ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Iraqi national futsal team, dominated by Kurds, was crowned champions of West Asian Football Federation’s (WAFF) major futsal championship for women on Friday, with a Kurdish player finishing as the tournament’s top goal scorer.
A total of six teams participated in the WAFF's Women's Futsal Championship for 2022, which was held from June 16 to June 24 in Saudi Arabia.
The Iraqi team bested its Saudi counterpart in the final, winning the tournament after a 4-2 victory over the host country’s national team.
The Iraqi team’s campaign in the tournament began with a rocky start, losing 1-0 to Bahrain in the first match, but it was able to come out victorious in their following matches on its way to the final, including a staggering 12-0 win over Kuwait in the semi-final.
Nine of the 14 players of the Iraqi squad are Kurds, including the championship’s top goal scorer, Shokhan Salihi, who scored seven goals throughout the tournament.
The Kurdish women were essential to Iraq’s success in the tournament, especially leaving their mark in the final, which saw Salihi score two, and fellow Kurdish player Direen Mullabakar score one out of Iraq’s four goals.
This is the first time Iraq’s women have been crowned champions of the Asian cup. The Iranian team had won the previous two instalments of the tournament in 2008 and 2012.
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