Sherko Karim

Ajax trial In 2013 after Karim scored two goals in an AFC Youth Championship qualifier against Bangladesh in Erbil, which Iraq won 6–0, the opponent's Dutch coach Rene Koster was full of praise for the Iraq Under 19s, and told the gathering media that the Iraqi team “deserved the victory, deserving for being cognate as a group, playing at home, in front of their fans, and playing in a similar way to Barcelona”. In 2016 Karim scored a goal in the final of the 79th edition of the Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup in Zürich in a 2–0 victory of English club West Ham United and was awarded the Adidas Golden Ball as the competition's best player.

International career His delay in Karim making his full international debut centred around the striker's clash with the FA and his U-19 coach while he was with the Iraq youth side in Myanmar when Karim had been selected to play at the 2014 AFC U-19 Championship. In the second half of the group game against Qatar when his coach Rahim Hameed turned to bring the young forward on, but was told by his two assistants that Karim had left the bench and was sitting in the stands! The player insisted he had informed the two coaching assistants that he was not in the right state of mind to play and later claimed he was physically assaulted by the coach after the game for what was perceived as his obdurate stance. Karim had been waiting in the city of Erbil for a visa to fly to France for trials with several clubs when he was called up by the Iraq FA. Before the youth tournament the player had been told he would be suspended and his ITC clearance would not be released wrecking any move to Europe if he refused a call-up from the Iraq U-19s side. Karim swiftly made himself available and arrived a day before they departed.

On the eve of the final 2016 Olympic qualifying round in Doha in January 2016, Karim left the team after his club refused to allow him to take part.

Career statistics Scores and results list Iraq's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Karim goal.

+ List of international goals scored by Sherko KarimNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 29 March 2021 Milliy Stadium, Tashkent 1–0 1–0 Friendly

Honors Al-Shorta Iraqi Premier League: 2012–13 Iraqi Super Cup: 2019

Kuwait SC Kuwait Super Cup: 2022

Iraq Arabian Gulf Cup: 2023