The Group B encounter was only a handful of  international competitive club games to be played on Iraqi soil in more than 20 years after the FIFA Council lifted a ban on the country on March 16, 2018 at its meeting in Bogota, Colombia.

"The world saw that Iraq was at the level and that it had the capacity to host a championship," fan Ali Essam said.

From the early morning, cars lined up at checkpoints set up at the entrances to Karbala, a city about 160 kilometres south of Baghdad.

Al Ahed tried to open the scoring early in the game, but Nour Mansour's free-kick missed the target in the fourth minute. The home side responded in the 17th minute through Fiston Abdul Razak's cross which found Mohannad Abdul Raheem inside the box, but the latter's header was easily saved.

After a goalless first half, Al Zawraa intensified their attacks in an attempt to break the deadlock and came close just three minutes after the restart as Abdul Razak right-footed effort from the edge of the area went inches wide off the right post.

 

Meeting in Bogota, Colombia, FIFA agreed that competitive matches could be played in Erbil, Basra and Karbala and Shaikh Salman said: ‘This is a significant moment in shaping the future of football in Iraq.

"The AFC , and the Asian football family as a whole, have supported this structured return of competitive football to Iraq.

"I was in Basra last month to see the friendly against  Saudi Arabia and it was clear that the time had come to lift the restriction on competitive matches - and I am delighted FIFA agree.

"I congratulate the Iraqi Football Association and all their stakeholders in working so hard to achieve this positive outcome for the game in their country.

"Football development in Iraq can only be benefitted by the ability of Iraqi football lovers to see matches played on their own soil and to become involved in the game at every level."

Iraq will host a friendly tournament involving their national side as well as Qatar and Syria in Basra starting on Wednesday while the AFC Cup matches involving Al Zawraa and Bahraini side Manama Club and Air Force Club's home game against Malkiya of Bahrain can now be played in April.

The AFC agreed to the matches to be staged in Iraq on the basis that both the participating Member Association and the away clubs gave their consent as well as the fact that FIFA approved the venues for international friendly matches. Moreover, AFC Cup matches were played in selected venues in Iraq in 2017.

However, FIFA have emphasised that the lifting of the ban on playing matches in Iraq applies only for international friendly matches and that the AFC Cup matches are not friendly games and therefore cannot be staged in Iraq without a change in the current ruling by the FIFA Council.

As the next FIFA Council is to be held on March 15-16, 2018, the AFC, in order to provide the Iraqi clubs with an opportunity to play the matches on home soil and in accordance with the AFC Cup Regulations 2018 (Article7.3) have decided to postpone the affected matches until April 16 and 17, 2018.

A decision on the venue for the two AFC Cup Group Stage (West) matches will then be made after the FIFA Council considers the issue.