It was in the hour that followed the full-time whistle inside Monterrey’s Estadio BBVA that the significance of the moment struck Ali Al-Hamadi. “I rang my dad on the pitch and I was just crying,” he said.
An Iraq team that can tell a dozen stories of family displacement had completed a long, arduous journey to the World Cup finals after beating Bolivia 2-1 in a play-off, and the emotions could no longer be contained.
“I don’t think people understand how much we’ve been through as a country and people,” Al-Hamadi, scorer of Iraq’s opening goal, told The Athletic. “There’s a reason we all live abroad because our families had to leave to give us a better future. To come back and give joy to millions of people… this is why we love football.”
Al-Hamadi’s upbringing offers a glimpse of the struggles that Iraq has lived through since the turn of the century. As a one-year-old, he and his mother fled their homeland after his father, Ibrahim, was jailed for his part in peaceful protests against Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship.
Ali Al-Hamadi celebrates scoring Iraq’s opener (Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images)
The family relocated, as did thousands of others, and were eventually all reunited in the UK as the Iraq War was beginning in 2003. Al-Hamadi, now 24 and playing on loan for League One Luton Town from Ipswich Town, speaks with the clear accent of his adopted Liverpool, but has never considered himself anything but Iraqi.
“For my dad to leave the country and then for me to come back, I can’t put it into words,” he added. “He deserves it, my family deserves it, and all the Iraqi people deserve it after everything they’ve been through.”
A tense 2-1 victory over Bolivia ended as a cathartic release for the thousands of Iraqis who had travelled to northern Mexico. The majority represented Iraq’s scattered diaspora, travelling from cities across America, including San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Ohio, and Detroit. Others had come from the UK, Canada and Sweden. Together, almost universally dressed in white, they danced in the stands that were close to capacity.
Iraq’s following would have been larger still had their country’s airspace not been closed due to the ongoing conflict between Iran and the U.S. Those same logistical obstacles had forced players and staff to drive 10 hours to Amman, Jordan, to catch connecting flights to Europe and on to Mexico. The same route awaits them when returning to Baghdad in the coming days, with little obvious sign that peace is coming to the region.
“The journey was hell for some players,” Rebin Sulaka, now playing his club football in Thailand, told reporters afterwards. Sulaka is among Iraq’s longest-serving players and, like Al-Hamadi, spent part of his childhood in Europe after fleeing the nation of his birth.
“Hopefully we made them proud and we can bring the people together in Iraq, celebrating this moment,” added Sulaka. “I remember 2007. I was 15 years old when Iraq won the Asian Cup (beating Saudi Arabia in Jakarta). I was out celebrating on the streets in Sweden because my family had moved there because of the war. I went out with my father in the car, with flags. I know it’s going to be the same feeling.”
Iraqis in Baghdad celebrate qualifying for the World Cup (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Videos duly circulated on social media of joyous scenes across Iraq. Qualification for a first World Cup since 1986 offers much-needed optimism at an uncertain time. Iraq has worked hard towards becoming a more stable state since the war ended in 2011, but the past month has sparked fears that Iran’s conflict might eventually become theirs. As with other neighbouring countries, missile and drone attacks have been common in Iraq over recent weeks.
Graham Arnold had attempted to shield his players from those geopolitical pressures. The use of social media was banned throughout their 10 days in Monterrey for fear of distractions. A World Cup, where they will face Norway, France and Senegal in a star-studded group, now brings promise.
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“I’m just so delighted for the players and I’m really happy for the 46 million Iraqis,” said Arnold in his post-match press conference. “Hopefully, this will help change the perception of Iraq. I can imagine they’re celebrating back there.”
Each of this week’s six World Cup play-offs had a story attached, but Iraq’s meeting with Bolivia, the last to be played, was full of history. Both countries were desperate to end their period in the wilderness — Bolivia had waited 32 years to be part of a World Cup finals — and the burden hung heavy in Mexico.
Oscar Villegas, Bolivia’s head coach, had been told by one reporter in the pre-match press conference that he must now be considered the most important man in the country. “I don’t think like that,” he responded uncomfortably. Maybe so, but Villegas was acutely aware of the moment’s significance. “The whole nation is looking at us,” he said.
The traditional banderazo (flag-waving) told its own story outside of the Bolivian team hotel as dusk fell on Monday evening. A thousand or so fans came with drums, trumpets, horns and exuberance, causing police to close a road in Monterrey’s plush business district.
Bolivia fans make their presence felt in Monterrey (Phil Buckingham/The Athletic)
Iraq’s travelling fans were having their own fun beyond midnight on Monterrey’s Macroplaza, the central square in front of the Palacio de Gobierno. The two gatherings depicted it as a World Cup fixture in all but name.
Arnold, like Villegas, had been aware of the pressures. The Australian has spent eight of the past 10 months living in Baghdad to best learn Iraqi culture following his appointment as head coach in May 2025, and focused almost solely on the mentality of his group.
Experience had taught him that. Four years ago, Arnold successfully guided Australia through an intercontinental play-off against Peru to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where their adventures were only narrowly ended by Argentina in the round of 16.
There is a pragmatism to Arnold that has smoothed the edges of this Iraq team in a qualification campaign that first began in November 2023. Twenty games — more than any other nation — had brought them this far, and a 21st was the reckoning. Amir Al-Ammari, a midfielder who plays his club football in Poland but also has Swedish roots, said a “brotherhood” had formed over those three years.
Graham Arnold shares a moment with Iraq’s fans in Monterrey (Julio Cesar Aguilar/AFP via Getty Images)
“We’ve had the most qualifying matches across the whole world,” said Al-Hamadi, who had featured in most of them. “But Iraqi people are known for our heart, fighting and battling. It’s the story of Iraqi people.”
And fight they did. Iraq, physically stronger than Bolivia, scored early in each half; first through Al-Hamadi’s close-range header and then with a swept finish from Aymen Hussein, who converted substitute Marko Farji’s precise cross.
Bolivia had hit Iraq with a well-taken goal of their own late in the first half through 18-year-old forward Moises Paniagua, but the late rally, which brought waves of pressure during nine minutes of added time, was not enough. Energies had been spent coming from behind to Suriname in a semi-final five days earlier and there was nothing left for an inexperienced Bolivian team to give.
It meant Iraq could finally exhale as one at the final whistle, with staff and substitutes rushing onto the pitch. Flags were thrown from the stands, as were sombreros. Farji and Youssef Amyn posed topless, wearing the traditional Mexican hats synonymous with the last World Cup Iraq attended in 1986.
Iraq lost all three of their games then and there will be an expectation for history to be repeated this summer. No group at this summer’s World Cup is harder than the one they will join, and Arnold learned France’s strengths the hard way in 2022, losing 4-1 with Australia.
“We’ve got nothing to lose, so let’s go there and shock the world,” he said with a smile.
For now, that problem can wait. Iraq just wanted to enjoy their moment — they had earned it.
