On a sweltering suburban field outside Detroit, Zee Esho watches the season opener of a local Iraqi Chaldean league and marvels at how seriously people take the game. A few minutes into the match a yellow card is shown and a goalie’s shouting echoes like the stakes are huge. For Esho, who moved from Iraq to Michigan as a child, soccer is more than sport — it’s the thing that has bound Iraqis across regions, faiths and politics for decades.
That unity is on display again this year. Nicknamed the Lions of Mesopotamia, Iraq’s national team has returned to the FIFA World Cup for the first time since 1986. For many in Dearborn and other diasporic communities, that ends a 40-year drought — a milestone younger generations have never seen.
“For me, it gives you goosebumps,” says Waad Sana, who opened the Rochester Hills shop Soccer World in 1986 after watching Iraq in that Mexico World Cup. Sana remembers arriving in the U.S. as a teenager and being baffled when a store clerk handed him an American football instead of a soccer ball. This time, his store is inundated: about 100 calls a day for Iraqi national team jerseys and a waiting list for those who want the green kit.
Across the globe, celebrations followed the team’s qualification. Supporters packed streets and watched the inter-confederation playoff against Bolivia; players paraded through Baghdad atop open buses as fans cheered the long-awaited return to football’s biggest stage.
In Michigan, the excitement shows up in youth clubs and weekend matches. Abbas Alwishah, director of Michigan FC, says kids — even those as young as six — already know the team and its significance. “Their parents watch it, and they hear about it in the community,” he says. To many youngsters, Iraq’s team is a living connection to their heritage.
The World Cup draw unfortunately placed Iraq in a challenging group alongside Norway, Senegal and France — a lineup some have dubbed a “Group of Death.” Still, fans are celebrating the achievement of qualification itself. Esho is pragmatic but hopeful: “If they win one game, one game, which I am sure they will, Iraq fans will go crazy.”
Support for Iraq extends beyond the Iraqi diaspora. Teenager Fatimah Alzahraa Yazdchi, who is originally from Kuwait and plays with Michigan FC, plans to watch the matches with her father and lists Iraq firmly in her World Cup bracket. For many like her, Iraq’s presence on the world stage is a milestone for the region and an inspiring moment for young players.
The return has cultural ripples as well as commercial ones. Sana keeps a few vintage chants on hand to teach children, and local viewing parties are expected to draw crowds that mirror the nation’s diversity — people from the north and south, Sunnis and Shias, Kurds and Arabs, gathering together to watch a match.
After four decades and multiple failed qualification bids, simply seeing Iraq play at the World Cup feels like a victory. For fans in Detroit, Baghdad and beyond, the tournament offers more than results on the scoreboard: it’s a rare, shared moment of pride and connection across generations and borders.