A soccer homecoming.

• Position: IRAQ - Brief article

One sweltering night in July, tens of thousands of Iraqis poured into Baghdad's Shaab Stadium for the first time since 2002. Their national soccer team, displaced for years by war, had finally come home. Soccer may be the one thing that unifies this divided nation, and hours before the match, the stadium was fitted with cheering fans. Then, amid a deafening roar, Iraq cruised to a 4-0 victory over a Palestinian team. Even in the darkest days of the war, Iraq's team had given a soccer-crazed nation something to...