Dhurgham Ismail

Dhurgham Ismail was born on May 23, 1994, in the city of Amarah in Maysan province, in south-eastern Iraq. Dhurgham has represented Iraq for the U-17s, U-19s, U-23s and the senior national side. The left back joined the Iraq FA youth system in 2010 after FA member Yahya Zaghir, the secretary of Naft Maysan, where he was a youth player, took the footballer to Iraq U-17 coach Muwafaq Hussein and presented him as “a player from Al-Sadr City,” a city within a city in the Iraqi capital. In November 2010, Ismail signed a five-year contract for Al Shorta at the age of 16. Dhurgham was a footballer from the province and for decades the Iraqi youth sides had been dominated by Baghdad-based players, both because of the prejudice against the provincial talent and the close proximity from the youth sides training facilities in the Iraqi capital and with only a few coaches scouting around the country for new talent. Yahya Zaghir may have believed it was better for Dhargham to be labelled a player from Baghdad rather than face the prejudice of coming from the provinces. Two years later, the gifted left sided defender was the star of the Under 17s side, wearing the No.9 with presenter Haidar Al-Wattar praising him on the MBC channel.

Al Shorta

2010–11

He made his debut in Al Shorta's first match of the 2010–11 Iraqi Premier League, against Al-Karkh SC, on 27 November 2010, where it ended in a 0–0 draw. In his first season, he quickly made his position in the starting eleven squad with the squad number 13, being picked to start in many games, after the departure of the club's first choice left back, Ahmad Kadhim Assad, in September 2010. He scored his first goal on 9 February 2011, a long-range effort into the top corner against giants Erbil SC, at the 35th minute, in a match that ended in a 3–1 win for Al Shorta. His cross from the left flank led to the very last goal that club legend Hashim Ridha scored for Al Shorta in a defeat to Ramadi FC, and Ismail scored his second goal on 1 July 2011, against Samarra FC, in a match that ended in another 3–1 win. This was a crucial win for Al Shorta in the battle to avoid relegation. Al Shorta ended the 2010–11 season with them being in 8th place in the North Group, escaping relegation by goal difference. Al Shorta's defense, that includes Ismail, have conceded 23 goals in that season.

2011–12

Ismail was handed the number 3 shirt for the season. Upon earning his starting role in the squad, Ismail had assists in a lot of matches from the 2011–12 Iraqi Premier League, mostly crossing long balls into the penalty area. He also scored two goals in this season: one of them was on 3 March 2012, against Zakho FC, in a 2–0 win for Al Shorta.…

Iraq U-17

Ismail's first international tournament for the Iraq national U-17 team was the 2009 WAFF U-16 Championship, where Iraq ended in 3rd place, which was Ismail's first international achievement. In the 2010 AFC U-16 Championship, Ismail scored his first international goal, on 27 October 2010, against Kuwait in a 3–0 win for Iraq.

Iraq U-20

Ismail's first tournament with the Iraq national U-20 team was the 2011 Arab Cup U-20, where Iraq didn't get passed the group stage. Although he was not included in the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship squad, Ismail was part of the 2012 Arab Cup U-20, where he scored a goal against Syria, but Iraq eventually finished in the bottom of Group C. Ismail was included in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad, playing as a left back. He was subbed off for Ammar Abdul-Hussein in the first match, against England, subbed in for Mahdi Kamel, against Egypt, subbed in at half time for Abdul-Hussein, against Paraguay. Being subbed in at the 112th minute, Ismail scored his penalty kick during the penalty shoot-out, against South Korea, in the quarterfinal. He didn't play in the semifinal, where Iraq lost, but he started in the third place match, where they lost 0–3.

Iraq U-23

Ismail's first tournament for the Iraq national U-23 team was the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship. He started in all of the six matches that Iraq played, scoring a goal in the first match, against Saudi Arabia, in a match that ended in a 3–1 win for Iraq, and…

Club

As of match played 7 March 2020

International

As of match played 22 March 2024

International goals

Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first.