For almost their entire time with the Iraq national side, Merchas Doski and Amir Al Ammari have been inseparable. It’s a bond that extends away from international duty, with Doski, two years the younger of the pair, attending both Al Ammari’s engagement and wedding parties.
Room-mates when in camp, Al Ammari told FIFA last year that they also have the cleanest digs, so it was a surprise when the midfielder returned to the room during our conversation with Doski and was less than pleased with the state of the dwelling.
“Yeah, I don’t know what you’ve done in the room but we need to clean it up,” Al Ammari said. “It’s messy now, not sure what passes as clean for you!”
Evidently that was all in jest, as Doski quickly responded. “No, no, it’s clean! Our things are always in place and that’s really important for us. I don’t go into everybody else’s room but I’d say that ours is the cleanest, for sure.”
If everything goes to plan over the next couple of days, the pair may be forgiven for having a few messy celebrations should Iraq get past Bolivia in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.
After a winding grind through four rounds of Asian qualifiers, just one match remains in Iraq’s 28-month long quest to return to the game’s greatest stage. Remarkably, this will be the nation’s 21st preliminary on the road to North America and, having come this far, Doski and Co are determined to finish the job in Monterrey on Tuesday.
“I was speaking with Amir yesterday, and we mentioned how it’s already been 20 matches we’ve played,” said Doski. “We started this journey back in 2023. It’s been long, but we’ve been through a lot and that has definitely made us stronger.
“We’ve already played matches with a lot on the line and learned from those. We’ve been in these situations before and know how to handle them, and I think that experience will be really important.
“Our strength has always been that we play as one team, one family, that everybody supports each other no matter what happens. We know if they score then we can turn it around.
“It’s already been such a long journey and a long story, but a story that will hopefully end in a good way on Tuesday.”
It’s an ending that the nation, bound by a fervent love of the game, has been yearning for over the past four decades. It was way back in 1986, when a squad featuring legendary forwards Ahmed Radhi and Hussein Saeed, appeared at a FIFA World Cup™ for the first and, to date, only time.
While the Lions of Mesopotamia scripted a remarkable run to the AFC Asian Cup title in 2007, they’ve rarely threatened to return to the global showpiece across the intervening 40 years.
Doski, speaking with FIFA from the team’s Mexican base, is keenly aware of both the magnitude of this week’s clash with Bolivia and just what success would mean to a nation that he feels has, in some quarters, been unfairly maligned.
“As you say, it was 40 years ago when Iraq was last at the World Cup,” he said. “Qualification would change a lot, the country has been through so many things during those years, and you can see the excitement of the people in Iraq, how much it means for them.
“I think the media have built up the wrong picture of Iraq because it is a beautiful country that’s building up again. More people are starting to visit the country, and when you go you can see just how warm and generous the Iraqi people are.
“We feel that love from all the Iraqi people and I want to do everything I can to give back to them. Not only for the country but for football, to show that Iraq is back on the biggest stage.
“We know what it means for the country, but for the players too this is a huge opportunity for us to write our names in the history books of Iraq.”
Speaking with FIFA earlier this year, coach Graham Arnold declared that Iraq would “shock the world” and noted that the team would play with a positive mentality right from the off.
That’s an attitude that the squad has embraced and even as they stand on the verge of the history, there’s a steely belief and confidence that they can finish the job against a Bolivia side that impressed in coming from behind to defeat Suriname in last week’s semi-final.
“We weren’t concerned with whether we would have to face Bolivia or Suriname,” said the 26-year-old, who plays his club football in Czechia with Viktoria Plzen. “The focus has always been on ourselves because we have confidence in our abilities, both collectively and individually, and full belief in the staff.”
“Of course we know what is at stake but I’m not nervous. I’ve played in plenty of big matches and this is just another one of them. If we relax and perform as we know we can then everything is going to go well. It’s 90 minutes away and whoever is on the other side of the pitch should be scared of us, not the other way around.”
Growing up as the son of parents from the northern city of Zakho, whose local team’s supporters won the FIFA Fan Award last year, Doski had a love of the game from a young age.
Now, the versatile defender/midfielder stands one match away from fulfilling a childhood dream. Should Iraq see off Bolivia they will join France, Norway and Senegal in Group I at the global jamboree. For now, though, the focus is very much on making sure they manage this week’s Monterrey mandate.
“It’s not been an easy journey for me to get to this point, but of course it’s the dream of every child to go to a World Cup, the biggest stage, where we know the whole world will be watching,” he said. “Every young boy who played on the streets like I did has always seen the great players that have played at the World Cup.
“So if I could be one of them standing on that biggest stage, it would be a dream come true for me but right now, all the focus is what we’re going to do in the next couple of days. Now it’s about giving everything I’ve got to make my family and the people of Iraq happy. On Tuesday I will put on the shirt and do it for all 46 million Iraqis.”
Selected images courtesy of the AFC
