Doha: Ossy Marwah, Ben Black, Mercedes Roa, Gabi Martins and Ruben Slot had never crossed paths with each other before Qatar 2022. However, by the end of the tournament, the five social media stars created a bond that would last a lifetime. The quintet took part in Every Beautiful Game – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be in the stands for all 64 matches at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™.
Organised by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the experience enabled the group of five to take advantage of the tournament’s compact nature and attend every single match in the tournament. This included, at some point, attending 4 matches per day, for 11 days straight.
Ben Black, with more than 5m Tik Tok followers said: “One day, it was like this is the easiest challenge ever, and then the next day you're just falling asleep in the van, and you know you still have two games to go, and you're falling asleep, but now that it’s over, I can proudly say - we did it!”
“We literally never even knew of each other before the challenge and then we spent every single day with each other. We kept making jokes - oh by the end of this, we're going to hate each other, but I just love them all, each and every single one of them.”
For Gabi Martins, who flew to Qatar from Brazil to take part in the challenge, the experience presented her with an important opportunity to showcase the region’s culture to her followers in South America.
“I remember coming out of Al Thumama Stadium one day, when we were greeted by locals offering us fruits, dates and Arabic coffee. I shared that video on Tik Tok, and I received so many comments from around the world thanking me for sharing this part of Arab culture.”
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ was held over 29 days at 8 state-of-the-art stadiums, with the farthest distance between two stadiums no more than 75kms. The compact nature of Qatar 2022 allowed fans and players alike to remain in one place of accommodation throughout the tournament, creating a true carnival experience.
“This has been the best month of my life. Being able to go to all the stadiums. Nobody will do this again and nobody has done it before. Being able to go to 64 matches - it was really exhausting,” said Ruben Slot from the Netherlands.
YouTuber Ossy, who has more than 5.7m subscribers, said: “It was unbelievable. The football was unbelievable. We made history. The group is unbelievable. Everyone's so amazing in their own ways and everyone worked together so well.”
Mercedes, who has 7.8m TikTok followers, spoke of the unifying nature of the beautiful game: “Thank you for everyone supporting us. I think what made everything so special were the people that were around us and I don't know where you were following from, but it doesn't matter, we're all one.”
Source: SC
