action.
First, Jesus Rodriguez came close to making an immediate mark, fizzing a shot from range agonisingly wide before Yeremy Pino had a shot deflected behind for a corner that debutant Jon Martin headed wide.
Gonzalo García guided his shot from a fizzed Baena cross off-target before a flurry of further changes from both benches that seemed to disrupt the flow of the game.
The hosts continued to probe, but Iraq stood firm for a draw, extending Usood al-Rafidayn’s unbeaten run to 3 consecutive matches ahead of their first WC since 1986. The opposition this time around makes that even more encouraging, considering they will face a tough trio of Norway, France and Senegal.
The draw takes Spain’s record to one loss in their last 29 matches, but the result will carry little weight, with some of the players featured not part of de la Fuente’s squad for the finals and other key members missing out.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ferran Torres (Spain)