Iraq will face Syria in a friendly on Tuesday March 26 in Baghdad, for the first international match played in the Iraqi capital in almost four years. The match will take place five days after FIFA partially lifted the ban on Iraq from organizing international matches. The last friendly match played in Baghdad, Iraq – Palestine, took place in the same Al-Shaab stadium on July 13, 2009. Initially, the Iraq – Syria meeting was to be played in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. .
— Published March 25, 2013
