Football fans put village on map at World Cup

Two football fans said taking a flag celebrating their "tiny village" to the World Cup in Qatar had helped to put it "on the map".

Aaron Hacon and Lee Nash, from Worlingham in Suffolk, said carrying it around during the tournament confused fellow fans and TV media as they had never heard of the village, near Beccles.

They made sure it was on show when they watched England beat Wales 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Mr Hacon said it was "all a bit of fun".

Mr Nash said he travelled out to Doha on Sunday with his brother-in-law and was "super impressed with everything they have put on".

He said staying in one of the fan villages had been "absolutely fine", adding the "infrastructure is amazing".

The decision to host the tournament in the Gulf state has drawn widespread criticism.

Qatar's World Cup organisers insisted "everyone is welcome" and that no-one would be discriminated against.

Some fans including David Hancock, a sports travel agent from Essex, said he was boycotting the football World Cup for the first time in more than 30 years because of concerns about human rights in Qatar, attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people and allegations of corruption.

Mr Nash and Mr Hacon have so far watched two matches, including Belgium versus Morocco.

"We've taken the flag to all the matches and we've had lots of confused people saying, 'Where is Worlingham?'.

"We just wanted to get the flag picked up by the media to put our little village on the map."

He said their plan worked and they had been interviewed by Qatar and Brazilian TV crews during their trip.

"It's a tiny village of about 3,000 people, so it's incredible.

"When we posted it on Beccles Community UK Facebook page it was brilliant to see all the responses."

Mr Nash said seeing England qualify for the knock-out stages was "incredible".

"It made a great trip even better," he said.

"Fans were in great voice throughout and the team played so well.

"I felt like the crowd was 70% English, which probably helped, and it went crazy when Rashford scored the first goal."

The duo are due to fly home on Thursday and are already thinking of booking to see the next World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.

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