The Iraq Football Association (IFA) and the Iraqi Government are said to have agreed with the Costa Rican Football Federation (FEDEFUT) over non-stamping of their passports, suggesting it was to avoid any immigration issues when travelling to other nations.

"The match against Iraq was suspended," said FEDEFUT in a statement.

"An agreement that was made with the non-stamping of passports was not respected and for this reason it was decided not to enter Iraq and cancel the match."

Local authorities did not recognise this special permission, so the team returned to Kuwait, where they have been training prior to the World Cup.

According to the Iraqi News Agency, the team were accompanied on a private plane by the Governor of Basra Asaad Al-Aidani and IFA head Adnan Darjal.

Reports say over 35,000 tickets were sold for the match, which was to be Iraq's first home match since defeating Zambia 3-1 in Baghdad in March.

The Iraqi national team were split in two and played a match against each other to give the fans a match to watch, replacing the absent Costa Rica squad.

It was Costa Rica's final scheduled fixture prior to the World Cup, having defeated Nigeria 2-0 last week.

They are set to play Spain, Japan and Germany in Group E at the tournament, beginning on Wednesday (November 23).