Iraq face Senegal in Toronto on Friday and the stakes could not be higher for both teams. Anything short of a big win in their final game of the World Cup's group stage will result in elimination.
Thousands of fans have poured into the Canadian city from across North America and the long odds for both teams have done nothing to dampen their supporters' mood ahead of the must-win match.
“It's just amazing to see our team in the World Cup,” said Valair, an Iraqi who left his country when he was 14 and now lives in Tennessee in the US.
“We got a goal … and I was there for it,” he added, referring to last week's match in Boston, when Aymen Hussein scored with a header against Norway. Valair said the moment was so euphoric that he partially blacked out.
He felt it would be an "absolute miracle” if Iraq made it through, but “just seeing my flag with all these other flags and just being involved … that in itself is an achievement for me".
Valair was among the Iraq fans who gathered on Thursday night at a park near Toronto's city centre. A steady stream of cars decorated with Iraqi flags honked their horns as they passed.
Adwia Aziz, an Iraq fan from Sterling Heights, Michigan, said she was excited for the Senegal showdown. Come what may, her main feeling was one of pride after her country qualified for the World Cup for the first time in four decades.
“We waited 40 years for this moment,” she said, an Iraq flag wrapped around her shoulders. “They are playing very well … we're so proud of them.”
On Friday, thousands of Iraq fans are expected to march to Toronto Stadium. Online prediction platforms give Iraq only about an 8 per cent chance of winning against Senegal, a powerhouse of African football. Like Iraq, Senegal lost to Norway and France.
But because Iraq have only scored one goal compared with Senegal's three, Iraq are bottom of Group I.
Thanks to this year's expanded 48-team World Cup, eight third-place teams will advance to the knockout rounds. But for either Iraq or Senegal to progress, they would need a win with a big goal tally and for teams in other groups to perform badly.
Lions of Teranga
Friday's game is also a huge moment for Senegal fans, whose national team is nicknamed the Lions of Teranga, a reference to the country's courage and spirit of hospitality.
Thanks to US President Donald Trump's travel ban, it was almost impossible for Senegalese supporters to travel to the US to watch the previous two group games.
Christoph Boucar Diouf, a Senegalese immigrant who runs a construction company in Montreal, said that at the Norway game in New Jersey, Senegalese fans were lost amid a sea of Norwegian red, with the imbalance making it feel as though the Scandinavians had an extra player.
He is confident things will be different for Senegal's players on Friday.
“They're going to feel the ambience, they'll feel the sound of the tam-tams, they will hear the voice, their language, like they are at home,” he told The National at PendAfrica, a Senegalese restaurant in the city.
Mr Diouf said the Senegalese government had provided tickets for supporters to attend the do-or-die match.
Kick-off is at 3pm Toronto time (11pm GST).
