Zaidan Iqbal explained; The Iraqi national team player was the cause of the clashes that brought him and his teammates together with the Kuwaiti national team players on Saturday, following the end of their confrontation in the 2026 Arabian Gulf Cup (Gulf 27), which sparked controversy on social media.
The Iraqi team achieved an exciting victory against its Kuwaiti counterpart by three goals to two, in the second round of the group stage in Gulf 27.
Zidane Iqbal scored the first goal for Al-Rafidain Lions in the match, before the duo Saif Al-Rashid and Karrar Nabil added a brace in the 52nd, 83rd and 9th + 90th minutes, while the Kuwaitis scored their brace in the 75th and 90th minutes through captain Youssef Nasser.
For his part, Iqbal spoke to the media after the end of the match, explaining that the Kuwaiti players and their fans heaped insults on him and his family, while mocking him because his father is Pakistani, while he plays for the Iraqi national team.
Iqbal indicated that he warned Kuwait captain Yousef Nasser, saying: “I spoke with the Kuwaiti captain, and I told him, as for me, I have no problem with your players, but the players were saying that my father is Pakistani, and this is true.”
“I am a Muslim, thank God, and we are all one nation, so whether you are from Pakistan, Iraq or anywhere, there is no problem, we all follow Islam,” Iqbal said.
Iqbal added: "If you are going to call my father a Pakistani, and say very rude things about my mother, first make sure that I win, because if I win, I will celebrate. If they say these things to me and I repeat it on the field, they will say: 'Zidane causes problems,' but in the World Cup I did not cause any problems, and when we play against other teams, I do not cause problems."
"Football is based on respect. I agree with that 100 percent, but if you are going to disrespect my family, if you are going to disrespect them, that's okay, but make sure you win, because after the end of the match, it's all over," Iqbal said.
The fans were divided between supporters and opponents of Zidane's way of celebrating, as some social media pioneers saw that the goal celebration was the player's right and part of the game, while others saw that the provocative celebrations directed at the fans of the opposing team were not acceptable.
Several tweets confirmed that everything that happened fell under what is called “fierce football competition on the field and may extend outside it,” stressing at the same time its rejection of insults directed at players and their families in particular and the inclusion of their personal lives in the game.
Regarding his celebration of his first goal in the match in front of the Kuwaiti fans, Zidane Iqbal commented: “I could hear the Kuwaiti fans booing before the match. No problem. I will score and then you will watch. And when I celebrated by looking at them, they did not say anything, they were just looking at me, so I said well, excellent. Now they will remember the Pakistani boy who scored against Kuwait.”
The Iraqi leader, Ayman Hussein, took over the task of controlling the dispute between Zidane Iqbal and the Kuwaiti leader, Youssef Nasser, as he accompanied the latter to the Iraqis’ dressing room, to conclude a reconciliation between them.
Iqbal appeared in the reconciliation video, explaining his anger at being booed by the Kuwaitis, before the duo exchanged embraces, to contain the situation.
Many tweets called for the necessity of imposing firm and strict penalties to ensure a safe and comfortable environment suitable for all fans and families present in the stands, stressing that such behavior, such as insults and clashes, by players or fans may restrict families and prevent them from attending.
Some fans on social media justified that the clash of players came as a natural result of the great excitement by the fans before and during the match, calling for the imposition of strict penalties to prevent the recurrence of these scenes in the Gulf Cup.
