[4] On 23 February 2022, an all-star line-up of international football legends including Brazil's Roberto Carlos and Barcelona striker Patrick Kluivert participated in a historic exhibition match at Franso Hariri stadium against Iraqi national team stars who won the 2007 AFC Asian Cup including Noor Sabri, Mahdi Karim and Ahmed Mnajed.

[5][6] Due to the relatively stability of the region, Iraqi authorities has long used the stadium in order to attempt to remove the ban imposed on Iraq by FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation on hosting matches.

[7] On 23 July 2011, Iraq played a FIFA World Cup qualifier on home ground for the first time since 2001, defeating Yemen 2–0 at Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil.

However, FIFA re-imposed the ban on 23 September 2011 due a breach of safety regulations in the qualifying match with Jordan, in which the stadium was left with without power for over 20 minutes and fans were able to access the pitch.

The ban was partially lifted in 2018, and Franso Harriri hosted the Arab club championship match between Al-Naft and Tunisian side.