KHIRBET AL-GHAZAL, Syria (AP) 鈥� of this World Cup, is playing for powerhouse Germany. Yet with his Yazidi and Kurdish heritage, the 29-year-old striker is representing two communities on the global stage with no realistic chance of having World Cup teams of their own.
After entering as a substitute for Germany, Undav scored three goals and set up two more, putting him such as Argentina鈥檚 Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbapp茅 of France and Vinicius Jr. of Brazil on the leaderboard.
Undav, who identifies as a Kurdish Yazidi, is the son of Yazidi refugees. His success is being celebrated by a small, insular community that has endured decades of oppression and violence, in which thousands of Yazidis in Iraq’s Sinjar region were killed or abducted by militants from the Islamic State group who considered them to be heretics.
Responding to a question at a news conference Wednesday, the German-born Undav said he hoped his performance would inspire fans everywhere, especially within the Yazidi community.
鈥淚 always get the news from my parents how they view me, how they see me and it鈥檚 making me proud, you know, that we finally have somebody,鈥� 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 the Germany-Ecuador match at the home of community leader Ismail Dalaf. Many residents are related to Undav鈥檚 mother, who is from a now-deserted nearby village whose residents left for economic reasons or fled during Syria鈥檚 long civil war that began in 2011.
Dalaf said has made him 鈥渁 symbol that shows Yazidis can reach a higher position and be seen with respect.鈥�
鈥淲hen people see a Yazidi entering the field, scoring goals and changing the result of matches, it changes public perception,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t tells the world that Yazidis have a role in the world.鈥�
are among the largest stateless ethnic groups in the world, with roughly 30 million living as minorities in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria. Yazidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority mostly found in Syria, Iraq and Turkey. There are around 235,000 Yazidis living in Germany today, according to Irfan Ortac, chair of the Central Council of Yazidis in Germany. Many arrived after the 2014 onslaught.
鈥淯ntil now, we have mostly been known as victims of violence,鈥� Ortac said. 鈥淲henever we spoke about Yazidis, we always had to talk about genocide, discrimination, and displacement. It makes us very proud and happy to be able to talk about something positive.鈥�
In Iraq 鈥� home to the largest concentration of Yazidis in the world and the location of 鈥� members of the community also have embraced Undav’s success.
鈥淚t makes me very happy to see a Yazidi bringing our name to the World Cup and playing in front of the whole world,鈥� said Luqman Sleiman, spokesperson for the temple.
Diyar Bakir, 29, a Yazidi from Sinjar, hopes to travel to Germany one day to see Undav play.
His family “came from a place where his ethnicity and religion were not appreciated, yet he is now recognized and valued by a great team like Germany,鈥� Bakir said. 鈥淗e emerged from the womb of suffering, and we wish him every success.鈥�
Undav has faced abuse for his heritage, but his popularity surges
At times, Undav has faced abuse over his heritage from spectators and on social media.
When his played in Turkey at Fenerbahce last year, German media reported the outbreak of obscene chants about his mother. Two Kurdish anti-discrimination groups said social media insults were part of a growing campaign of 鈥渞acist and ethnically motivated hostility.鈥�
Undav鈥檚 decision and not Turkey, as other eligible German-born players have done in the past, also resulted in some online hostility from Turkish fans. But now, his popularity is surging.
D眉zen Tekkal, a German documentary filmmaker and author of Kurdish Yazidi heritage, is from northwestern Germany, like Undav. She is the co-founder of Scoring Girls(asterisk), a nonprofit offering free soccer classes for girls from diverse backgrounds.
鈥淭here definitely is a Deniz Undav effect and it鈥檚 very important,鈥� she said, referencing children who can celebrate their heritage and feel they belong in Germany at a time when migration is often treated as a political problem.
鈥淚t is no coincidence that he plays with this lightness and freedom,鈥� Tekkal added. 鈥淧eople are asking how come he鈥檚 so good under pressure or he can cope with so much pressure? Because he doesn鈥檛 know it any other way. That is the DNA, that is the resilience. … That鈥檚 how he scores these goals because what is that pressure compared to being Kurdish or Yazidi?鈥�
When Undav scored one of those goals, against Curacao, he broke into a Yazidi-inspired jig with his hands clasped behind his back. He was joined by Antonio R眉diger, a Black German soccer star who has faced racist and anti-Muslim abuse during his career, in what Tekkal called 鈥渙ne of the highlights, no matter how this World Cup goes from here.鈥�
鈥淒ancing is a form of expressing resistance for us,鈥� Tekkal emphasized. 鈥淲e dance on the graves of our dead. Our mantra is that resistance is life. He鈥檚 dancing there for his forefathers who were oppressed.鈥�
Mahmoud Kanabi, a Kurd from Irbil, moved to Berlin in 2020 and works in a Kurdish restaurant. Because of Undav, he purchased鈥痑 Germany jersey.
鈥淯nfortunately, for us Kurds, we don鈥檛 have a team because we don鈥檛 have a country,鈥� he said. 鈥淣ow, when a Kurdish player is in a team, we have to be fans of it. It doesn鈥檛 matter what team it is.鈥�
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Martany reported from Irbil, Iraq; Fahey from Berlin and Ellingworth from Duesseldorf, Germany. AP Sports Writer Ron Blum in East Rutherford, New Jersey, contributed reporting.
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