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Iraq’s football fans enjoy first international club tie since ban

The match might have ended 1-1, but for Iraqi football fans Tuesday's tie between Baghdad's Al Zawraa and Beirut's Al Ahed will be one for the record books. It was the first international competitive club game to be played on Iraqi soil in more than 20 years after Fifa lifted a ban on the war-torn country. […]

AFP reports:

The match might have ended 1-1, but for Iraqi football fans Tuesday's tie between Baghdad's Al Zawraa and Beirut's Al Ahed will be one for the record books.

It was the first international competitive club game to be played on Iraqi soil in more than 20 years after Fifa lifted a ban on the war-torn country.

"The world saw that Iraq was at the level and that it had the capacity to host a championship," fan Ali Essam said.