Wars, sanctions and punishments: Iraq's 40-year waiting for World Cup

Karim Allawi was a player 40 years ago, while the Mesopotamian Lions lost all three matches against Paraguay, Belgium and the host country, but now he is a fan, desperately hoping that his offspring could do a little better, even if the matches against Norway, France and Senegal look frightening, reports the report. BBC Sports, broadcast Periscope.

The 66-year-old, along with the vast majority of 46 million people in the football mad spot, will watch Iraq's match against Norway of Erling Haaland in Boston on 16 June.

This is indeed a deadly and stronger group than 1986,"Allawi told BBC Sports.

"Finance is world champion many times, Norway is one of the strongest European teams in development, and Senegal is the African champion who has qualified several times for the World Cup.

"I hope they give strong performance and achieve better results than we did in 1986. "

Compared to the previous team, this Iraqi team, ranked 57th in the world, is full of European experience players such as Ali Al-Haamadi of Ipswich Town, former Manchester United Zidane Iqbal midfielder, now in Urecht in the Netherlands, and Kevin Yakob, who has just helped AGF become Denmark's champion.

The employment of Graham Arnold, who took Australia to the second round of the 2022 World Cup, has also yielded results in 2025.

The 62-year-old helped Iraq pass the third and fourth round of qualifications, a narrow victory in play-off against the United Arab Emirates prior to victory over Bolivia. This was the 21st match on a long road towards the final.

The festivities may have ceased, but the emotions remain. Television sports reporter Nawar Faeq Al-Rikabi told the BBC: "People may think we are the weakest team in the group, but everything can happen.

We'll be fine, there's no pressure on Iraqi players, they just have to perform well and we have quality players who can perform well. "

Arnold's increase can make a difference. In 2022, Argentina found it very difficult to win against Australia,"added Al-Rikabi. "It will be the same with us. He has a lot of experience and I think we're gonna do something really good. "

The goal is to improve from 1986. To score more than a goal would be a new achievement, winning a match would be a big achievement, qualifying for the next phase would be fantastic. People have waited so long, and now we're almost”

Wars, Political Challenges, and Sanctions

There have always been talents in Iraq, but due to factors mainly outside the field, they have taken four decades to get back.

"Like the country, both the national team went through many difficult circumstances, including wars, political and economic challenges, and sometimes international sanctions", Allawi said.

"Also, sometimes, there was a lack of adequate planning for inadequate qualifications and preparation for matches. That's why it took so long. "

And then there was Saddam Hussein. In 1984, the dictator placed his son at the helm of Iraq's football.

Uday Husseyin promoted a reign of terror over the national team, a regime of cruel punishments and tortures in full detail that emerged after the collapse of the regime in 2003 - players were forced to train with concrete cannons, beaten and imprisoned, and much more.

Allaw is reluctant to talk about those times. In short, during that period, there was a very strict principle of reward and punishment", he said.

The US-led invasion that brought down Saddam also created years of instability that still affects football today.

The national team has not played a qualifying match for the World Cup in Baghdad since. In March 2020, FIFA gave the green light to the southern town of Basra, which means that, at last, decisive domestic matches did not have to take place in Jordan, Malaysia, Iran and elsewhere.

In 2026, the conflict in the Middle East almost caused the March play-off match against Bolivia, with some players, as well as coach Arnold struggling to leave the country and enter Mexico. Eventually, they succeeded and turned victorious, on an open - bus parade on streets filled with happy Baghdaders.

Echo of the '80s

When the qualification was achieved in 1985, with a 3-1 victory over Syria, the Iran-Iraq war caused the match to take place in Saudi Arabia.

"We also played our matches abroad, which made the feeling even greater", Allawi said.

The"was similar when we returned, there was also great public participation, and many celebrations were organised by people, especially festivals and public gatherings. We were a good team. "

This golden generation reached all three Olympic Games in the 1980s and won all kinds of regional championships.

Allawi played his role along the way to Mexico. During all the qualifying matches, I was the title, but in the World Cup I was on the bench because of the damage I suffered the day before the Paraguy game. It was very unfortunate. "

The same was true of Iraq in a 100-euro loss still discussed in Baghdad this day. Iraqi legend Ahmed Rahdi scored head-to-head for the draw against the South Americans, but the judge whistled for the first half break as the blast from the corner entered the area.

The judge didn't calculate the goal and we suffered from poor decisions, even against Belgium, we got a red card and we approached the draw", Allawi said.

Despite that, it was a special time, the World Cup atmosphere is completely different from any other tournament with mass crowds, legendary players everywhere.

You try to get to know and interact with players from different countries.

"They remain very good memories for us, and I'm sure the players on the team now will say the same in the years coming". /Periscope/