A Qatari Man Breaks Record For Attending The Most Matches At The World Cup Qatar
It’s been a few months since the World Cup Qatar and it was simply an amazing time. The energy was so vibrant and everyone loved it. It was one of the best World Cup tournaments in history.
Over 29 days, 64 matches were played across 8 stadiums.
The Guinness World Records recognised Qatari football fanatic Hamad Abdulaziz for attending 44 out of 64 matches
The Qatar2022 website stated, “Detailed planning helped the 39-year-old attend more matches than anyone else at a single FIFA World Cup™ tournament – and it’s a record unlikely to be broken in the future.”
Qatar hosted the most compact edition of the FIFA World Cup in history, with all 8 stadiums just an hour’s journey time from central Doha. This allowed Hamad to attend 3 matches a day during the early stages of the tournament, with three hours between each kick-off. The longest distance between stadiums was only 75km, and all stadiums were connected by regular metro and bus services.
Hamad, who grew up in Al Wakrah and works as a coach for the Generation Amazing Foundation, said, “Growing up, I dreamt of playing in the World Cup – and as the kick-off approached, I found a way of being part of the tournament’s success while showing how well everything was organized and how easy it was to get from one stadium to another.”
He contacted Guinness World Records ahead of the tournament to ensure he would meet their criteria
He needed two witnesses to certify he attended the entirety of every match, with the forms signed ahead of kick-off and at the final whistle. Despite some close calls and the challenge of getting fans of losing teams to attest to his attendance, Hamad was able to break the record with the help of his brother who drove him between matches.
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