If Iraq loses tonight's opening match against Norway in Boston, the players will at least not risk any punishment.
Things were different under the dictator Saddam Hussein, who ruled the country with an iron fist until he was overthrown in 2003. The Saddam family had a keen interest in sports - with a focus on football. His sons, Uday and Qusay Saddam Hussein, were responsible for everything related to sports.
They handled sports just as their father handled politics - with brutality.
An article in NRK states that players were thrown into prison. They were beaten and whipped under the soles of their feet, chained to walls and dragged across the asphalt until their backs started to bleed. They were then thrown into a sewer filled with waste.
If Uday had woken up on the wrong side, he could visit the prison to humiliate the players by urinating on them.
Broke the silence
The International Football Association Board (FIFA) had its suspicions, but could do nothing. An investigation was indeed launched in the late 1990s, but it found no evidence, NRK writes.
The truth came out in 1998 when defender Sharar Haidar, who had represented the national team at various levels, began to speak out. Haidar had to flee the country and in interviews afterwards he spoke about the systematic torture methods that the national team players were subjected to by Uday. His story shocked the entire world.
It is difficult to understand how brutal Saddam Hussein's rule was, and Uday was in no way worse than his father. Uday saw the football association as a private playground - he carried out several violent and humiliating punishments of players. He ruled the association like a dictator, says Charlotte Lysa, senior researcher at NUPI (Norwegian Institute for International Affairs) to NRK.
The future is a bonus
Iraq's football successes are extremely few. In the World Cup in Mexico, they were eliminated immediately with zero points in the group stage. In 2007, the national team surprised by winning the Asian Championship. Younis Mahmoud's redeeming goal paved a brighter path for an entire generation.
When Iraq meets Erling Haaland's Norway on Wednesday night, they do so without any major pressure.
"Now is the time for us to show the world what we are about. We are capable of doing something that will shock everyone," manager Graham Arnold told The Guardian.
Iraq became the last nation to qualify for the World Cup early on the morning of April 1 after a 2-1 victory over Bolivia in the decisive qualifying match in Mexico. Aymen Hussein was the hero of the match.
Players to watch: Six Swedish players are in Iraq's squad: Amir al-Ammari, Kevin Yakob, Aimar Sher, Hussein Ali, Rebin Sulaka and Ahmed Qasem.
The tidbit: Hammarby's Montander Madjed was dismissed by manager Graham Arnold. According to media reports, the reason for the dismissal is that the 21-year-old had previously criticized the national team on social media, which Madjed has acknowledged and apologized for.
Iraq's World Cup matches: Norway - Wednesday night (00:00), France - June 22 (23:00), Senegal - June 26 (21:00).
