Iraq ended a 40-year wait and returned to football's biggest stage this summer, but the scale of their World Cup defeats showed just how far they still have to go to compete with the game's elite nations.
The Lions of Mesopotamia began their campaign with a 4-1 defeat to Norway, followed by a 3-0 loss to France, before they crashed out of the tournament with a 5-0 defeat to Senegal.
No team conceded more goals in the group stage.
The results exposed the gulf Iraq still has to bridge, a challenge that many fans say could take years to overcome.
Despite the losses, however, there were some fleeting positives.
