Background: Meat has historically served as a fundamental part of the human diet, delivering proteins, minerals, vitamins, and necessary fatty acids. Red meat, in particular, is the first choice of most Iraqis compared to the white meat. Objective: the present study aimed to review the bacterial species cultivated from retail mutton and beef sold in Iraq throughout the last decade, along with shedding lights on their antimicrobial resistance and/or virulence profile. Method: Literature indexed within Google Scholar and Scopus databases was searched using specific keywords. Then, advanced search was conducted to narrowing the search process. Eventually, 23 confidential articles that met the specifications were included. Result: This research demonstrated that nearly 52% of the studies conducted in Iraq were in the northern part. While 30% of the investigations covered the middle part of the country, the articles from southern provinces constituted 17%. These articles focused on the isolation of particular bacterial species, especially Staphylococcus spp.,Salmonella spp., certain members of Enterobacteriaceae, and other uncommon species. The most abundant pathogens isolated from beef and mutton samples belonged to Staphylococcus aureus. Regarding the other bacterial spp., they reported different isolation rates. Additionally, the vast majority of the bacteria were multidrug resistant (MDR) and some possessed virulence factor genes. Conclusion: This study found that the Iraqi research papers were deprived of the inclusive search on the entire bacteria carried by meat samples. Additionally, the microbial identification in the Iraqi papers based on the tradition and/or PCR techniques targeting one gene. Therefore, more future studies are recommended to be performed to include larger numbers of the samples from various regions of the country to check for the hygiene levels applied. The use of modern diagnostic methods, such as whole genome sequencing, is also required to look for the possible occurrence of other hidden potential pathogens and their associated virulence and antibiotic resistance features.