Ayman Hussein’s path from family tragedy to Iraq’s World Cup return

Iraq striker Ayman Hussein has reached the World Cup after a life marked by Islamist terror and repeated loss. The 30-year-old was delayed by U.S. authorities and questioned for seven hours on the way to the tournament, but his personal history is far more dramatic than that incident.

Hussein was born in 1996 in Al-Safra village in the Al-Huwayjah district of north-central Iraq, where his family lived from farming and sheep herding. When he was 12, his father, an Iraqi army soldier, was ambushed and killed by Al-Qaeda while buying materials to repair the family home. Hussein said he briefly considered quitting football to support the family, but his mother insisted he continue, telling him, “It’s your dream. I know it, and you must fulfill it.” He also pleaded for the family to leave the village, but his older brother, who later joined the Iraqi army, stayed. In 2014, after Hussein returned from a training camp in Turkey, he learned his brother had disappeared after being kidnapped when ISIS took control of the area. The family has not heard from him since.

Hussein’s career nevertheless advanced. Duhok discovered him in 2012, and he signed for about $920 a month. He later moved to Al-Naft, then to Tunisia’s Espérance, and went on to play for clubs across North Africa and the Middle East, including spells in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. He returned home last season.

Internationally, he has delivered in major moments for Iraq. He scored the extra-time winner against Qatar in 2016 to secure Asia’s last place at the Rio Olympics, scored three times to lead Iraq to the 2023 Gulf Cup title, and netted in a 2-1 win over Indonesia in 2024 that booked Olympic qualification for Paris. He also made headlines for a bizarre red card against Jordan in the 2023 Asian Cup, staged in early 2024, when a goal celebration was judged as provocation. Iraq lost 3-2 after leading 2-1, and coach Jesus Casas called it “the strangest dismissal I have seen in my career.”

Now Hussein is set to face France, Senegal and Norway in Group 9, with stars such as Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele and Michael Olise. Eighteen years after his father was killed and 12 years after his brother vanished, Iraq’s “Abu Tavar” arrives on the world stage as both striker and symbol.