Mukalla, Yemen – A few weeks before this year’s World Cup began, Adel Mohsen’s backup battery failed and there was no money to replace it. This meant that regular power outages meant that there was no power to the home.
There was also a fuel shortage in his hometown of Mukalla in eastern Yemen, where he struggled to get enough fuel for his motorcycle, and his ability to travel outdoors and watch matches was restricted.
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Adele is annoyed. The 56-year-old soccer enthusiast has watched every World Cup since 1982, despite war, economic collapse and political turmoil. But this year, he cannot escape the reality that more than a decade of war and economic hardship has brought to Yemen.
“I think this is the worst World Cup,” Adel told Al Jazeera, sitting on a wooden bench staring at the giant public screen at his local stadium. “I might miss a lot of games because of the power outage.”
Despite paying for a subscription to a local TV service showing the match, Adel couldn’t find the $200 needed for a spare battery at home, nor could she afford the internet voucher she needed to stream the match on her mobile phone.
Therefore, a local stadium was the best option for the 2026 World Cup.
Just before the opening match between South Africa and Mexico, the sound of generators filled the air and projectors flickered on and off minutes before kickoff.
The courtyard was dark and the floor was paved with worn stone slabs. Two men sat, their backs against cement blocks, chewing on khat, a stimulant leaf widely consumed in Yemen. A few other people were lounging on a raised platform, chewing while scrolling through their mobile phones. The heat and humidity were intense. Everyone was sweating.
Adele immediately went into World Cup mode.
“The Mexicans will keep attacking until they score a goal,” he said, glancing at his old cell phone and reviewing notes he would later use for analysis on local TV and social media.
His prediction soon came true, and Mexico scored the first goal. “I’m now looking at the game through the eyes of an analyst and not just as a fan,” he explained. “As you can see, neither team is very popular, so there are very few spectators here. Matches between big teams, such as Brazilian or Arab teams, usually draw much more fans.”
In 1982, the FIFA World Cup was held in Spain. This was only a few years after television first reached Mukalla and other cities in the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY), commonly known as South Yemen.
Adele was 12 years old at the time and remembers clearly where she and other fans gathered to watch the match.
“It was like my first love etched into my memory,” he said with a smile. “I was only a child at the time, but I still remember the names of the players and the stadium where the match took place. Brazil had one of the great generations, with stars like Zico, Falcao and Eder. They put in a great performance. The tournament was marked by the rough play of the Italian defenders, especially (Claudio) Gentile, whose violent tactics went unpunished.”
Adele found herself glued to the television with her father and brothers, watching the tournament together.
“The atmosphere at the games was family-like. We loved the sport,” he said. “People who didn’t have televisions gathered at their neighbors’ houses and watched together.”
At the time, matches were recorded in South Yemen’s capital Aden and sent on tape by bus to a TV station in Mukalla, where local fans watched the match the next day. “It was the first time they had experienced the tournament on TV, so they were very impressed and enjoyed the match as if it were being broadcast live.”
In January 1986, infighting broke out in Aden between rival factions of the ruling Socialist Party, leaving thousands of people dead and injured. Months later, as the war calmed down and the defeated soldiers fled to North Yemen, the victors consolidated their control over the country. In the same year, the World Cup was held in Mexico.
Adele was 16 years old, in the same room at her parents’ house, glued to the same TV. “Since I was in middle school, I watched the games with a deeper understanding of the game rather than just as a spectator,” he recalled. “That tournament belonged to (Diego) Maradona.”
By 1990, when North and South Yemen were unified, Mohsen was a 20-year-old soccer player playing for local clubs as an amateur. They watched the World Cup in Italy to study tactics and skills, which they then reproduced during training sessions and matches in Sanaa, Aden, Hodeidah and Taiz.
However, the honeymoon of unity did not last long. When civil war broke out in 1994 and the World Cup began in the United States, fear of fighting spread across Yemeni cities.
“That was the worst World Cup I’ve ever watched,” he said. “This was the most difficult tournament because people were worried about the war and its aftermath. Security was unstable and frequent power outages made it even more difficult to follow the games. I watched one game and sometimes missed three.”
look to adversity
As Adele grew older, she returned to her role as a spectator at matches rather than as a player.
Yemen also experienced a less turbulent period after the 1994 civil war, in which then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the main northern forces won a victory. It was relatively stable after that, with tournaments in 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010 being easy to watch for Adele.
However, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil arrived just as Yemen was becoming increasingly unstable. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) stepped up its attacks, while the Houthi rebels expanded beyond their strongholds in the north. “The country was facing a new political and economic crisis,” Adel said.
Mukalla has largely avoided fighting in the city over the ensuing 12 years of war, with a few exceptions, including a conflict in late 2025 between the internationally recognized government and the separatist Southern Transitional Council.
Adele’s inability to watch the sport she loves is often due to financial issues or lack of services.
But despite power outages, mounting economic pressures and criticism from those who see sport as a luxury in a country hit by crisis, Adele remains determined to carry on with the ritual that has sustained her for more than 40 years.
“I see sports as a relief from suffering,” he said, sitting on a wooden bench as the light from a giant screen illuminated his sweaty face. “People ask why we talk about football when there are so many problems. What do they want us to do? Kill yourself. Sport gives us a temporary escape from all the hardships around us.”
And Adele predicts this year’s winner will be France.
