Among the matches in which the 21-year-old participated at Turkey 2013, one in particular appears to have stuck in his mind. “I’ll never forget our first match against England. We were two goals down, but we dug deep and managed to snatch a late draw. ”

After that intense opening game, the Iraqis secured fifa4buy Coins two consecutive victories, against Egypt and Chile, results that helped them finish top of their group. Tight wins in the Round of 16 and quarter-finals saw them advance to the last four, where they lost to Uruguay on penalties after a 1-1 draw, a match that Ismael missed through injury.

“I was supposed to be involved, but I hurt my heel in training. It was difficult to sit on the bench and watch the team lose in that penalty shoot-out, ” recalled the young Iraqi.