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Rabat – “26 celebrities in 26 different countries in 26 days.” This is the crazy challenge set by Moroccan supporter Saad Abid to promote Morocco’s 2026 World Cup Bid.
For his challenge, called #Maymkench2026 (Impossible), Abid is traveling with a balloon half deflated–representing “Moroccans’ state of mind”–and hopes to inflate it with the breath of the personalities he will meet.
After meeting the Cameroonian icon and ambassador of Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid, Samuel Eto’o, last week in Turkey, the football fan flew to Barcelona to have a very special meeting with superstar Barcelona player, Andrès Iniesta.
“I just realized the dream of meeting Andrés Iniesta, one of the most respected players on the planet,” wrote Abid on his Facebook page, adding that he needs the public’s support “because it will not be easy to travel to 26 countries in 26 days to meet 26 celebrities.”
“My goal is not only to promote our country internationally but also to generate support among the people,” he added.
Abid shared a video of his journey on his Facebook account where he explained his challenge and showed his meeting with Samuel Eto’o and Andrès Iniesta, who accepted the challenge to “breathe” into the balloon representing Morocco’s 2026 World Cup bid.
“Morocco is a big country, and more is close to mine. Unfortunately, I have not visited much but I intend to take the time for that,” said Iniesta.
Through this promotional campaign, Abid hopes to rally international opinion around Morocco in order to give more weight to the candidacy.
Samuel Eto’o was the one who set up Abid’s meeting with Andrés Iniesta. The sports activist was also supposed to meet Lionel Messi, but the legend was held up in a meeting.
Later on, Eto’o called Abidto inform him that he could meet Messi the following day. To be continued then!
Supportive statements backing Morocco 2026 continue to pour in, as only forty days remain until the 68th FIFA Congress, where international football federations will cast their votes for the 2026 World Cup host on June 13.
