War-torn Syria on verge of World Cup fairytale

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Against all odds, Syria’s footballers have overcome more than six years of civil war and internal political rifts to raise hopes of qualifying for their first ever World Cup.

Forced to play their home games away due to security concerns, Ayman Hakeem’s Syria have embarrassed a succession of better-resourced opponents to sit third in Group A of Asian qualifying, behind leaders Iran and South Korea.

An unlikely win away to Iran on Tuesday coupled with defeat for South Korea by Uzbekistan in the final round would give Syria second spot and direct entry to the finals in Russia next year. Even if results do not entirely go their way, Syria can still hold onto third spot and have a chance to qualify through two rounds of playoffs.

Political divisions threatened to gut the team early in the campaign, with players refusing to represent their country in protest over the actions of Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the conflict. But they have softened their stance, with veteran striker Firas Al Khatib ending his exile in March before Omar Al Soma was recently lured back to partner Al Hilal’s Omar Khrbin in attack.

Stadiums in Malaysia have offered sanctuary throughout the final phase of qualifying, with only a handful of Syrian fans able to offer their compatriots support. Despite being perpetually on the road, the results have continued to stack up.

Syria face a formidable task in Tehran against an Iranian side that has yet to concede a goal in this qualifying phase. Carlos Queiroz’s team have been imperious, booking their Russia ticket in June, but the Syrians are bolstered by the return of Al Soma, a player who could turn the tide in their favour.

Syria’s most celebrated footballer due to his goal scoring exploits with Saudi club Al Ahli, Al Soma celebrated his return with victory over Qatar.

“Thanks to God, my return to the national team was good,” he said after the game. "I hope that we can bring joy to our people, who need such joy. I will give my best in the next match in order to win and hopefully we can qualify for the World Cup.”

Along with the in-form Khrbin, who struck twice against the Qataris, Syria could have the tools to unlock Iran’s stingy defence.

Asian football is no stranger to war-affected nations making a big impact. Iraq won their first Asian Cup in 2007, at the height of the insurgency triggered by the United States-led coalition invasion in 2003.
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Pretty amazing that they just knocked out Qatar for the 2018 WC.
 
Hope they do qualify, it would be a tremendous boost for the country's morale.
 
Wonder what the atmosphere is like in that squad with, presumably, some players supporting or having family in Assad territories, and some with the rebels.
 
syrian_scholes said:
Atmosphere is pretty good, even the country feels unified in the dream of reaching the World Cup, everyone is absolutely buzzing!
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Hope they can achieve it. Would be a nice story, and some much needed joy for a ruined country.
 
syrian_scholes said:
Our best player is anti-regime so wasn't called up until the last two matches, I think we would've already qualified had he played from the start.
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That's what I was wondering about. So it's basically a regime team? How can the entire country get behind that, if certain players were kept out?
 
Would be amazing if they do do it.

Hell, I'd probably give them Denmarks spot (if we qualify).
 
syrian_scholes said:
Our best player is anti-regime so wasn't called up until the last two matches, I think we would've already qualified had he played from the start.
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Is that Al Soma? He's very good on FIFA.
 
syrian_scholes said:
Our best player is anti-regime so wasn't called up until the last two matches, I think we would've already qualified had he played from the start.
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Isn't it the case that a lot of players are refusing to play due to their political beliefs?
 
Looking forward to England scraping a 0-0 draw against them
 
So what do they need to qualify? A victory? Are they in a barrage or still in the group? Excuse my ignorance, i dont follow Asian qualifiers closely
 
syrian_scholes said:
We need to win vs Iran and we also need Korea to slip up vs Uzbekistan, if not we will most likely have to play in play-offs vs either Saudi or Australia.
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That still sounds difficult. Iran are pretty good i guess and South Korea? are better than Uzbekistan. And playoff vs Saudi Arabia or Australia sounds difficult too. Think we all wish them good luck.
 
syrian_scholes said:
We need to win vs Iran and we also need Korea to slip up vs Uzbekistan, if not we will most likely have to play in play-offs vs either Saudi or Australia.
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I think you'd beat Iran (who have nothing to play for and are your closest ally), if ever politics helps in sports, this is the game.

However, I'm not convinced the Koreans will slip up.
 
syrian_scholes said:
if we beat Iran we get into the play-offs, that's further than we've ever achieved.
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I hope you make it, and if you make the playoffs, maybe get USA and beat them!! :devil:

Anyway, it would certainly make a change from the, Japan, Korea, Australia + 1 we've seen in AFC for the past decades.
 
Mad if they make it to the World Cup before China and India :eek:
 
Most people in here probably not familiar with Al Somah. He's not played in years but came back recently, he's genuinely a great striker. Hard to judge his level as he plays in the Gulf but I'd have him as a decent enough Prem striker. Nice freekick for the goal by him.
 
What is the first tiebreaker? H2H or goal differential.
 
syrian_scholes said:
GD
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Well not bad for now. If you win you are guaranteed 3rd place, and 2nd as long as South Korea doesn´t win, or Uzbekistan wins by three goals. The only downside is that Uzbekistan has to win, which will open up counter opportunities for South Korea late. The good news is Uzbeklistan won´t go crazy with a 1-0 lead to chase the other goals, if they can secure the play-offs.
 
Where do they play 'home' games, I know they're not playing in Syria.
 
Arg, they would kick out South Korea then, which would disappoint me a lot.
 
JustFootballFan said:
Well not bad for now. If you win you are guaranteed 3rd place, and 2nd as long as South Korea doesn´t win, or Uzbekistan wins by three goals. The only downside is that Uzbekistan has to win, which will open up counter opportunities for South Korea late. The good news is Uzbeklistan won´t go crazy with a 1-0 lead to chase the other goals, if they can secure the play-offs.
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Even if South Korea wins, isn't Syria guaranteed 3rd place?
 
Gasolin said:
Even if South Korea wins, isn't Syria guaranteed 3rd place?
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If they lose by a lot of goals to Iran, Uzbekistan could get 3rd place. But qualifying 3rd you might have to play some good teams so that's not great.
 
Spiersey said:
Most people in here probably not familiar with Al Somah. He's not played in years but came back recently, he's genuinely a great striker. Hard to judge his level as he plays in the Gulf but I'd have him as a decent enough Prem striker. Nice freekick for the goal by him.
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There's definitely a big Gulf between the English Premier league and the Syrian Championship!
Just had to use the pun no matter what
 
koreans loosing now...but don't see the Syrians scoring 2 goals now so playoffs it is.....
Edit - Wrong as feck
 
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