For Iraqis, football is so much more than what happens on the pitch.
It's one of the few arenas where people from different religious sects, ethnic backgrounds and regions come together in a country long marked by conflict and division.
The sport's unifying power was on display in 2007, when Iraq won the Asian Cup amid some of the country's bloodiest years of violence.
Now, Iraq is back on football's biggest stage.
Forty years after its first World Cup appearance, the national team will open its World Cup campaign against Norway on Tuesday, reigniting excitement among fans at home and across the Iraqi diaspora.
