‘Lion of Mesopotamia’: How Aymen Hussein beat tragedy to reach World Cup

It has been a long, relentless journey to the World Cup for Iraq’s centre-forward Aymen Hussein, who propelled his country to the tournament for the first time in 40 years when he scored a winning goal against Bolivia in Mexico in the qualifiers.

When he was just 12 and already playing football for a local team, his father was brutally murdered while buying materials to build the family home.

A few years after that, his older brother was kidnapped, and he has not been heard from since.

“I decided to quit playing football to take care of my family, but my mother refused,” Hussein said in an interview.

“She asked me to continue playing.”

His mother told him: “It is your dream. I know that. And you have to achieve it.”

And he has hung on to that dream ever since.

A violent legacy

Born in 1996 in the village of al-Safra, in al-Hawija district in north-central Iraq, Hussein grew up in a family who made their living farming and raising sheep.

Tragedy struck in 2008 when his father, a soldier in the Iraqi army, was killed by al-Qaeda, which controlled Kirkuk and the surrounding areas at the time.

“He went to buy some materials for our new, under-construction house. A few hours later, we received a call saying Your father has been killed and his body is in the hospital’.”

He had been fatally shot in the heart.

“We didn’t believe it at first. But then we went to the hospital to find my father’s dead body lying there. It was a disaster to all of us.”

Hussein begged his family to move away from the village, but his older brother, who joined the Iraqi army after his father was murdered, refused.

So, instead of fleeing, Hussein joined the Iraqi Youth football team. It was on his return from a training camp in Turkiye a few years later that he learned his brother had disappeared – kidnapped during a period in which ISIL (ISIS) had taken control of the area.

“We have heard nothing about him since,” he says.

‘I was ready to play for free’

Amidst the tragedy, Hussein’s football career was taking off.

In 2012, a turning point came when he was scouted for the Dohuk football club, one of the Iraq Stars League teams in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Hussein signed a contract for 18 million Iraqi dinar ($14,000) and a monthly salary of 1.2 million Iraqi dinar ($920).

“Honestly, I was ready to play for free,” he recalls. “You may not imagine what it meant to me to play with players from the Iraqi national team at that time. Playing with Dohuk was the dream of my life at that time.”

Eighteen months later, he moved to Baghdad to play for Iraq Stars League teams including Al-Shorta, Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa, becoming the league’s top scorer. Most recently, he was contracted at Qatar’s Al Khor club before moving back to Iraq to join Al Karma.

On a contract worth a reported $1m, he has become Iraq’s most expensive footballer.

Through it all, Hussein says, his father and brother have remained at the forefront of his mind.

“I have always wished that my father and brother were still alive to see what I have achieved and share the moments of happiness.”

He recalls some of the proudest moments he wishes he could have shared.

In 2016, he scored the second goal in extra time, beating Qatar to the last Olympic qualifying place for Asian nations at the Rio de Janeiro Games in a third-place playoff match at the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup Championship in Doha.

In 2023, Aymen was recognised as the top scorer in the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup. He netted three goals, which led his team to win the cup.

In 2024, Hussein scored one of the two goals that enabled Iraq to qualify for the Paris Olympics with a 2-1 win over Indonesia in the third-place playoff.

The lions roar

The last time the Lions of Mesopotamia – as Iraq’s national team is known – qualified for a World Cup was in 1986, a decade before Hussein was born.

Now, all eyes are on him as fans bank on his participation to take the team as far through the tournament as possible.

“Aymen is a name that needs no introduction. His performance speaks for him not only in Iraq, but in the region and Arab football,” Jalal Hassan, Iraqi goalkeeper and vice-captain, tells Al Jazeera.

“He is a high-quality striker. The team will absolutely need him, and his presence will make the difference in the World Cup. We are expecting a lot from him.”

Having been placed in Group 9 with France, Senegal and Norway, Iraq faces stiff competition from the off.

Hussein Saeed, the former Iraq captain and top national scorer with 78 goals under his belt, is hopeful. “Aymen’s influence is clear on the team and all players. He, as a person, has a lovely and humble personality,” Saeed tells Al Jazeera.

“I hope he can use this positive trait to the benefit of the team in the coming World Cup, taking the team to the post-group stage.”

Zaid Alsaraj, an Iraqi football journalist, says, “We all wish that our team and all players, in particular Abu Tubar [the “Hatchet Man”, as Iraqis affectionately refer to Hussein], are fully prepared mentally, physically and technically, when the time comes.”

As for himself, Hussein says he just hopes that some of the fans will be able to attend – though it will be tough.

“It is not easy to get a US visa. Actually, it is almost impossible for Iraqis, especially at this time, as the US-Iranian war is still going on, ” Iraqi football fan Saif Al-Bayati tells Al Jazeera.

“This isn’t the only issue. The price of a single ticket is more than $3,000. Going there and spending at least two weeks will cost a fortune. It may be more than $15,000. This is beyond the ability of any ordinary Iraqi fan.”