← Back to News
Meet the England fan who collected beer from every World Cup nation
WC 2026
B
BBC Sport·4 days ago

Meet the England fan who collected beer from every World Cup nation

Image caption, Gus Hully has completed his personal World Cup mission

Image source, Gus Hully Image caption, Gus Hully has completed his personal World Cup mission

The Fifa World Cup is an event that lends itself to memorabilia.

From Panini stickers to iconic shirts and everything in between, if fans can buy it, they'll collect it.

But Gus Hully thought he'd take things up a level.

The London-based music industry analyst has managed to source one beer from each of the 48 nations competing at this summer's World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Gus - inspired by another beer enthusiast's unsuccessful attempt to collect every beer at World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 - is no rookie.

After a failed attempt for World Cup 2014, the Cheltenham Town fan has bought a beer for every participating nation at every men's and women's major international tournament since Euro 2016, as well as the 2022 and 2024 editions of the Eurovision Song Contest.

"It took a lot of time and effort to pull all of this together," Gus told BBC Sport of the challenge posed by an expanded 48-team World Cup.

Image source, Gus Hully Gus started researching this year's collection in early 2025 when Uzbekistan emerged as a frontrunner in the AFC Asian qualifiers.

From that point on he was constantly checking results and tables to monitor the progress of nations with difficult to source beers.

After ticking off the easier countries, Gus used every contact he had to complete the set.

For some, like Panama, he got lucky. He was on holiday in Florida and found a beer by Panamanian craft brewery Casa Bruja.

"Iraq was a headache to figure out, but I ended up spending £30 to buy a bottle off a guy in Poland who went to Iraq a few years ago and brought a bottle back as a souvenir," said Gus.

"For countries where people don't drink, like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, I got non-alcoholic malt beverages which are as close to beer as you can get over there considering they're brewed with barley malt."

The Iranian community in Finchley, north London, helped Gus out, but Qatar proved trickier.

"I had to trade some rare English beers with a bloke from Finland for a can of Fizzin from Qatar, and I traded a Panamanian beer with another collector for a bottle of Moussy from Saudi Arabia," explained Gus.

There are even beers from countries that didn't qualify like Costa Rica and Guatemala, bought when the opportunity arose just to be on the safe side.

With friends bringing him beers back from Curacao, Jordan and Algeria - the latter found in a shop in northern Paris - Gus says half of his collection was sourced overseas.

A non-alcoholic pineapple flavoured malt drink from Iraq was the final beer to arrive, just two weeks ago.

After spending about £250 on the 48-beer haul, will Gus be savouring or saving his collection?

"I'll be drinking each beer once that team has been eliminated from the competition, basically as a toast to their participation and failure at winning the tournament," he said.

Like many England fans, Gus won't be travelling to the most expensive World Cup in history.

"I would love to have gone to some games," he said. "But the costs of flights, hotels and matches were too much of a deterrent for me."

Gus said this will probably be his last World Cup challenge as sourcing 48 beers has been "too much hassle" - but he may give Euro 2028 a go.

"That's only 24 teams so it's much easier to collect. Well, unless Andorra or San Marino qualify, then I wouldn't mind a couple of jaunts to countries I've never visited before."

Everything you need to know about the World Cup

Sources: BBC Sport

Related Articles

Top 100 Players In The 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ranked
Players

Top 100 Players In The 2026 FIFA World Cup, Ranked

The best players in the world will be on display this summer at the 2026 World Cup . So, let’s rank them.

F
Fox Sports·about 1 month ago
Why Pulisic is ready to take USA to next level  - Giroud
WC 2026

Why Pulisic is ready to take USA to next level - Giroud

Published 7 minutes ago It feels a little strange to be watching this World Cup from a TV studio, and not being involved on the pitch.

B
BBC Sport·about 13 hours ago
Andersson: Svensson changed the way Sweden played
History

Andersson: Svensson changed the way Sweden played

Sweden wowed the world by finishing third at USA 1994

F
FIFA Official·about 13 hours ago
A lot has changed since Brazil met Morocco in 1998
WC 2026

A lot has changed since Brazil met Morocco in 1998

Morocco, semi-finalists in Qatar in 2022, set to continue their ascent on the global stage

F
FIFA Official·about 13 hours ago
World Cup 2026: USA light up LA; England’s boots stolen; Scotland’s big return – live
Players

World Cup 2026: USA light up LA; England’s boots stolen; Scotland’s big return – live

⚽️ Latest news and discussion as tournament continues ⚽️ USA 4-1 Paraguay | Scotland become faithfuls or traitors ⚽️ Player guide | Bracketology | Wallchart | Mail Will If you prefer your football coverage in podcast form – don’t worry, I won’t be of

T
The Guardian·about 13 hours ago
‘I thought – gosh, he’s going to be some player’: the making of England’s Declan Rice
Players

‘I thought – gosh, he’s going to be some player’: the making of England’s Declan Rice

Rejected by Chelsea, honed by West Ham and a league winner at Arsenal, the midfielder has plenty from his footballing journey wishing him well at the World Cup Three years ago Declan Rice was the star guest at a Soho House event about the power of ef

T
The Guardian·about 13 hours ago