From a health scare to 144 countries: How the 2022 World Cup inspired a global soccer journey

Over three-plus years and 11 long-term adventures, San Diego resident Joe Connor traveled the planet seeking to watch organized soccer in every country that he figured would end up qualifying for the World Cup.

He fell just one short. (It’s not hard to figure out which one.)

His mission never would have happened, though, if not for a blood clot.

The 54-year-old has attended hundreds of events featuring dozens of different sports across six continents. He has seen baseball and basketball, horse racing and cricket, golf and Gaelic football, even ice fishing.

In 2018-19 alone, over 675 consecutive days, he criss-crossed the U.S. and Canada to attend a game, match, race, duel, meet or tournament.

He dubs himself, “The GOAT of Sports Travel.”

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Connor’s first love was baseball, followed by college football and basketball. Boyhood was also consumed by hockey, which he played in Connecticut and watched with his father, a Hartford Whalers season ticket holder for a dozen years. Soccer was barely on his radar.

The moment Joe Connor fell in love with soccer

Then in late 2022, as he prepared to visit New Zealand for rugby and other sports, his cardiologist grounded him. He had developed a clot in his left leg.

“It’s the holidays, I’m at home and I’m thinking, ‘God, I was going to be on this vacation,’” he told Yahoo Sports last week. “I was kind of bummed out and I’m like, ‘Oh, the World Cup is on.’ I had never watched soccer on TV — ever. I played it for two years in high school and hated it. It was a lot of running and I wasn’t very good at it.”

Laid up at home, Conner gave soccer another chance.

“The nationalism and the intensity of the games, I was hooked, man,” he said. “It wasn’t just the U.S. games; it was everything about it.”

He began getting out of bed before sunrise to watch the tournament play out in Qatar, day after day for more than four weeks.

Three months later, his doctor cleared him to take a sightseeing trip to his last continent, Antarctica.

“That’s when I said to myself, ‘I’m going to [also] go to Brazil and Argentina and Chile and watch some soccer,” Connor said.

Thus began his quest to see the world’s game all over the world before it descended in its fantastical form across the U.S., Mexico and Canada this summer.

By the time he finished last month, Connor says he witnessed matches in 144 countries and territories.

“Soccer passed hockey as my fourth favorite sport,” he declared.

San Diego resident Joe Connor made it his mission to watch soccer in every country that qualified to the 2026 World Cup.

(Images courtesy Joe Connor, illustration by Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports)

Connor’s global quest to experience soccer culture

Ironically, he saw only three of the teams that will play in the World Cup this summer: Iran at the 2025 Central Asian Football Association Nations Cup in Tajikistan; Turkey in a World Cup qualifier vs. visiting Romania; and South Africa in a home qualifier vs. Lesotho.

Not surprisingly, Iran was the only World Cup-bound country he wasn’t able to enter. Multiple attempts to secure a visa failed, and when he was finally approved last June, war broke out.

In the countries and territories he did visit, he saw first-division pro matches, including Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund; amateur games; women’s matches; youth tournaments; and community competitions, such as the Yamle Yamle Cup in Zanzibar, a Tanzanian archipelago.

“It was a quarterfinal and the shootout went nine rounds,” he said of his island visit. “Fans stormed the pitch. Everyone is on the pitch. I’m going on the pitch.”

In Cape Verde, which has qualified for its first World Cup, he saw a league match, plus youth and over-35 games. In Curacao, another World Cup first-timer, he watched the Concacaf under-20 men’s tournament.

An Australian trip this past March facilitated a chance to see North Korea face China in the Women’s Asian Cup.

In Colombia, he got into the Cali Clásico between América and Deportivo. Unversed in the rivalry, he happened to wander into América’s supporters’ section. Fortunately, he was wearing a red shirt, the club’s primary color.

“I guess I was a good-luck charm,” he said, “so they lifted me up and gave me noogies.”

He has seen soccer in Guinea-Bissau and Gibraltar, Israel and Iraq, Botswana and Belarus, Luxembourg and Libya.

