Wars, sanctions and punishments: Iraq's 40-year World Cup wait

"There was also, at times, a lack of proper planning for the qualifiers and insufficient preparation for matches. That is why it took such a long time."

And then there was Saddam Hussein. In 1984, the dictator placed his son in charge of Iraq football.

Uday Hussein instigated a reign of terror over the national team, a regime of cruel punishments and torture with full details emerging after the fall of the regime in 2003 – players being forced to train with concrete balls, being flogged and imprisoned and much more besides.

Allawi is reluctant to talk about those times. "To put it briefly, during that period, there was a very strict principle of reward and punishment in place," he said.

The US-led invasion that toppled Saddam also created years of instability that still affect football even today.

The national team has not played a World Cup qualifier in Baghdad since. In March 2020, Fifa gave the green light to the southern city of Basra, meaning that, at last, crucial home games did not have to take place in Jordan, Malaysia, Iran and elsewhere.

In 2026, conflict in the Middle East almost caused March's play-off against Bolivia to be postponed with some players, as well as coach Arnold struggling to get out of the country and into Mexico. In the end, they made it and returned victorious, on an open-top bus parade through the crowded streets of a delighted Baghdad.

Echoes of the 80s

When qualification was achieved in 1985, with a 3-1 win over Syria, the Iran-Iraq war meant that the game was played in Saudi Arabia.

"We were also playing our matches outside the country, which made the feeling even greater," said Allawi.

"It was similar when we came back, there was also a huge public attendance, and many celebrations were organised by the people, especially festivals and public gatherings. We were a good team."

This golden generation reached all three Olympics in the 1980s and won all kinds of regional championships.

Allawi played his part along the road to Mexico. "Throughout all the qualification matches, I was a starter but at the World Cup I was on the bench because of the injury I suffered the day before the Paraguay game. It was very unfortunate."

So were Iraq in a 1-0 loss that is still discussed to this day in Baghdad. Iraqi legend Ahmed Rahdi headed home an equaliser against the South Americans but the referee blew the whistle for half-time as the corner was on its way into the area.

"The referee did not count the goal and we suffered from poor decisions, against Belgium too, we had a red card and came close to equalising," said Allawi.

"Despite that, it was a special time, the atmosphere of the World Cup is completely different from any other tournament with massive crowds, legendary players everywhere.

"You try to get to know them and interact with players from different countries.

"They remain very good memories for us and I am sure that the players in the team now will say the same in years to come."