KHIRBET AL GHAZAL, SYRIA (AP) — Deniz Undav, one of the surprise stars In this World Cup, he is playing for the powerful Germany national team. But the 29-year-old striker, who is of Yazidi and Kurdish descent, represents two communities on the world stage but has no realistic chance of having his own World Cup team.
After coming on as a substitute for Germany, Unduff scored three goals and added two more to move up the table. right behind the leading scorer superstar Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappe and Brazil’s Vinicius Junior are among those on the leaderboard.
Undaf, who identifies as a Kurdish Yazidi, is the son of Yazidi refugees. His success is celebrated by a small, closed community that has endured decades of repression and violence. Especially the onslaught of 2014 In the incident, thousands of Yazidis were killed or abducted in Iraq’s Sinjar region by Islamic State militants, who considered them heretics.
In response to questions at a press conference on Wednesday, the German-born Unduff said he hoped his performance would inspire fans everywhere, especially the Yazidi community.
“I always hear from my parents about how they see me, how they see me, and I’m proud that we finally have someone,” he said.
Undav has fans across Syria, Germany and Iraq
In the village of Khirbet al-Ghazal in northeastern Syria, a small group of Yazidis gathered Thursday night to watch a match between Germany and Ecuador at the home of community leader Ismail Daraf. Many of the residents are related to Unduff’s mother. Andaf comes from a nearby village, now deserted, whose residents either left for economic reasons or were displaced during Syria’s long civil war, which began in 2011.
Daraf said Undahu’s World Cup performance described him as “a symbol of Yazidis reaching higher status and being viewed with respect.”
Germany’s Deniz Unduff reacts after scoring in the Soccer World Cup Group E match between Germany and Curacao on Sunday, June 14, 2026 in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
“When people see Yazidis coming on the field and scoring goals and changing the outcome of the game, the public perception changes,” he said. “This tells the world that Yazidis have a role in the world.”
Kurdish They are one of the world’s largest stateless ethnic groups, with approximately 30 million people living as minorities in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria. Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority living primarily in Syria, Iraq, and Türkiye. According to Irfan Ortak, head of the Central Council of Yazidis in Germany, there are currently around 235,000 Yazidis living in Germany. Many arrived after the 2014 onslaught.
“Until now, we have been known primarily as victims of violence,” Ortak said. “Whenever we talk about Yazidis, we have had to talk about genocide, discrimination and forced displacement. I am very proud and happy to be able to talk about something positive.”
Iraq has the largest concentration of Yazidis in the world. Their most sacred place, Lalish Temple — Community members also celebrate Undav’s success.
“We are very happy to see Yazidis bring our name to the World Cup and play in front of the whole world,” said Lukman Sulaiman, a spokesperson for the temple.
Diyar Baqir, 29, a Yazidi from Sinjar, hopes to one day travel to Germany to watch Undaf play.
His family “comes from a region where his ethnicity and religion were not valued, but now he is recognized and valued by a great team like Germany,” Bakir said. “He came out of the womb of suffering and we wish him all the best.”
Unduff faces abuse because of her heritage, but her popularity soars
Unduff has at times faced abuse from audiences and social media over her heritage.
when he club team stuttgart When he played for Fenerbahce in Turkey last year, German media reported that obscene chants about his mother broke out. Two Kurdish anti-discrimination groups said the social media insults were part of a growing “racist and ethnically motivated hostility.”
Unduff’s decision represent germany As other eligible German-born players have done in the past, he faced backlash from Turkish fans, not in Turkey, but online. But now his popularity is skyrocketing.
Duzen Tekkar, a German documentary filmmaker and author of Kurdish Yazidi Heritage, hails from the same northwest Germany as Undav. She is the co-founder of Scoring Girls (Asterisk), a nonprofit organization that provides free soccer classes to girls from diverse backgrounds.
“The Deniz Undav effect definitely exists and it is very important,” she said, referring to children being able to celebrate their heritage and feel a sense of belonging in Germany, at a time when immigration is often politicized.
“It’s no coincidence that he plays with such ease and freedom,” Tekkal added. “People are asking why he’s so good under pressure or how he can handle that much pressure, because he doesn’t know it any other way. That’s the DNA, that’s resilience. … That’s how he scores goals. Because what does that pressure compare to being Kurdish or Yazidi?”
Germany’s Deniz Unduff (left) and Antonio Rudiger react after scoring the sixth goal in the Soccer World Cup Group E match between Germany and Curacao in Houston on Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
When Undahu scored one of those goals against Curacao, he clasped his hands behind his back and broke into a Yazidi-inspired jig. The match, which Tekkal called “one of the highlights of the World Cup no matter how it goes from here,” was also joined by black German soccer star Antonio Rudiger, who has faced racism and anti-Muslim abuse throughout his career.
“For us, dance is a means of expressing resistance,” Tekkar emphasized. “We dance on the graves of the dead. Our belief is that resistance is life. He dances there for his oppressed ancestors.”
Mahmoud Kanabi is a Kurd from Erbil who moved to Berlin in 2020 and works at a Kurdish restaurant. Thanks to Unduff, he bought a Germany jersey.
“Unfortunately for us Kurds, we don’t have a team because we don’t have a country,” he said. “Now, when a Kurdish player is on the team, we have to become fans of that team, no matter which team it is.”
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Multani reported from Erbil, Iraq. Fahey from Berlin and Ellingworth from Düsseldorf, Germany. AP Sports Writer Ron Blum in East Rutherford, New Jersey, contributed reporting.
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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through The Associated Press collaboration Funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and in collaboration with The Conversation US. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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