Al Najaf

Abdul Ghani Shahad become the interim manager of Al Najaf in 1999, where he managed the team for 15 games, winning 7 games. Despite his impressive record, Abdul-Ghani was relegated to assistant manager, due to his inexperience.

Abdul Ghani Shahad's first full season in charge of Al Najaf was the 2002-03 season, which was cancelled after 29 rounds due to the American Invasion of Iraq with Al-Najaf being in second place before the outbreak of the war.^[2] During the season Al Najaf only lost 3 matches and were serious title contenders.

The following season was abandoned midway through because of the security situation in the country.^[3]

The 2004/05 season was the first full season which was completed since the start of the Iraq War, Abdul-Ghani Shahad led Al Najaf to be second on the Euphrates Group, with only one loss.^[4] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf finished second in their group, behind Al-Zawraa, and failed to qualify to the championship playoffs.^[5]

The 2005/06 season was the standout season for Abdul Ghani Shahad and Al Najaf. Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to a second place finish in the Central Group A, which meant the qualified to the Elite stage for the second season running.^[6] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf managed to finish first in their group and qualifying to the championship playoff,^[7] they beat Erbil in the semifinal 5-2 on aggregate.^[8] The final against Al-Zawraa was played in Sulaymaniyah on June 24, 2006, the match went to penalties scoreless. Uday Omran and Chasib Sultan missed their penalties as Al-Najaf lost, 4–3, on penalties.^[9] Despite the loss, it was still Al Najaf's joint-best league position. Finishing second also meant that Al Najaf qualified to the AFC Champions League for the first time ever.^[10]

The following season, Al Najaf finished 3rd in their group and were eliminated from the AFC Champions League.^[11] Meanwhile in the league, Al Najaf once again reached the playoff contention, however they lost to Erbil SC in the semi-final, while they beat Al-Talaba SC in the third place playoff, and qualified to the Arab Champions League.^[12]

In the 2007/08 season, Al Najaf once again made the playoffs^[13] but failed to reach the semi-final.^[14] They were also eliminated from the Arab Champions League in the second round.^[15]

Following the end of the season, Abdul-Ghani got an offer from giants Al-Talaba SC which he took.^[16]

Al Talaba

Under Abdul Ghani, Al Talaba failed to qualify to the playoffs in the 2008/09 season after finishing 3rd in group B, 3 points behind second place Al Amana.^[17] The performance was deemed unsatisfactory and he was subsequently relieved of his duties as manager of Al Talaba.^[18]

Karbala

Following his sacking, Abdul Ghani signed for Karbala on the 15th of June 2009.^[19] He led the time to finish 4th in group B, an impressive jump from 11th position in the season prior.^[20] Karbala were eliminated in the Elite stage after finishing third behind Duhok SC and Al Quwa Al Jawiya.^[21] Following his impressive stint with Karbala, Abdul Ghani returned to Al Najaf.

Return to Al Najaf

Following the 2009/10 season, Abdul-Ghani returned once again to his boyhood club Al Najaf. His first season ended on a disappointing note after Al Najaf finished in 6th place and were 18 points behind playoff contention.^[22] Despite the undesirable results, Al Najaf decided to keep faith with their man, the following season saw the league return to a Round-robin tournament.^[23] The league ended with Al Najaf finishing in 9th place. The 12/13 season also finished with Al Najaf in 9th place.^[24] Following that season, Abdul-Ghani moved to a new team founded in Al-Najaf playing in the second division named Naft Al-Wasat.

