FIFA didn’t offer GBH News media credentials for the World Cup. We went anyway.

Henrik Wangberg had traveled a long way to see Norway play Iraq at Boston Stadium.

Wangberg, who is Norwegian, had to make the trip to see his country play in the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

He paid around $3,000 for the journey. And he says it was worth it. “At least if Norway’s winning, yeah?” he said.

Wangberg got just about every cent’s worth, as Norway beat Iraq 4-1 on Tuesday.

GBH News also got a return on the $400 it shelled out for the game. It unexpectedly afforded a view of the game you can’t get from the press box.

About four months ago, we put in a credential application to cover the World Cup games in Boston. As an outlet that’s covered a Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the World Series and other major sporting events, we felt like we had a pretty good chance of being approved.

A week before the first game of the tournament in Mexico, FIFA finally got back to us with an answer: Too many requests, limited capacity, no credentials.

So, with limited time left, we paid for the cheapest remaining tickets — $400 — to see with our own eyes why fans from across the country and halfway around the world were making big sacrifices to make the trip to Foxborough.

Being a credentialed member of the press comes with massive privileges. It gives access most fans could only dream of.

But it also puts you in a press box where you’re mostly sequestered away in a press box. Unable to feel a game the way something like the World Cup requires. To hear the mix of Norwegian and Arabic and English and Spanish in the stands, with probably a few other languages to boot. The thrill of watching some of the world’s best players. The pride on display even in defeat.

And after seeing it first-hand, it was worth the price of admission.

Brothers Sebastian and Simon Halabo traveled from Michigan to cheer on the Lions of Mesopotamia. They wore matching green Iraq kits and scarves of the country’s flag.

Esteban Bustillos GBH News

It was the first time since 1986 that Iraq was playing in the World Cup. A lot has happened to the country since then.

“You know, our parents always talk about the homeland,” Sebastian said. “A lot of, over the past decade, two decades, nothing but sadness and terror and hardships. So, finally something to smile about.”

If Iraq fans weren’t waving their red, white, black and green flag, they were often wearing it. Some banged on drums.

Anthony Abdulnoor also made the trip from Michigan, which he said was the same as a lot of Iraq fans. He called it a surreal experience to see Iraq in the World Cup.

“I’m a first-generation American, I was born here,” he said. “But it’s just the culture, the community of people. I mean, you can hear it in the background. People are celebrating. We come from many, many different religions here in Iraq. There’s Catholics, there’s Muslims. There’s all types of different religions. And we all come together to support one team.”

Norway’s fans were a sea of red kits with blue crosses on them. You couldn’t go a few feet without hearing one of their chants. Or seeing someone with a Viking helmet. Their synchronized rowing war cry could capsize even the sturdiest shell at the Head of the Charles.

Dustin Schimmoeller and his son, Keaton, aren’t Norwegian. But they were sporting Norway’s colors for one simple reason: “My son’s favorite player plays for Norway,” Dustin said.

That would be Erling Haaland, the golden-haired great white shark of a striker who hit two goals in the first-half and had Iraqi defenders hearing footsteps.

Still, despite Norway’s firepower, Iraq was in the game for a good chunk of the first half. And even though they lost, their lone goal from Aymen Hussein created a special moment in the stadium.

“Probably, as I’ve said publicly before, most of the world wouldn’t know that in Iraq, 46 million people are obsessed with football. It’s the only major sport and it’s huge,” said Iraq head coach Graham Arnold. “So, to qualify then for the first time in 40 years changed the country, it really has.”

He noted how many Iraqis were in the stands. And how he was surprised at how many Norwegians there were.

“I thought we would have outnumbered them with the Iraqis,” Arnold quipped. “But what a stadium. What a great experience playing here today.”