Iraq's Incredible Asian Cup Run

The Iraqi National Soccer Team is a historically resilient institution. While the country was locked in an internecine war with Iran for most of the 80s, the team managed to qualify for the 1986 World Cup despite playing all "home" games on foreign soil. In the 1990s, Uday Hussein, Saddam's especially unhinged son, lorded over the team with sadistic cruelty, torturing players after losses and threatening dismemberment and prison to those who displeased him. Uday's reign was broken in the 2000s only by another war from which Iraq is still recovering. The United States invaded Iraq in 2003. That was also the last time Iraq beat Iran.

That is, until last week, when after 12 years of defeats and home-game bans, Iraq beat Iran 7-6 on penalties after a 3-3 tie in the Asian Cup quarterfinals. This was not a wholly expected outcome. Iran was coming off a World Cup in which they nearly held Argentina scoreless. Meanwhile, one of Iraq's best players hadn't played club soccer since 2013. The Iraqis were a clear underdog by any metric, but international rivalry games are big, weird affairs shot through with emotion. Convention often bows to the occasion. Shit happens.

For instance: a shot by Ali Adnan takes two deflections and bounces awkwardly into the six yard box for Younis Mahmoud—that guy who's been out of work for a year—to put into the net with a diving header. Or Iran's Mehrdad Pooladi flopping to earn his second yellow card in the dying minutes of the first half, and referee Ben Williams not realizing it meant red for Pooladi until the Iraqi team forcefully reminded him. Or Iran protesting the result because they suspected Iraq fielded an ineligible player. Absurdism was simply the nature of the game. Yellow card fouls became garden variety fouls. Garden variety fouls went uncalled. Mahmoud hit a gentle panenka to keep Iraq alive in the shootout.

There's an easy tendency to make winning or losing at sports stand for something abstract, because it's fun and it allows you to intellectualize your distractions. But the crowd in Canberra Stadium watching Iraq slowly realize they could hang was yelling with more than typical "GO TEAM!" bravado. The throbbing mass of fans were beating drums, waving massive flags, and chanting with progressively more urgency as the game went on. Even through the television, the lived experience of Iraq's tumultuous soccer history was readily tangible.

It was about as far away from slack-jawed phone-staring American fandom as one could get. When either team scored, entire benches cleared to celebrate and fans lost their shit. According to Justin Meram, a few fans suffered anxiety attacks and were forced to go to the hospital. The "Lions of Mesopotamia" are an important national symbol and the Asian Cup is a chance for the struggling country to win some pride and assert themselves. For Iraq, this tournament carries real weight.

Unfortunately, the magic ran out in last night's semifinal against South Korea, one of the best sides in the tournament, as an exhausted Iraq fell 2-0. The Koreans head into the final having not conceded a goal in the entire tournament. After dispatching their rivals, fans were hopeful of a repeat of 2007. In that year's AFC semifinal, a staunch Iraq held out against South Korea in regulation time and won on penalties. Four days later, Mahmoud netted the only goal as Iraq beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 to win the Cup.

But, despite the loss, last night's game was an escape from the demons of 2007, when a suicide bomber killed 30 fans celebrating the semifinal win in Baghdad. The team almost backed out of the final that year, fearing more violence, but they hung in and won. Mahmoud then used his moment to publicly call for the U.S. to leave Iraq. It's easy to see why he's an Iraqi hero, despite his having to live in exile due to numerous threats of kidnapping and assassination. That they lost last night doesn't significantly diminish the moment, it's an opportunity for comparison and a way to move forward after a tragedy, which is, after all, something this team excels at.

Iraq will play in the third place game against either UAE or Australia on Friday. They will be underdogs, as is custom, but they won't mope into the consolation game like Brazil at the World Cup. Iraqis who left in the diaspora and those still living in the country have a team to be immensely proud of. Sure, they got knocked out, but this is still Iraq's tournament.