Naft Al Wasat

Abdul-Ghani Shahad took a gamble and signed for second division side Naft Al Wasat in August 2013.^[25] He took them on a historic campaign, finishing first in all three stages undefeated.^[26][27][28] A total of twenty-five games without a loss meant that the team would be promoted to the Iraqi Premier League.^[29]

The following season Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to its first ever season in the top flight. They achieved an amazing feat by qualifying to the Elite stage.^[30] They went on to qualify to the final to face Al Quwa Al Jawiya^[31] They game was played in Al-Shaab Stadium in front of a sold out crowd and the game went to penalties, where Naft Al Wasat ended up winning the match due to the heroics of Noor Sabri saving 3 penalties.^[32]

Iraq U23

In 2015, Shahad was appointed as the manager of the Iraqi U23 team, replacing Yahya Alwan.^[33] His first tournament in charge was the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship, in which Iraq finished third, after defeating Qatar in extra time.^[34] The bronze medal meant that Iraq also qualified to the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[35]

In the Olympic games, Shahad was applauded by fans and pundits for his defensive formations that led to a 0-0 draw with heavyweights Brazil.^[36] However, Iraq failed to qualify from the group after finishing in 3rd place with 3 points from 3 games.^[37]

Under his management, Iraq qualified to the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship by winning all three games in their qualification group.^[38] They were knocked out of the quarterfinals of the competition, following a defeat in penalty kicks against Vietnam.

Iraq National Team

Following the 2-2 draw vs Thailand,^[39] Yahya Alwan resigned as manager of the national side,^[40] Abdul-Ghani was brought on as an interim coach.^[41] He only managed one game, which he won against Vietnam.^[42]

Return to Naft Al Wasat

In July 2016, Naft Al Wasat reached an agreement with Abdul-Ghani to manage both the club and the U23 side simultaneously.^[43] However he left before the end of the season due to his obligations to the Iraqi U23 side.^[44]

Al Shorta

On 18 February 2020, Shahad signed with Al-Shorta to lead them in the restarted 2019–20 league season. The competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Al Shorta still had to complete their 2020 AFC Champions League campaign. The team came close to advancing to the round of 16 but were eliminated on goal difference.^[45] Abdul Ghani resigned following a goalless draw against Zakho in the third matchweek of the 2020–21 season, for what he described as "personal reasons".^[46]

Al Mina'a

In January 2021, Al Najaf announced that they have re-signed Abdul Ghani Shahad, bringing him back to his boyhood club^[47] However the deal collapsed due to the club's financial hardship. Al Mina'a hired Abdul-Ghani Shadhad after the club had fallen to 19th in the standings.^[48] However the deal also collapse due to interest from another one of his former clubs Naft Al Wasat and his desire to stay in Najaf^[49]

Managerial

As of 29 June 2022

More information Team, Nat ...

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Al-Najaf		1999	1999	15	7	5	3	046.67
Al-Najaf		August 2002	July 2008	122	74	27	21	060.66
Al-Talaba		August 2008	May 2009	20	13	4	3	065.00
Karbala		June 2009	March 2010	12	6	4	2	050.00
Najaf		8 April 2010	22 February 2013	128	48	40	40	037.50
Naft Al-Wasat		August 2013	4 August 2015	50	31	13	6	062.00
Iraq (Caretaker)		25 March 2016	29 March 2016	1	1	0	0	100.00
Naft Al-Wasat		1 July 2016	14 March 2017	24	14	8	2	058.33
Iraq U23		10 August 2015	18 February 2020	44	24	14	6	054.55
Al-Shorta		18 February 2020	6 November 2020	15	7	7	1	046.67
Naft Al-Wasat		23 January 2021	10 February 2022	49	20	20	9	040.82
Iraq		10 February 2022	29 March 2022	3	2	1	0	066.67
Naft Al-Wasat		29 March 2022	""Present""	13	5	5	3	038.46
Total				377	185	118	74	049.07

Close

As Player

• Umm al-Ma'arik Championship
  • Winner 1997–98 with Al-Najaf
• Iraqi Premier League:
  • Runner up 1995/96 with Al-Najaf

As Manager

• Iraqi Premier League:
  • Winner 2014/15 with Naft Al-Wasat
  • Runner up 2005/06 with Al-Najaf
  • Third place 2006/07 with Al-Najaf
• Cup of Love:
  • Winner 2003 with Al-Najaf

Iraq U-23

• AFC U-23 Championship: Third place 2016

Iraq U-23

• 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualification : Qualified for the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship