With his black beard, curly hair and football shirt, Iraqi striker Hussein Ali is often mistaken for one of the world's top players: Egypt's Mohamed Salah. In the Iraqi capital Baghdad, Ali, 20, is stopped in his neighbourhood by people wanting a photograph with their idol.

Although he is himself a striker, for the Al-Zawraa club, it is Ali's likeness to Salah which piques Iraqis' interest. "At the first training session, he introduced himself as 'Hussein Ali'. I replied, 'No, no, you are Mohamed Salah," said Ali's coach Adnan Mohammad.