Erling Haaland faces awkward reunion at World Cup with player he told to ‘do one’

On-loan Ipswich Town striker Ali Al-Hamadi is set for a potentially awkward reunion with Erling Haaland at the World Cup.

The forward scored in Iraq’s 2-1 win over Bolivia for the Middle Eastern nation to become the final side to qualify for the World Cup.

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It sparked wild scenes of celebration in the country, and Al-Hamadi will get the chance to face Haaland again.

The forward made 11 appearances for the Tractor Boys in the 2024/25 campaign, including a brief cameo in a 4-1 defeat for Ipswich against Man City.

Haaland grabbed a hat-trick right in front of Al-Hamadi.

The striker joined talkSPORT Drive to discuss Iraq’s qualification for the World Cup and the fact they will play France, Norway and Senegal.

This led host Andy Goldstein to ask Al-Hamadi if he came up against Haaland while playing for Ipswich last season.

He said: “Yeah, for about ten minutes or so. I got a good view of his hat-trick against us.”

Goldstein then wanted to know if the forward was a shirt collector to which he said: “I don’t try to go out of my way.

“If he’s there, and it’s in the moment, yeah, of course.

“I did actually ask him for his shirt last time, but he told me to do one because he’d just scored the hat-trick, so he was like, ‘I am keeping the shirt.’

“But I am looking forward to the games and hopefully, creating some memories.”

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Historic

Iraq’s route to the World Cup has been far from straightforward, but they have managed to make history.

And it’s something the current Luton Town man won’t be forgetting for a while.

He said: “For now, it’s just about enjoying the moment and enjoying what we’ve achieved with our family and friends.

“We want to respect that we’ve got there now, and we do want to make sure that anyone we do play, we give them a game. We are there to win games and not just to take part.”

He added: “I haven’t slept a wink. I was born in Iraq but raised in the UK. Both my parents are Iraqi, so I still have that connection, and I speak the language.

“I saw the videos and all 46 million people were watching that game, and I think they’ve just declared a three-day national holiday, so it’s just mental.

“If I am not mistaken, we have had the most qualifying games than any other nation, so then you factor in the journey to get out of Iraq to play this game because there is no airspace open, so it was about 30 hours in total.

“But it’s a country that is built on grit and fight, and it was such an amazing day for everyone.”

Al-Hamadi will now look to knuckle down in the remainder of the season.

Due to injury, he has only featured eight times for the Hatters in League One this year.

But with a World Cup on the horizon, he’ll need game time to be at full sharpness for what will be a very proud moment in his career.