A former Iraqi soccer player has died from coronavirus in Baghdad.

Ahmed Radhi, 56, was one of Iraq's most famous soccer stars in the 1980s. He became the first Iraqi football player to score a goal in the World Cup in 1986 and was voted the Asian Footballer of the Year in 1988.

Radhi was admitted to a hospital in Baghdad on June 13 and died Sunday after testing positive for Covid-19, according to a statement from Iraq's Ministry of Youth and Sports media office.

On Saturday Iraq recorded 1,870 new coronavirus cases and 88 deaths, the highest daily tally recorded in the country since the pandemic began, according to the country's health ministry.

This brings the nationwide total cases to 29,222, and total deaths to 1,013.

The ministry said Friday that new alternative Covid-19 quarantine centers in Baghdad will be opened soon to handle the unprecedented daily spike in cases.(Text, excluding headline, courtesy CNN)