Unsold beer meant for World Cup will be sent to winning country, says Budweiser

Just two days before the World Cup was about to start, host country Qatar banned beer from its stadiums.

World Cup fans with a passion for beer may have something to cheer about yet — provided their team comes out on top.

Just two days before the FIFA World Cup kicked off, host country Qatar banned alcohol from the eight stadiums hosting matches. The decision wasn’t the most popular among the visiting fans, to say the least. It also left Budweiser with a mountain of beer and no fans to buy it.

It didn’t take long for the beer maker to come up with a solution — Budweiser tweeted on Saturday that it will ship off the cases of beer that were meant to be sold during the tournament to whichever country wins the World Cup.

Alongside a photo showing a warehouse filled with Budweiser beer, the brand wrote “New Day, New Tweet. Winning Country gets the Buds.”

The parent company of Budweiser, Anheuser-Busch InBev, said that it plans to bring the “celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans,” in a statement.

“We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals,” the spokesperson said. The World Cup tournament ends on Dec. 18.

Qatar, a conservative Muslim country that tightly regulates alcohol, had first planned to allow the sale of beer during the World Cup. Stadiums were going to be permitted to sell beer three hours before kickoff and ending one hour after the whistle.