Qatar World Cup: Beer-hunting England fans stumble upon 'sheikh's' cub lions
Sometimes the quest for World Cup beers can end up in unexpected places.
A group of England fans in Qatar, on a "bit of a hunt for some beers", say they ended up meeting the son of a Qatari "sheikh", who drove them in a Toyota Land Cruiser to his home, where the fans got to pet a lion and meet a collection of exotic birds and monkeys.
In a video posted by the TikTok account @jsftbl123, which appears to belong to someone called Alex Sullivan, two England fans speaking in Merseyside accents sing the praises of the World Cup in Qatar, before recounting their night of adventure.
"Last night we met one of the sheikh's sons and he took us back to the palace and he showed us he had lions and everything," says one of the fans, named John, in an interview with TalkSport.
"They've made us so welcome. And look around you: it doesn't get any better than this."
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Another fan, wearing an England shirt emblazoned with an Everton FC logo, tells the story of how they were picked up by the "sheikh's" son.
"Basically we were on a bit of a hunt for some beers and he was like, 'we sort beers we sort beers'. So we jumped into the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser and ended up at a big palace and we were in the back and he showed us his monkeys, his exotic birds, it was nuts."
The TikTok video seems to show footage of the night itself. One of the fans is filming himself at the "sheikh's palace", where the England boys are having a "naughty one with Nawaf and Abdul Aziz", having struck out on a "beer mission to get beers back the gaff".
The fan, wearing an Everton shirt, show us the Land Cruiser and the house, before filming himself petting a lion on a lead. "Fucking mad," he says, as he kisses and cuddles the lion.
Another video of the same night shows the inside of the house with the Everton fan's dad and his mate John hanging out with two Qatari men, proving that English fans abroad will always seek out cultural exchange in the name of banter and social media content.
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