After four decades, Iraq achieved a new classification, which took place on Mexican soil. Hussein himself had already anticipated his desire to lead his nation to a World Cup. After a long journey, they managed to reach Monterrey. Curiously, the only time Iraq had participated in a World Cup was in Mexico 1986. In 2008, when the footballer was very young, the Al-Qaeda organization assassinated his father in Baghdad. He grew up playing football, and when a coach saw his talent in a public park, he asked him to join his team to replace an injured player. Eager to help his family financially after the loss of his father, the sport became his way of making a living, something he himself recognizes. “If I leave football, nothing would change,” he said. After the classification, he shared on social media a clip from a 2017 interview in which he spoke about the topic. “I have walls around me… Many of the displaced people in Iraq live in tents,” he exposed about the situation in his country. Qualifying for the Olympic Games would be the last motive of national pride in his career. It did not happen for Russia or Qatar, but it did for North America. “A son of Iraq, if he makes a promise, he fulfills it; if he speaks, he tells the truth; and if he rises up, he shakes the earth under the feet of desperation,” he was quoted as saying. This after obtaining his ticket in the playoff for the 2026 World Cup, and his main hero is named Aymen Hussein. In the 53rd minute of the match against Bolivia, Hussein scored the goal that put the definitive 2-1, with which Iraq — a team that battled to get to Monterrey to play the match — qualified for the 2026 World Cup. However, there is a particular story behind the Iraqi forward: he lost family members at the hands of groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda. The story of Aymen Hussein, the hero of Iraq for the 2026 World Cup. Hussein's story gained notoriety 10 years ago. In 2016, prior to the Rio Olympics, he scored the goal against Qatar that classified his selection to the event. Just 18 months before, ISIS militants forced him to leave his home, as reported at the time by Arab News. In the summer of 2014, Hussein and his family fled north when the organization advanced through the country. “Probably it will not be the last,” he lamented. This was not the first blow for his family. His brother, a local police officer, was kidnapped and disappeared. “No one really knows what happened to him exactly,” said Hussein. A few weeks ago, the Iraqi team stated that they were having difficulties leaving the Middle East due to the war in Iran. “Congratulations to all Iraqis; this joy is a long-awaited right…,” he wrote. “This is not the first story of terrorism in my family(...). I would not get any of that back,” he expressed. 10 years later, football would remind him that a ball in the net can move an entire country. But the road was not easy. “Still, I thank God for my situation. After 40 years of absence, the Iraqi National Team will play the FIFA World Cup. “May God have mercy on our just martyrs,” he concluded.
