While Team Melli battled and defeated Iraq national team by one goal in the second qualifying round of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the qualifying round of the 2023 Asian Cup, a different type of battles was going on between the two British ambassadors in the two corresponding teams

Prior to the match, Stephen Hickey, the British ambassador to Iraq, sent a message of support in Arabic to the Iraqi national team and wished them success in the match against Iran.

Minutes later, the British ambassador to Iran, Rob Macaire, responded to his counterpart in Iraq with the text in Persian and English: “Do not raise your hopes too high, you just wait and see how the Iranian football champions will win this game! »

In the end, the Iranian team won the game so that in addition to breaking the 10-year spell of not winning against Iraq in official games, the British ambassador to Iran is also a virtual winner against his colleague in Baghdad.