Rabat – Saad Abid has done it. The Moroccan Youtube sensation, who challenged himself to meet 26 celebrities in 26 countries in 26 days to support Morocco’s 2026 World Cup Bid, has finally secured the support of soccer legend Lionel Messi.
Abid is asking 26 soccer celebrities to inflate a balloon, symbolically inflating the hopes of Moroccans to host the 2026 World Cup.
In the previous episode where he flew to Barcelona for a very special meeting with the superstar Barcelona player, Abid was prevented from seeing Messi, who was held up in another interview. Eto’o,who arranged Abid’s interview with Iniesta,called to say Abid could meet Messi the following day.
On the third day of his #Maymkench2026 (I can’t) challenge, Abid was anxious to meet the Argentinian football superstar. The ambitious fan released a video on his social media as he prepared to meet Messi and request his “breath” for Morocco.
“Before going in, I really want to thank you, Eto’o. You are the one who made this challenge possible from the beginning. Thank you so much,” said the supporter.
After waiting for 3 hours, Abid finally met his idol who signed the inflated balloon and nominated two footballer players for the next step of the challenge: Nouha Dicko and Lucas Hernandez.
Saad Abid took the opportunity to convince other FC Barcelona players to sign the balloon, such as Samuel Utiti and Nélson Semedo, who said “Morocco is a great country,” and sent his regards to the Moroccan people.
Supportive statements backing Morocco 2026 continue to pour in, as thirty-four days remain until the 68th FIFA Congress, when international football federations will cast their votes for the 2026 World Cup host on June 13.
Saad Abid, a fervent defender of the environment, has pledged to calculate all the CO2 emissions generated by his travels in order to plant the number of trees that will cancel out his carbon footprint.
Abid will recruit several young Moroccans to join him in his ecological approach raise awareness of sustainable development. And of course, Abid will produce a new video each day, recounting his adventures around the world.
