Representing Pakistan for the first time in the Football World Cup and wearing the 'Pakistani flag on the right shoe'

 

Representing Pakistan for the first time in the Football World Cup and wearing the 'Pakistani flag on the right shoe'

 

Former Manchester United player Zidane Iqbal will make history at the World Cup when he takes to the field for Iraq on Tuesday. But it won’t be for the country he is representing.

The moment will be a moment of extraordinary significance for Pakistani fans. The world’s fifth-largest country, with a population of over 240 million, has never had a football team qualify for the World Cup.

Pakistan has won just one qualifying match in its history.

The South Asian nation, ranked 198th in FIFA’s world rankings, is among the 15 worst performing nations in the game. The Pakistani people have never seen a Pakistani player represent them on the biggest stage of the world. Never before.

Zidane Iqbal started playing for FC Utrecht after coming through the Manchester United academy. He is representing Iraq and is now set to become the first Pakistani-origin player to play in the World Cup.

He said he was "shocked" when he learned of the honour. He is proud of his connection with Pakistan.

"Hopefully Pakistani children will be inspired by this."

This is not the first time that Zidan Iqbal has achieved success in relation to his background.

He is known to football fans in England as a player who came through the Manchester United academy. He became the first South Asian-born Briton to play in the Champions League in almost 20 years.

The Iraqi footballer hopes that his story can inspire the next generation.

“I am still young but I will be the first Pakistani player to play in the World Cup,” he said. So hopefully, some children who dream of becoming footballers will see this and believe that they can do it too because football is a difficult journey.”

“If you ask any professional player, it is not easy at all and everyone faces ups and downs.”

He says that becoming an international footballer “takes a lot of commitment and hard work.” So hopefully when kids see people trying to become professional footballers or see me, they will think that you can succeed no matter where you come from. (That is) from any region, from any religion. Hopefully they will see that and be inspired by it.’

‘If we win, the world will be shocked

Iraq endured a long and arduous 21-match qualifying campaign, more than any other country. It involved various rounds and play-offs to become the last team to qualify for the tournament.

It is a long-awaited achievement for the Asian nation as their only previous appearance was 40 years ago in Mexico 1986 when they finished bottom of their group and scored just one goal.

If they manage to progress from the group stage, Zidane Iqbal believes his country will ‘shock the world’ as they face two-time champions France, a Norway team led by world-class players Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland, and Africa Cup of Nations finalists Senegal.

‘I think we have nothing to lose,’ said Zidane Iqbal.

‘We are going there.’ This is our first World Cup in 40 years. The interesting thing is that the 1986 World Cup was in Mexico and this World Cup is in Mexico too. I think it's a beautiful thing.'

'But we're going without any pressure. We're the underdogs. People expect us to lose. So if we win, we'll surprise the world.'

'Of course we'll all work hard. We're all excited and when you're excited and you work hard, anything can happen in football. So, let's see what happens.'