A obstacle with an Iran visa prevented Carlos Brum, Portugal’s top fan, from travelling to Qatar in his Mercedes Sprinter. This forced the five-time FIFA World Cup veteran to turn around and return to Athens, Greece, where he looked into other options.
Iran Visa Roadblock on Portuguese Fan’s Road Trip to Qatar’s 2022 FIFA World Cup
The colourful and well-known football fan left Portugal on September 20 with two other people, intending to be in Qatar at the end of the previous month. However, after nervously waiting for more than two weeks in Armenia for his Iranian visa, Brum was forced to cancel his road trip to Qatar.
The 64-year-old, known as “the Azorean,” had hoped to be in Qatar to support the Portuguese national team. He has previously travelled all over the world to support Selecao das Quinas.
He has attended five World Cups, three of which he did while travelling with his caravan—from Portugal to Germany in 2006, then to South Africa in 2010, and then to Russia for the most recent World Cup.
He also travelled by plane to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup and the first World Cup to be staged in Asia in 2002.
The exceptional global travel record of the Portuguese national speaks for itself. has visited 187 nations thus far, which is a record. In 1977, when he was 19 years old, he set off on his first trip, beginning in Africa and ending in the Americas.
Carlos was saddened and inconsolable after learning that his application for a visa had been denied, which basically put a stop to his road journey to Qatar. His passport had allowed him to go through Iran, Oman, and Saudi Arabia before arriving in Qatar.
For his amazing voyage to Qatar, which started in Portugal and passed through 16 nations, there were still over 4500 kilometres to go.
On November 17 or 18, Carlos is anticipated to go for Qatar, leaving his caravan parked at a friend’s house in Athens.
Santiago Sanchez Cogedor, a Spanish tourist and football enthusiast, is rumoured to have been detained in Iran after setting out to walk from Madrid to Qatar to see the FIFA World Cup 2022.
When visiting the burial of Mahsa Amini, 22, who passed away in custody on September 16 after being detained for reportedly wearing the hijab inappropriately, Sanchez, who vanished four weeks ago after entering Iran, was also detained along with his interpreter.
On the opposite end of the age range, Werder Bremen’s Niclas Fuellkrug, 29, is a sentimental favourite who has regularly led the Bundesliga scoring charts this season.
A conventional, broad-shouldered number nine, the gifted Fuellkrug has had a career marred by injuries and has never been chosen for Germany.
Flick acknowledged Fuellkrug’s performance when he said, “we can see that Niclas has qualities that can improve our game,” days before making his final decision.
Karim Adeyemi of Dortmund and Lukas Nmecha of Wolfsburg are two further forward candidates who have both represented Germany in the past.