Deniz Undav, a German striker with Yazidi and Kurdish heritage, has emerged as one of the surprise stars of this World Cup, scoring three goals and providing two assists as a substitute for powerhouse Germany, according to the Associated Press. The 29-year-old, who identifies as a Kurdish Yazidi, is the son of Yazidi refugees and plays for Germany, but his heritage ties him to two communities — Yazidis and Kurds — that have no national teams of their own.
Undav’s contributions off the bench have placed his goal involvements behind only top-scoring superstars such as Argentina’s Lionel Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappé and Brazil’s Vinicius Jr., the AP reported.
His success is being celebrated by the Yazidi community, a small, insular religious minority that has endured decades of oppression and violence. In 2014, militants from the Islamic State group killed or abducted thousands of Yazidis in Iraq’s Sinjar region, targeting them as heretics.
The AP reported that Undav’s World Cup run has lifted pride among Yazidis and Kurds both in the Middle East and in the diaspora, communities with deep roots in Syria and Iraq that have long been without a sovereign state or a national soccer team.