Iraq and Algeria are among the 16 teams that will be competing at the Men’s U-23 Olympic Football Tournament in Rio. Both have successfully qualified to be one of three countries representing their respective continents at the games.
Iraq’s qualification came at the expense of Qatar whose team lost – despite home field advantage – in the third-place playoff of the Asian U-23 Championships in Doha. The Iraqi team thus joined Japan and South Korea as Asia’s representatives in Rio.
The success stimulated the Iraqi community, providing a cause for celebration despite ongoing conflict.
"It’s not only a sports victory,: government worker Hayder Al Sadi told The National . "In Iraq, politics and terrorism permeate everything, but football is the only window – the only escape – for the Iraqi people."
The Rio games will mark Iraq’s fourteenth Olympic participation and its football team’s fifth. The team’s biggest achievement occurred in the 2004 Athens Olympics, when the Iraqi football players succeeded in beating Portugal to the semi-finals, making 19-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo cry. However, the team's journey came to an end when it lost to Italy in the bronze medal match, hence finishing in fourth place.
While Iraq has only won a single bronze Olympic medal, Algeria has had an impressive Olympic history with a total of 14 medals. However, the latter has only qualified for the football event of the Olympic Games once, 36 years ago. That was during the 1980 Moscow Olympics, when Algeria and Iraq lost in the semi-finals to Yugoslavia and East Germany respectively.
After a remarkable performance at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Algeria’s football team will return to Brazil alongside Nigeria and South Africa to represent the African continent at the Olympics.
Iraq is grouped with Brazil, South Africa and Denmark, while Algeria is grouped with Honduras, Portugal and Argentina. Both Arab teams will be playing on Aug. 4, 7 and 10. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.