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The World Cup always breeds unbridled excitement in everyone with an interest of football, prompting grown adults to collect stickers or put up wall charts.

But of all the nerdy pursuits in anticipation of the tournament in Russia, it is difficult to top the efforts of Gus Hully, a Cheltenham Town fan who has collected a beer for every competing country.

That's 32 different beers, from hosts Russia and tournament favourites Germany, Brazil and Spain, to far flung countries such as Panama, Senegal and Uruguay, and nations like Iran and Saudi Arabia, where boozing is illegal.

Gus's combined love of beer and football has seen him traipse all across London, down to Surrey, and even to Paris and Barcelona in order to get his hands on a brew for each country, setting him back around £500 and forcing him to travel thousands of miles, with the beers travelling even further.

He called in favours from a network of well-travelled friends, who transported beer back home from Central America and North Africa, and even reached out to helpful strangers through social media to get him over the line.

(Image: Richard Martin)

(Image: Richard Martin)

But as he proudly grins at the impressive array of bottles and cans lined up in his kitchen in Tufnell Park, north London, arranged according to the groups teams have been drawn in, he has no regrets.

"My friends and family think it's a little bit foolish, they think it's a waste of money, but it's the World Cup, it's beer, you've got to get excited," Gus tells Mirror Football .

A music industry analyst and self-confessed football hipster, Gus has been planning for the World Cup of beers since 2014 after purchasing 23 ales for the last tournament in Brazil, originally getting the idea from an article about a fellow fan collecting beers for the 2010 edition in South Africa.

His objective to get a beer for all 32 teams this time meant he had a close eye on the qualification process for Russia.

"Everybody wants to see the Netherlands, Italy and the USA to qualify, not just for the quality of football but for the beer. When a team like Panama qualify you think that's going to be tricky," he says.

Gus, 31, solved that particular conundrum thanks to a friend who was backpacking through Central America who brought him back a can of Panama Lager and a bottle of Imperial from Costa Rica.

Another pal who was on a stag do in Egypt came back clutching a bottle of Sakara Gold so that Gus had a beer for Mohamed Salah's side.

The search for a tipple from Sadio Mane's Senegal prompted him to get on the Eurostar and head to Paris to the neighbourhood known as Little Africa, while the need for Uruguayan lager took him to Barcelona, the adopted home of Luis Suarez to procure a bottle of Patricia.

The jewel in the crown of his hoppy collection, however, is the Hillsburg Regular from Saudi Arabia.

Gus sent out a hopeful appeal for help on Twitter which was shared by a social media savvy friend with a hefty 50,000 followers.

(Image: Richard Martin) (Image: Richard Martin) (Image: Richard Martin)

"It gets seen by a Libyan guy in Misurata and he said they get Saudi non-alcoholic beer all the time and he could send me some bottles if I wanted," he explains.

"Of course I said yes, even though the shipping costs were £50. I had to pay him through his sister who lives in Germany. I spent 14 days looking at the DHL website seeing the package go through Libya, the UAE, Dubai, Frankfurt and finally London before it got delivered to my house while I was at work.

"My girlfriend signed for it and sent me a picture and I couldn't wait to get home. I rushed home and opened the package and there they all are in all their glory."

And what does Gus plan to do with all these beers?

"The general plan is that as soon as a country gets knocked out of the World Cup I'm allowed to drink them, so I'm hoping lots of good beers get knocked out quickly so I'm able to get started on them."

The second week of the tournament, when two groups are decided per night and with up to four teams exiting the tournament, could make for some heavy hangovers.

But which beer does he think he will be drinking last?

"I'm going for the Krombacher from Germany, a great football team, and a great beer."

Whoever triumphs in Russia, all beer drinkers watching the World Cup can raise their glass to Gus and his magnificently geeky pursuit.