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Iraqi soccer hero questioned for 7 hours at Chicago airport ahead of FIFA World Cup
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- Iraqi soccer hero questioned for 7 hours at Chicago airport ahead of FIFA World Cup
Iraqi soccer hero questioned for 7 hours at Chicago airport ahead of FIFA World Cup appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Teams are arriving in the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup . Recently, a Swiss player was blocked from travelling to the United States due to a visa issue.
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Now, another player, this time for Iraq's national team, also has trouble getting into the United States, according to Ashraf Hamed Atta and Ahmed Rasheed of the Huffington Post.
Iraq's striker, Aymen Hussein , was held for almost seven hours at Chicago's O'Hare airport when arriving with his team on Saturday. Meanwhile, Talal Salah, the team photographer, was ultimately denied entry.
"National team photographer Talal Salah was held for more than 10 hours, underwent similar phone checks, and was ultimately denied entry into the United States," one Iraqi official said.
Hussein has been with the Iraqi National Team since 2015. He has appeared in 93 games with the national team while scoring 33 goals. He was also pivotal in Iraq's return to the World Cup. In the 2026 World Cup qualification inter-confederation play-off final against Bolivia, he scored in the 53rd minute. The goal broke a 1-1 tie with Bolivia and proved to be the game-winning goal. The win secured a spot for Iraq in the World Cup.
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This will be the first time Iraq has competed in the World Cup since 1986. That was the only previous time that the country has been represented in the World Cup, and the team finished with three losses, being eliminated in the group stage.
Iraq is playing in Group I in the World Cup. They will open up their tournament on June 16 against Norway , before matches against France and Senegal to complete the group stage.
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