🇸🇾 New colours, new hope - Syria's first match after Assad is cause for celebration

Syria's national team is finally free from the tyranny of the Assad regime!

Just hours after Bashar al-Assad fled Syria for Moscow, the qualification draw for the 2027 Asian Cup took place.

Of course, football was a long way from the minds of a population that has faced 14 devastating years of civil war. Hundreds of thousands have lost their lives. Millions were displaced under a brutal dictatorship.

Late last year, though, the Assad regime fell. The president fled for Moscow after rebel groups claimed the city of Aleppo. The capital Damascus was captured soon after.

A dynasty that had ruled Syria for over half a century came to an end and the national team quickly became a symbol of hope.