From Malmo to Liverpool, Grimstad to Malmo, Iraq’s qualification to the World Cup in North America was celebrated in different European cities. Half of Iraq’s players that featured were either born or raised in Europe. Most have a familiar story to tell. Of migration post the Iraq war at the stroke of the century and reconnection with the country of origin through football.

Ali Al-Ahamadi, who. netted their first goal against Bolivia, was born in Maysan. When his teenage mother was pregnant, his father, a lawyer was part of a group that staged a peaceful protest against then president Saddam Hussain. The group was arrested and dumped in a prison. But using his contacts, he somehow managed to get released. But he knew his future was bleak and fled to the neighbouring country of Jordan soon after his birth, from where he sought asylum in the UK.

Years later, Al Ahmadi recounted the journey to BBC. “Through a few different people they were able to contact the Iraqi embassy in the UK,” he recounted. “They explained their situation, saying: ‘Listen, there are people here being tortured – brutal stuff that you wouldn’t expect in this day and age’. My dad could tell you what he saw. The thing he says to me is the fact that we are here now and is a testament to how much he cares about us as a family,” he detailed.

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Her mother couldn’t speak English. She had to discontinue her education. As if adjusting to a different culture was tough enough, his father couldn’t find a job and ended up doing odd tasks. “Some days we did not really have anything to eat, but my dad would bring as much as he could for us.” The area he grew up in was rough. “On top of that I was thrown into quite a rough area. Growing up playing on the streets, you get to see all of it. You get drawn into it sometimes. I have had periods where I was hanging around with the wrong group of kids – staying out late, causing trouble,” he would say.

Then, football came into his life. The 24-year-old forward discovered he had a forward’s instincts. At 13, local club Tranmere Rovers, enrolled him into their academy after watching him in a school tournament. Nine years later. Ipswich City, then in the Premier League, signed him. Then came the national call-up and he had no hesitation in embracing it. Now, he will feature in the World Cup.

Midfielder Marko Farji’s parents moved just before the uprising. Of Kurdish descent living in Sulaymaniyah, his parents faced suppression and left home with just a bag of clothes to Jordan. Months later, they found refuge in Norway. He designed the assist that led to Aymen Hussein’s winner in the 53rd minute. He turns up for the Serie B side Venezia.

Left-back Merchas Doski’s parents migrated from Zakho in Northern Iraq in the late 90s. He spent his childhood in Hanover. Initiation to football was natural, but his parents used to insist that should he represent a country, it should be Iraq. One of the leaders on the ground,” he told FIFA before the game: “On Tuesday I will put on the shirt and do it for all 46 million Iraqis. I’ve got to make my family and the people of Iraq happy.”

“It’s not been an easy journey for me to get to this point. Every young boy who played on the streets like I did has always seen the great players that have played at the World Cup,” added Doski, who plies his trade in the Czech Republic.

His full-back counterpart, Hussein Ali, is equally combative. Bred in Malmo, his father is Iraqi and mother Syrian. His father left the country during the Gulf War of the late 80s and early 90s. He spent several years in Syria, where he married his mother. Stories from his father have made him detached to politics. “I don’t know exactly how or why I have never concerned myself with politics,” he told Swedish newspaper LC.

His midfield partner Amir Al-Ammari is from Sweden’s Jönköping. He qualified to represent Iraq through his father’s side, while his mother is Palestinian. The central midfielder Aimar Sher had represented Sweden in U-19 tournaments but decided to join the country he was born in. His father was a football tragic and named him Aimar on his favourite footballer, the Argentine forward Pablo Aimar. “It was 2002, the year I was born, Pablo Aimar was one of the best players in the world, he was my father’s favourite player,” Sher told FIFA. “It was when Valencia won La Liga that year, so my father convinced my mother to name me after him, so of course it’s a fun story to have.”

Winger Youssef Amyn is from Germany’s Essen and had spent time at Borussia Dortmund’s famous youth academy. His father was the captain of a local club in the Sulaymaniyah Province in the Kurdistan region. So with Iraq migrant households in Germany, Sweden and Norway celebrated the night Iraq qualified for the World Cup after 40 years, before the wars scarred the country and scattered the families.