in Italy and gave him his first start against Serie B club Cagliari Calcio and he later went on to score. Mahmoud's full international debut was against Syria in a friendly in Baghdad on 19 July 2002. His 1st goal came in the final of the 2002 WAFF Championship in the 89th minute to take the game to extra-time, where Iraq won through Haidar Mahmoud's golden goal. In his next match for Iraq, a 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualifier, he scored 4 goals against Bahrain and then went on to score a hat-trick against Malaysia. He scored 6 goals for the Olympic team in the 2003 Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Friendship Cup, including a hat-trick against Al-Nassr and the only goal in the final against Morocco, as Iraq won the cup. His achievements in 2003 saw him get nominated for the Asian Young Footballer of the Year. He was part of Iraq's 2004 Olympic Games qualifying squad and scored goals against Oman and Kuwait as Iraq managed to qualify. Mahmoud scored 1 goal in the 2004 Asian Cup against Saudi Arabia, and in the Olympic Games finals, Iraq finished in 4th place and Mahmoud scored 1 goal, against Portugal. Iraq participated in the 2005 West Asian Games and Mahmoud scored 3 goals in the tournament, including a goal in the final which Iraq went on to win to claim the gold medal. In 2006, Iraq participated in the Asian Games and reached the final but lost to Qatar; Mahmoud scored 3 goals in the tournament. In 2006, Mahmoud became the Iraq captain, taking over from Razzaq Farhan. 2007 was one of the best years of Mahmoud's career; he scored 1 goal in the 2007 WAFF Championship where Iraq finished as runners-up, and he scored 4 goals in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup including the winning goal in the final as Iraq won their 1st ever Asian Cup. Mahmoud won the top scorer award and the MVP award in the tournament, and nominated for the 2007 Asian Footballer of the Year award and the 2007 Ballon d'Or, becoming the first Iraqi player in history to be nominated for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award. 2 years later, he won his final trophy for Iraq, the 2009 UAE International Cup, and that year he also participated in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, playing all 3 of Iraq's games. He scored in his 3rd consecutive