The 2018 International Friendship Championship was a friendly
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
tournament for the national teams of Iraq, Syria and Qatar. It took place during the March 2018 window of the
FIFA International Match Calendar
The FIFA International Match Calendar (sometimes abbreviated as the FIFA Calendar or FIFA Days) is an outline agreement between FIFA, the six continental football confederations, the European Club Association, and FIFPro, which sets out which d ...
, and began less than a week after FIFA lifted the ban on competitive games being played inside Iraq.
The tournament was originally scheduled to take place in
Karbala
Karbala or Kerbala ( ar, كَرْبَلَاء, Karbalāʾ , , also ;) is a city in central Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad, and a few miles east of Lake Milh, also known as Razzaza Lake. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorat ...
but was relocated to
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
.
Qatar won the title by beating hosts Iraq and drawing with runners-up Syria. The last game of the tournament saw
Noor Sabri
Noor Sabri Abbas Hasan Al-Baidawi ( ar, نور صبري عباس حسن البيداوي), simply known as Noor Sabri (born 6 June 1984 in Baghdad, Iraq) is an Iraqi professional goalkeeper. He plays for Samarra in the Iraqi Premier League. He p ...
make his 100th and last appearance for Iraq.
Results
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References
{{Friendly tournaments 2018
International association football competitions hosted by Iraq
International men's association football invitational tournaments
2017–18 in Iraqi football
Sport in Basra
2018 in Asian football
March 2018 sports events in Iraq