FIFA Arab Cup
Iraq - with two wins - are assured of a top two finish and face Algeria on Tuesday while Sudan - on one point - face Bahrain.
Iraq, who edged Bahrain 2-1 in their opening fixture, opted to rest their stars Mohanad Ali and Aymen Hussein against a Sudan side who looked sharper from the start.
John Mano slipped a neat through ball for Mohamed Abdelrhman in the second minute, but his run into the box was stopped by charging Iraq keeper Ahmed Basil.
Sudan had another narrow miss with Abdelrhman pulling his shot just wide of the left post with the forward tormenting the Iraq defence 10 minutes later, only to send his effort high over the bar.
Despite playing in patches, it was Iraq who had the only shot on target in the half with Zaid Ismael firing his effort from distance, but it went straight at Sudan keeper Mohamed Alnour.
Iraq showed their aggressive side after the break with Hussein Ali’s 52nd minute effort sailing just wide of the left post.
Iraq head coach Graham Arnold - in an attempt to fire his side up - made a triple substitution just before the hour mark, bringing on Ali, Mustafa Saadoon and Amjed Attwan into the mix.
And the plan almost came to fruition six minutes later after Sudan’s defence was stretched with Hasan Abdulkarim slipping through the right to set up Ali for a simple finish into an unattended goalmouth, only for the goal to be ruled offside.
The breakthrough finally came for Iraq in the 81st minute after Ali reacted quickest to a poor clearance following Abdulkarim’s free-kick, driving the ball into the back of the net.
Attwan doubled Iraq’s lead three minutes later when he collected Ali Jasim’s pass at the edge of the box and finishing with a sublime strike into the bottom left corner to confirm Iraq’s spot in the next round.
Photos: FIFA via Getty Images