Before the World Cup came to North America, Joe Connor went looking for soccer everywhere else. (Photo courtesy Joe Connor)

He has even seen soccer in places governed by non-FIFA member associations: Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, Guernsey in the Channel Islands and Mo’orea in French Polynesia, among others.

There were harrowing moments, too.

In Ivory Coast, a driver threatened to beat him up if he didn’t pay for gas. Locals defended him before accommodating the combative driver.

In Cairo for the derby between Zamalek and Al-Ahly, he passed through three security checkpoints without incident but was stopped at a fourth because his name was not on an official list. Eventually, he was let into the stadium.

Connor is living a soccer fanatic’s dream, one that didn’t start until after he turned 50.

“I’d gone to soccer matches in the U.S., and I’d seen MLS matches, but it was more like I was in a city and there was something to do,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was a hardcore soccer fan.”

Watching the 2022 World Cup — from home, of all places — changed that.

The reality of long-term sports travel

So how did he afford not just the soccer adventures but the countless sports journeys over the years?

After all, it ain’t cheap to visit every country on Earth except six — Iran, North Korea, Ukraine, Niger, Chad and Sudan — as well as places that are barely on a map, such as Bougainville, which is seeking independence from Papua New Guinea.

A former freelance sports writer, Connor became a career coach, helping people adapt to the changing work environment. Supplemental income comes from investments and rental properties.

“I’m a single guy with no kids, no children,” he explained. “I’m not poor, but I’m not rich. I’m not staying at the Ritz-Carlton. I stay at local hotels, local Airbnbs, because, unless the country is not safe to walk around, I like to explore by foot. I like to embed myself in the community.”

He scores tickets through standard means, but also on the street, through local contacts and from teams.

Aside from the thrill of watching sports, why does he do it?

“My purpose is to inspire, motivate and educate people about the world through my travels,” said Connor, who shares photos and videos on his website and YouTube see page. “Even if I inspired three people or four people, it’s better than nothing. There are still a lot of scary places — don’t get me wrong — but the world’s not as crazy as our media makes it out to be. There is so much to see and experience.”

‘Don’t count the days; make the days count’

Two events helped push him toward a life of sports travel.

His father died young, at 57. Joe Connor III had introduced his son to sports, with trips to Whalers and Boston Red Sox games, among other events. Attending sports was a way to honor his father.

His mantra is a Mohammed Ali quote: “Don’t count the days; make the days count.”

The COVID pandemic also motivated him.

“I had done this big road trip before COVID, where I’d seen all these sporting events in the U.S. and Canada,” he said. “But when I got back, I thought, ‘I want to meet someone. I’m not getting younger.’ And then COVID happened. I lost family members and friends. It was a total recalculation. I realized that with the isolation that, no, I’m not ready for a relationship. I missed the travel.”

With the World Cup on the horizon, soccer became the vehicle for new adventures.

“There’s a curiosity when you travel,” he said. “I’ve always had the travel bug and the sports travel bug. What was different was this was soccer and getting hooked watching the games.”

One of his most vivid memories was visiting Djibouti, in East Africa.

“Kids are bare feet playing in the middle of the day all over the streets on cracked pavement with stray dogs running around,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many kids. Djibouti may never make the World Cup, but they make the World Cup of passion for the game. I was blown away. It’s not just about the matches; it’s the passion.”

A consumer of the four longtime U.S. leagues and NCAA sports, he soon came to realize soccer fandom is like nothing else.

“America’s a great sports culture and fans are passionate about their teams,” he said, “but honestly, it can’t compare to the passion I’ve seen in these other countries.”

Connor has never attended a U.S. national team match, men’s or women’s. And until ticket prices fall, he won’t consider buying World Cup tickets.

Then again, the tournament is not taking place abroad — where he discovered soccer’s heart and soul.

Reflecting on more than three years of soccer expeditions, Connor says, “I’m still processing everything. What stands out is, holy s***, I did all that.”

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