Christians Help Iraq to Qualify for World Cup

Screenshot of a Church Times article headlined 'Christians help Iraq to qualify for World Cup', bylined Gerry Lynch, dated 7 April 2026, with the subheading: 'People were in tears of happiness, says Parish Priest of St Mary's Cathedral of the Assyrian Church of the East, in Ealing.' Below is a photograph of a floodlit stadium at night.

Thanks to the Church Times for publishing a short news piece from me on the hugely disproportionate number of Christians playing for Iraq’s second ever World Cup-qualifying squad—and also to its first World Cup outing, in 1986. A notably devout Christian, Ammo Baba, scored Iraq’s first ever international goal, against Morocco, in 1957, then coached the side to its first and most recent World Cup in 1986.

Read it all here.

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