It has been a long journey in a short amount of time, but Ali Al-Hamadi will be realising his dream and playing in this summer’s World Cup.
The 24-year-old’s story should inspire many footballers, and some who have aspirations from further afield, as the Ipswich Town striker had to flee his war-torn homeland, Iraq, and start afresh in the United Kingdom.
Having fled at the onset of the war in 2003 with his mother, they headed for the UK, and eventually set up home in Liverpool, where they were reunited with his father, who had been exiled two years previously, after being jailed by the country's brutal regime.
After settling down, he carried on with his true love of football. The game, like for so many others, proves to be an escape, and growing up in Toxteth, he needed the distractions that tempt too many away from what most would say is a normal life.
Learning His Trade
Through the youth systems at Tranmere Rovers and Swansea City, he was eventually picked up by Wycombe Wanderers. From there, he was loaned out to Bromley, but his breakthrough was at AFC Wimbledon, where he scored 23 goals in just over 40 appearances.
His success at the League Two outfit didn’t go unnoticed, and Ipswich Town, who were in the Championship at the time, snapped up the forward.
Despite getting promoted with Ipswich, he was again loaned out, this time to Stoke City, and again this past season to Luton Town, where he almost helped the Hatters into the playoffs.
His club future is perhaps still up in the air as Ipswich has since yo-yoed back into the Premier League, but all along in the years of being farmed out, he has made himself a regular in the Iraq national team squad.
World Cup Glory
This summer, Iraq will play on the world’s biggest stage for the first time in 40 years, and Al-Hamadi struck the opening goal in a 2-1 win over Bolivia in the intercontinental playoff final, instantly becoming one of the many cult heroes of the team.
The victory sent some wild celebrations across the nation, and now they are just days away from competing against some of the big hitters.
France, Norway and Senegal await in Group I, which has been given the moniker of this tournament's “group of death”, a title that is put upon the group that is arguably the hardest to predict.
“That first goal was just a spark; it was kind of there to spark the belief. The nation had just woken up from sleep, and people were watching the game at 4 or 5 am. So getting that goal really early on in the game sparked a belief and brought life into everybody who was watching, everybody in the stadium, and just made us believe that the dream was alive and that we could go out and win this game.
No one can ever take that moment away from me, and of course, not just me. On the pitch, a striker who scores a goal will always get a bit more attention; that's just the nature of football.” He told The National via Zoom.
“It's honestly just a dream come true. There are no real words to describe it.” He said on going to the World Cup. “It still really probably hasn't set in because I think that until I get there and play the first game, hear the national anthem and kind of take it all in, that's when it'll probably kick in.”
Within the group that Iraq are in, there is a huge depth of superstars, and playing amongst them is something the young striker cannot wait to be part of. “Of course, [Kylian] Mbappe is probably the one, in my youth days growing up over the past five or six years, that I really enjoyed watching. He can light up a game; he's so dynamic and so skilful. I'd say he's probably the player I'm most excited to see on the pitch.”
Whatever happens over the next few weeks, Al-Hamadi has already proven he can overcome huge obstacles. Should he be a success while rubbing shoulders with the greats, then it really does open up more opportunities for the Iraqi with the scouse accent.
