I’ve heard a lot about Jiloan Hamad, who moved to Bundesliga club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on a free transfer today, and whether he could play for Iraq. Some say he can and others say he can’t. So lets clear this up.
The son of a former Peshmerga fighter from Ranya, Sulimaniya has played six times for Sweden, but all of these matches have come in friendly matches, which under FIFA’s regulations means he could still play for Iraq.
However that looks unlikely, as the player himself wants to try his luck with the Swedish national side, after playing for the U-17s, U-19s and the U-21s, and once he makes an appearance for Sweden in a World Cup or European Championship match, whether in the finals or in the qualifying rounds, Jiloan will no longer be able to switch national teams.
He was on the bench in the friendly matches against England and Norway, and will certainly be part of the Swedish side in the future, especially if he succeeds at his new club in Germany.
Matches for Sweden
2011-01-19 Botswana 1 : 2 Sweden
2011-01-22 South Africa League XI 1 : 1 Sweden
2012-01-18 Bahrain 0 : 2 Sweden
2012-01-23 Qatar U-23 0 : 5 Sweden
2013-01-23 Sweden 1 : 1 Korea DPR
2013-01-26 Sweden 3 : 0 Finland
What Jiloan and Zana could do for Kurdish support of national side?
Hassanin Mubarak's blog 