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.”
