Philadelphia, United States — The first time Ali Alkabasi saw Iraq play at a World Cup was on television when he was 13 years old. Forty years later, he was inside the Philadelphia Stadium as his nation returned to the big stage and faced former champions France.

Despite a crushing 3-0 loss in his team’s second Group I match, Alkabasi says he is grateful to witness Iraq live at the tournament.

“Seeing Iraq play in the World Cup is enough,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The performance wasn’t too bad. The result was expected. France are on another level. At least the Iraqi players were not just playing long balls. They tried to build up an attack.”

Iraqi fans stood up and saluted their team at the final whistle, and even at three goals down in the final minutes of the game, they cheered for every attack as if they could will it into becoming an equaliser.

‘Matter of pride’

For a country that has faced immense adversity over the past decades, Iraq’s participation in a World Cup brought unadulterated joy to fans, who travelled from across the US and the world to see their team in action.

Halah Maykhan, an Iraqi American who lives in Wisconsin, said Iraq’s return to the World Cup after four decades is a dream come true.

“We are living the dream. My homeland, Iraq, makes it to the World Cup finals in America, where I live. The dream for me is double,” Maykhan told Al Jazeera.

“I am so happy and so excited. This is a matter of pride for the Iraqi people.”

She expressed gratitude to the players for gathering Iraqis from all corners of the planet in one place to rally around the squad.

“We are with this team no matter the results,” Maykhan told Al Jazeera.

“Although they lack experience, we are hoping they do well, and we’re hoping all Arab teams do well.”

Two-time world champions France started the match with intensity, and superstar Kylian Mbappe quieted the raucous Iraqi crowd in the 14th minute with a screamer from the edge of the box – but not for long.

After the shell-shock, Iraqi fans returned to drumming up support for their team as chants of “Iraq, Iraq” rang throughout the stadium.

The process would repeat twice, with France’s goals only temporarily lulling the roars of the supporters of the Lions of Mesopotamia.

Despite the enormous gulf in quality between the two sides, Iraq did not just park the bus and clear the ball as far away as possible from their own goal.

They tried to keep possession and play through France’s high press.

Mohammed Abduljabbar, who lives in Texas, said while the result was disappointing, the team did what it had to do against a better opponent.

“Their performance was good. Yes, there were mistakes, but there were also some beautiful plays. We are proud of them, and we thank them for bringing us to the World Cup,” Abduljabbar told Al Jazeera.

He added that the feeling of watching Iraq at the stadium was “indescribable”.

Beyond football, Iraq’s World Cup journey put on display a fortified national identity across sectarian and religious lines.

At the stadium on Monday, there were Kurdish and Assyrian flags waving alongside the national banner, but all the fans stood united behind the players.

Husam Nafea, an Iraq fan who drove for four hours from Virginia to see the match, said the country has been rising above divisions, and it is now even more unified around the team.

“Wherever we go, we as Iraqis are joyous and united, and hopefully, we remain this way,” Nafea, who was draped in an Iraqi flag, told Al Jazeera outside the stadium.

Over the past decades, Iraq has endured coups, wars, sieges, civil strife, a US-led invasion and the rise of ISIL (ISIS).

Now the country is experiencing a period of relative calm, but it remains near the centre of many geopolitical faultlines in the region.

Nawres Almamoori travelled all the way from South Australia to Philadelphia to watch Iraq in action.

He said the excitement around participation in the tournament is bringing much-needed relief to Iraqis.

“Iraqis have gone through and are still going through a lot,” Almamoori told Al Jazeera. “They deserve this joy.”

An actual storm caught up with Iraq and France on Monday, with heavy rain and thunder halting the match for nearly two hours at half-time.

As fans lined up to enter the stadium under the water dumping from the sky, Iraq fan Hassan Raad said he is unconcerned with the weather or the result.

“Rain, sun, freeze, desert – we are here for our guys,” Raad told Al Jazeera. “The result doesn’t matter. As fans, our job is to support the team.”

Ateka Saleh, an Iraqi American from Wisconsin, echoed the sentiment.

“No matter what happens today, they already brought us here, together, to be happy with them,” Saleh said of the players before the match.

“So, ‘thank you’ to them. We are very proud of this team.”