Moroccan Fan’s Epic 15,000-km Road Trip to World Cup Semifinal in Qatar

In five months, the Moroccan traveler Ayoub Attoumi, 34, reaches Qatar, where he went to support the Atlas Lions who shone at the World Cup. Before leaving Rabat in mid-June, he prepared a Mercedes Vito in three months. After covering more than 15,000 km, the thirty-year-old arrives in Qatar on November 20, the day of the opening match of the World Cup between Qatar and Ecuador (0-2). His journey took him through 19 countries: Spain, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera, Ayoub explained that the idea of going to support Morocco in Qatar is an old one, that he had already done it during the World Cup in Russia 4 years ago, crossing Europe by motorcycle from Paris to Moscow to support the Atlas Lions. His vehicle serves as a means of transport during the day and a home during rest and night.

Ayoub says he is happy to have made this trip. "I don’t regret every meter I’ve covered and I’m very happy to have made this trip." He says he felt a very great and unexpected joy in supporting the Atlas Lions. The latter beat great football nations like Belgium, Spain and Portugal to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time. On Saturday, they lost the third-place match against Croatia (1-2).