Read 6 minutes16 Jun 2026 06:38 PM IST
Zidane Iqbal was boarding a flight back to Manchester – where he was born and raised – at Mexico City airport when a friend sent him a message. Just 24 hours earlier, Zidane had made a sensational switch Iraq until the 2026 World Cup finalsOvercame numerous odds, defeating Bolivia in the play-offs. When the friend’s message arrived, he was watching a video of his father, Amr, lunging in an Iraqi shirt as the final whistle blew in Guadalajara.
A message from a friend broke the news that Zidane was unaware of. When he turns out for Iraq against Norway, he will become the first player of Pakistani heritage to feature in a FIFA World Cup. “I immediately sent it to my father. We were both surprised. I didn’t feel anything like that when I tried to qualify for the World Cup with Iraq. My father is Pakistani. He is the person I respect the most in my life, who helped me a lot in my career. I played for Iraq, grew up in England, but my dad was born in Pakistan. I had a lot of respect for my grandfather. The family,” Zidane told the BBC.
While his father is of Pakistani heritage, Zidane’s mother Ayat is Iraqi, which qualified him to play for the Lions of Mesopotamia. She was born in Samawa before her parents moved to the UK due to the war. As both Pakistan and Iraq are close to his heart, he wears the flags of both countries on his boots as a mark of respect. “I wear the Iraqi flag on my left side and the Pakistani flag on my right. I think it’s because I respect both sides. When people ask me which I feel more connected to, I can’t answer. To me, they’re both the same. It’s about respect and pride,” he says.
Playing for Iraq was completely accidental and happened through a random Instagram message. At one point, word swirled around the promising talent who had left Manchester United with no certainty about Zidane’s background and nationality. The first message was from an Indonesian fan, who thought he was eligible to play for the Southeast Asian country. But once the public found out about his Iraq connection, it all quickly unraveled for Zidane.
“There’s a big Instagram page that follows Iraqis all over the world and they contacted me and asked if it’s true that I’m Iraqi,” Iqbal told The Athletic. The news went viral and soon, Iraq Football Association officials were engaged in a series of video calls with Zidane and his parents, asking them to ask their son to play for Iraq. And in 2021, Zidane will set foot on Iraqi soil for the first time.
“The culture shocked me. I was really surprised and honestly, at first, I didn’t enjoy it. Then I went a few more times and I started to understand the culture a little more. Baghdad, Basra and Erbil are beautiful cities in Kurdistan. Baghdad has really developed a lot over the years. They’re opening one of the biggest in the Middle East, when they think about the biggest in Iraq. Cool stuff, too,” he says.
As visits became frequent, it didn’t take long for Zidane to accept Iraq as his home. “All the love and support from fans in Iraq and around the world sending messages to me and my parents, and how much the FA tried to bring me… When someone shows that much love, you have to feel it, you know? To go to my mother’s country and see Iraq for yourself, to see the people and experience the atmosphere, the food, the music, everything. You learn a lot.
Story continues below this ad
Born and raised in Manchester, Zidane was once a product of Manchester United’s youth academy. At only 8, he signed for the English giants and spent 12 years at the club. At 18, he made his first team debut in the UEFA Champions League against Young Boys.
“It was probably one of the best days of my life,” he told Sky Sports. “I didn’t expect to come. I thought I’d warm up, sit down and watch the game.” Instead, he was introduced with minutes to go before the final whistle. “The ball took forever to go out!”
But beyond his debut, Zidane’s most memorable moment was a training session with Cristiano Ronaldo. In a practice session, he was asked to mark the Portuguese great. The instructions were clear, just stand and play shadow. “I was told, ‘Just don’t do anything. No elbows, nothing’. So he stood up and watched Ronaldo score unchallenged. “To see him in real life compared to FIFA (the video game), because sometimes FIFA’s face scans can be a little off, you know?”
With no first team opportunities at Manchester United, Zidane will move to Dutch club Utrecht, where he is an integral part of the team. The aim is to return to the Premier League, but before that is the World Cup that Iraq has been waiting for for 40 years.