Twenty hours on a bus, a charter plane out of the Middle East, and a one-off game carrying the expectations of 48 million people: Iraq’s journey to the 2026 World Cup was not for the faint-hearted.
The Lions of Mesopotamia were the final country to secure their spot at this summer’s tournament, after a gruelling qualification campaign that saw them play 21 matches over the space of more than two years.
If that process wasn’t difficult enough, the team then had to undertake a mammoth journey to Mexico for their intercontinental playoff final, after the US-Israel attacks on Iran caused travel chaos in the Middle East.
Many of the players made an overland trip from Iraq to Jordan before waiting 24 hours to board a delayed flight out of the region.
“By the time they got to Mexico, I had to give them three days off to recover from the whole trip,” Iraq coach Graham Arnold told Al Jazeera.
“It was a tough trip. But I said to them, ‘Don’t use it as an excuse’.”
His players were certainly listening. Iraq shut out all of the distractions to defeat Bolivia 2-1 in Monterrey and secure World Cup qualification for the first time since 1986. The first goal scorer on that famous March night was Ali Al-Hamadi, a 24-year-old forward who has spent the season on loan at English side Luton Town.
He first arrived in the United Kingdom at age one after his father was released from prison in Iraq after being jailed for protesting against Saddam Hussein. His family fled shortly after the US invasion in 2003, settling in the Toxteth area of Liverpool. Despite the distance from home, they brought a slice of Iraqi culture to the northwest of England.
“We spoke the language in the household growing up, and still ate the same food, listened to the same songs. We had Iraqi TV, a separate thing to get the channels back home,” Al-Hamadi told Al Jazeera.
That connection to his native country was evident as he roared in celebration after scoring from a corner to set Iraq on their way against Bolivia.
“I’m super grateful to have that moment, and I’ll take that with me for the rest of my life,” Al-Hamadi said.
It’s a moment that Iraqi fans have waited 40 years for. Decades of conflict, sanctions and political instability have tamed the Lions as a footballing force, with the national team largely playing their home games abroad.
A rare positive moment came in 2007, when Iraq lifted the Asian Cup after beating Saudi Arabia in the final. But a place on the world’s biggest stage remained elusive, adding to the enormity of the playoff final in northern Mexico.
“The weight of that shirt is immense, being a national team player for Iraq. You feel it when you’re there; you feel the pressure of people wanting you to win, to succeed,” said Al-Hamadi.
He describes football as a “vehicle for happiness” for Iraqis and a way of escaping the numerous issues that have dogged their country.
“Considering what’s going on in that region at the moment, it’s nice to see the joy on people’s faces after the game and after qualification,” he said.
As the final name on the World Cup wallchart, Iraq have the least amount of time to prepare for the tournament and will look to cram a lot into a training camp in Spain with friendlies lined up against La Roja and Andorra.
They will then travel to the US, with the Lions of Mesopotamia stepping into an even bigger den after being drawn in a “group of death” featuring France, Norway and Senegal.
It is a daunting prospect for an Iraq squad with no World Cup experience, although their Australian coach certainly knows how to handle the unique pressure of tournament football.
Arnold led Australia’s Socceroos to the round of 16 at Qatar 2022, bowing out after a gutsy 2-1 loss to eventual champions Argentina. He was also assistant coach in 2006 when Australia lost at the last minute to Italy in the same stage of the tournament.
This experience of competing against higher-ranked opposition will be pivotal if Iraq are to find their way out of Group I.
“We’ve got to go there with a mentality of, it’s man against man, it’s human being against human being, and go out there with a great mindset of shocking the world and have that belief and confidence in yourself that you can do something,” said Arnold.
Norway will test that philosophy in Iraq’s opening game, as the Lions face a team containing Erling Haaland, a football forward who has been anything but a normal human being in the last few seasons.
One Iraqi player who is relishing the challenge of taking on the Scandinavian dark horses is Aimar Sher. The 23-year-old midfielder spent much of his childhood in Sweden and now plays for Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08.
“If I could choose one game to start the World Cup with, it would be this one,” Sher told Al Jazeera.
“It’s the dream to play against the country I live in right now, and all of my teammates always talked about this game even before our game against Bolivia,” he said.
Like many Iraqis, Sher, who is named after Argentinian midfield wizard Pablo Aimar, had to forge a new life in a foreign land after arriving in Sweden at age four. His footballing talent did not go unnoticed, and he played for the Swedish national team at the youth level, before opting to represent Iraq.
Despite no longer living in the country of his birth, Sher has a deep understanding of what World Cup participation means for his compatriots.
“Iraq has been through pretty much everything the last 40 years since they were in the World Cup, and to be part of the team that gives them joy, gives them hope and gives them love – I’m really, really grateful for that and I’m really humbled,” he said.
When Iraq take to the field in Boston in the US on June 16, it will mark the end of a monumental journey to reach the finals, but also the start of a new adventure. This troubled Middle East nation has the chance to show the world a different side of their country, away from conflict and chaos.
They’re an un-fancied outfit with unenviable group stage fixtures, but as Al-Hamadi explains, Iraqis are not afraid of a battle.
“It’s in our blood as people that we’re just fighters. I think at the World Cup people will definitely see that,” he said.
“They’ll see a team that runs, that can make stuff happen. If there’s one team that can pull off an upset or that can come and spoil a party, it would be Iraq.”
