Asian Cup tournament with a goal against Iran in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Mahmoud scored 7 goals in qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup but Iraq finished bottom of their group in the final round and failed to qualify. At the start of 2013, Iraq participated in the 21st Arabian Gulf Cup and Iraq finished as runners-up; Mahmoud scored 2 goals in the tournament including Iraq's only goal in the final: a 2–1 defeat to the United Arab Emirates after extra-time. Mahmoud led Iraq to qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup by scoring 4 goals in the qualifying rounds including 2 goals in the decisive match against China. He participated as one of Iraq's overaged players in the 2014 Asian Games and he scored 4 goals in the tournament as Iraq won the bronze medal. In the 2015 Asian Cup, Iraq finished in 4th place and Mahmoud scored 2 goals (against Palestine and Iran which saw him become the only player to score in 4 consecutive Asian Cup tournaments). On 28 March 2015, Iraq played a friendly match against DR Congo and the match saw Mahmoud become Iraq's most-capped player of all-time. Mahmoud continued to be a key player for Iraq during their 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign and he scored 4 goals in Iraq's group including a free-kick against Chinese Taipei to send Iraq to the final round. He announced his retirement from football on 23 August 2016. Overall, Mahmoud scored 57 goals in 148 international matches. Famous international matches 24 March 2002 – Iraq 1–4 Cagliari Calcio (Scored on his debut for Iraq but this was not an international match) 7 September 2002 – Iraq 3–2 Jordan (a.e.t.) (Iraq were losing 2–1 to Jordan in the final of the 2002 WAFF Championship; in the last few minutes, Mahmoud was substituted onto the field and scored his first international goal in the 89th minute to send the match to extra time, and because of it Iraq won their first WAFF Championship) 15 August 2003 – Iraq 1–0 Morocco (Scored the winning goal in the final of the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Friendship Cup) 8 October 2003 – Iraq 5–1 Bahrain (Scored 4 goals (including a lob and a 20-yard strike), the most he scored in a single international game for Iraq) 12 August 2004 – Iraq 4–2 Portugal (Scored 1 goal and played a big part