If anyone deserves the chance to celebrate Iraq’s return to the World Cup it is Aymen Hussein and not just because the striker scored the winning goal in the final intercontinental playoff against Bolivia on Tuesday.

Born and raised in Kirkuk in northern Iraq, a region affected first by war and then by Islamic State, Hussein lost his father in an al-Qaeda attack in 2008. Six years later his brother disappeared and the young footballer was then forced to flee with the remaining members of his family. Football provided Hussein with a way out and hope. Now he has given his country, one that is recovering from recent horrors but still susceptible to the general regional instability as current events show, one of the happiest moments in its recent history.

There may have been despair on the streets of Rome, Copenhagen and Warsaw on Tuesday evening but in the Wednesday morning sun in Baghdad the scenes were different as fans waved flags, danced and sang. Far away in Mexico, where the Lions of Mesopotamia had appeared in their first and only World Cup to date in 1986, the national team returned to defeat Bolivia 2-1. The country has waited 40 years for this. Hussein has waited nine. When he was 21, he said that he wanted to lead Iraq to the World Cup. Now he has done just that. This old-fashioned No 9 popped up in the area eight minutes into the second half to sweep home.

It was just late enough in the game for those Iraqi supporters in Monterrey to dare to dream but not so late that the South Americans didn’t have time to throw everything at them in search of an equaliser. They had more shots, 16 to seven and 16 corners to two. In the end though, as the final whistle sounded, it really didn’t matter. The only thing that did was getting back on the global stage.

The 1986 World Cup has been overshadowed internationally and tainted at home. Uday Hussein, the son of Saddam, was in control of the team and instigated a reign of terror and brutality. Despite the torment, they were competitive with three defeats against Belgium, Paraguay and Mexico all coming by a single goal.

It has been a long wait to get back and their journey this time has been the most arduous in qualification for this expanded World Cup. Iraq have played 21 games on the road to Boston, the location of their opening Group I game against Norway on 16 June. They began in the second round where there were six games, coming top of their group. In the third they faced 10 fixtures but the team failed to take one of the two automatic qualifying places in their six-team group, losing out to Jordan, and so headed into various playoffs.

By then, in May 2025, Graham Arnold had come in. The veteran coach had led Australia through a similar playoff route all the way to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup and a clash with eventual champions Argentina, his success leading him to be named as the best coach of the tournament by L’Équipe. The 62-year-old was brought in to get Iraq through and he has done just that.

“I’ve got to give so much thanks to the players,” Arnold said after he had been thrown up into the Monterrey air by members of the squad. “Their work ethic, they showed the real Iraqi mentality and putting their bodies on the line, that’s why we won the game. I say to them: I am so happy that we’ve made 46 million people happy. Especially with what’s going on in the Middle East at the moment, I am so happy for them.”

Fans all around Asia certainly won’t begrudge the success. Since the US-led invasion in 2003, the country has made headlines for chaos, violence and instability. That made the triumph at the 2007 Asian Cup all the more striking. It didn’t lead, however, to Iraq getting back to the World Cup.

Inconsistency, bad luck and not being able to play qualifiers at home all contributed to repeat failures. This time around the tournament’s expansion has obviously helped – Iraq would not have come close if Asia had the usual four of five places. Being able to play home games in the southern port of Basra has also been a factor, though playing in front of 60,000 passionate home fans brings its own pressures to a team desperate to succeed.

But there is more experience now in a squad that features several players who are with clubs in Europe. Young talents such as Ali Jasim, Zidane Iqbal and Aimar Sher will have the chance to show the world what they can do alongside the more experienced stars such as Hussein and Jalal Hassan.

It’s a tough group with France and African champions (are we allowed to say that?) Senegal coming after the opener with Erling Haaland and co. But after what the country and its goalscoring hero Hussein have been through, it is the most welcome of challenges.