Iraq coach Graham Arnold has questioned the fairness of the World Cup format used in the latest phase of Asian qualifying after his side was beaten to a place in next summer's finals by Saudi Arabia.

The former Australia coach joined Oman boss Carlos Queiroz in criticising the just-concluded round of preliminaries, which saw Qatar claim a berth at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

"I'm extremely proud of the boys, especially after the way the format of the competition has been," Arnold said after his side's 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia in Jeddah left Iraq second in Group B behind Herve Renard's team.

"It's no coincidence that the team in each group that had the six days break qualified.

"I've never seen anything in my coaching career with this type of format. When I

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