With an estimated 3.5 billion fans around the world, football has always played an important role in international politics. The game contributed to war breaking out between El Salvador and Honduras in 1970, as well as in aggravating relations between Egypt and Algeria in 2009. But football in Iraq has always played a positive political role for the country. Football has the power to bring people together or tear them apart. Iraq’s history is a shining example of the sport’s potential to unite people despite seemingly irreconcilable differences.
