Kuwait at the 1982 World Cup
The story of the Gulf state's first and only World Cup appearance, with a camel as team mascot.
With the the Middle East's first football World Cup underway, we look back to when Kuwait made its first and only appearance at the World Cup in 1982. The amateur side put in respectable performances against France and England. But press attention focused on the Kuwaitis’ team mascot, a camel called Haydoo, who became such a fan favourite that he even inspired a hit song. Sumaya Bakhsh talked to Kuwait's captain at the tournament, Saad Al-Houti, about how Haydoo came to represent national pride for a team that had been dismissed by the foreign media as a bunch of camel-herders. This programme was first broadcast in 2021.
(Photo: Kuwait players celebrate during the 1982 World Cup. Credit: Getty Images)
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- Thu 24 Nov 2022 10:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Fri 25 Nov 2022 00:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except South Asia
- Fri 25 Nov 2022 03:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service South Asia
- Sat 26 Nov 2022 18:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Sun 27 Nov 2022 03:50GMTΒι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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