Kurdistan Region national football team

The Kurdistan Region national football team (Arabic: منتخب كردستان العراق الوطني لكرة القدم‎, Kurdish: Helbijardey Topî pêy Kurdistan ;ھەڵبژاردەی تۆپی پێی كوردستان‎), is the national team of Kurdistan Region. They are not affiliated with FIFA or Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and therefore cannot compete for the FIFA World Cup or the AFC Asian Cup. The Iraqi FA attended a meeting held by the NF-Board in June 2006.[1]

Kurdistan Region

Nickname(s)	The Tricolour
Association	Kurdistan Football Association
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	Khasraw Groon
Most caps	Heydar Gharaman
Home stadium	Franso Hariri Stadium, Erbil Zakho International Stadium, Zakho
First colours Second colours
First international
Kurdistan Region 2–2 Sápmi  (Sweden; 7 July 2008)
Biggest win
Tamil Eelam 0–9 Kurdistan Region  (Sweden; 1 June 2014)
Biggest defeat
Sápmi 3–1 Kurdistan Region  (Sweden; 13 July 2008)
VIVA World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2008)
Best result	champions, 2012 VIVA World Cup

History

The team played in the 2008 VIVA World Cup for the first time, finishing in the 4th place after a 3–1 loss to Sápmi. Their first and only win in the 2008 tournament came against Provence.

In December 2008, during the 5th General Meeting, Kurdistan was granted full membership to the NF Board and was a failed candidate to host the 2010 VIVA World Cup. After losing in the final in both the 2009 and 2010 tournaments Kurdistan eventually became champions on home turf in 2012, defeating Northern Cyprus 2–1 in front of 22,000 fans.

Official Kurdistan FA Emblem

The Kurdistan Region FA emblem was designed by Kurdish artist Rawand Sirwan Nawroly (Kurdish: ره‌وه‌ند سیروان نه‌ورڕۆڵی‎). The emblem represents the Kurdish flag colours, where the red represents the Kurdish Newroz fire. The yellow ball represents the Kurdish Sun and the green banner represents the green Kurdistan scenery.

Prize list

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
VIVA World Cup
2006	Did not enter
2008	4th	5	1	2	2	7	7
2009	2nd	4	2	0	2	11	4
2010	2nd	4	3	0	1	9	5
2012	1st	4	4	0	0	11	2
Palestine International Cup
2012	3rd	3	1	1	1	5	4
International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes
2013	1st	4	3	1	0	9	1
ConIFA World Football Cup
2014	6th	5	1	3	1	14	6
2016	8th	5	2	3	0	9	3
2018	Did not enter
2020	Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Total	Best: 1st	33	18	8	7	73	28

World Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result
VIVA World Cup
2008	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 2–2  Sápmi	Draw
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–0  Provence	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Padania	Lose
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 0–0  Arameans Suryoye	Draw
	3rd Place	Kurdistan Region 1–3  Sápmi	Lose
2009	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 4–0  Occitania	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Padania	Lose
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Provence	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 0–2  Padania	Lose
2010	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 4–1  Two Sicilies	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–2  Provence	Win
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Occitania	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 0–1  Padania	Lose
2012
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Western Sahara	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Occitania	Win
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Provence	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Northern Cyprus	Win
ConIFA World Football Cup
2014
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Arameans Suryoye	Lose
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 9–0  Tamil Eelam	Win
	Quarter-finals	Kurdistan Region 1 (2) – (4) 1  Ellan Vannin	Draw
	Placement Round 1	Kurdistan Region 2 (5) – (4) 2  Occitania	Draw
	Placement Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1 (3) – (4) 1  Padania	Draw
2016
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–0  Székely Land	Win
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 3–0  United Koreans in Japan	Win
	Quarter-finals	Kurdistan Region 2 (6) – (7) 2  Padania	Draw
	Placement Round 1	Kurdistan Region 0 (5) – (6) 0  Western Armenia	Draw
	Placement Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1 (2) – (4) 1  United Koreans in Japan	Draw
2020
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region –
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region –
	Round 3	Kurdistan Region –
	Round 4	Kurdistan Region –
	Round 5	Kurdistan Region –
	Round 6	Kurdistan Region –

Others tournaments
Year	Round	Score	Result
Palestine International Cup
2012	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–1  Mauritania	Win
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1–1  Indonesia	Draw
	Round 3	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Tunisia	Lose
International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes
2013
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–1 UGA Ardeiv	Draw
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Western Sahara	Win
	Semi final	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Quebec	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Provence	Win

Current squad

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Sarhang Muhsin	29	22	0	Al-Shorta
12	GK	Znar Faizi		0	0	Duhok
22	GK	Rebaz Abdulla	21	0	0	Erbil
2	DF	Bayar Abubakir		5	0	Duhok
3	DF	Herdi Siamand	33	11	1	Erbil
20	DF	Jassim Mohammed Haji	32	10	1	Zakho
13	DF	Aras Mustafa	28	1	0	Zeravani
4	DF	Hawkar Latif	26	0	0	Nawroz
8	DF	Khalid Mushir	35	12	2	Zakho
5	DF	Kamaran Ali	27	3	0	Zakho
21	DF	Niaz Muhamad	26	5	0	Erbil
14	MF	Hawre Jalal	26	3	5	Peshmargay Hawler
15	MF	Muhamad Sabir		1	0	Erbil
19	MF	Diyar Rahman	30	5	1	Erbil
10	MF	Ali Aziz	27	10	4	Ararat Yerevan
16	MF	Ahmet Isik	19	12	19	Arminia Tegel
6	MF	Abdulla Kaifi	24	0	0	Kirkuk
11	MF	Kosrat Baiz	25	5	2	Erbil
9	MF	Rekar Hashim	23	1	0	Erbil
17	FW	Hunar Ahmad		4	2	Zeravani
18	FW	Ayub Ayad	31	1	0	Zeravani
7	FW	Farhang Wriya		2	1	Peshmargay Hawler
23	FW	Farhan Shakor	21	9	5	Erbil

Managers

Manager	Period	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Abdullah Mahmoud	2008–2016	29	15	7	7	51.72
Khasraw Groon	2016–present	11	6	4	1	54.54
Totals		40	21	11	8	52.50

References

1. "The first football World Cup for nations that do not exist". Play the Game, Steve Menary. September 23, 2006.