The World Cup 2018 continued to reveal some of the world’s most considerate fans yesterday as Panama supporters stayed behind to tidy up the stadium following their 6-1 loss to England.
I’d be surprised if you were anywhere in England yesterday and managed to not hear the roars of celebration and continual chanting of ‘football’s coming home’ throughout the England v Panama game, but while England fans left the stadium to most likely get very drunk, some Panama fans stayed at the site of their disappointment and did some tidying up.
The thoughtful actions of the Panama fans were caught on camera and shared on social media.
Watch them here:
People were thrilled to see the work of the Panama fans and gave them the recognition they deserved. One viewer even claimed that, while they were defeated by England, their actions let them ‘win’ at the World Cup.
Impressed viewers wrote:
awwwww that’s great.. this is the symbol of great nation.. impressive hats off guys
Such lovely people even tho they lost they helped clean up
If you show up with the right attitude you still win when your team looses [sic] by five goals.
Another football fan gave in to their soft side when seeing the footage and admitted that the Panama fans were good guys, but stayed true to home when it came to their football team, writing:
Okay okay, I’ll concede. I can like your fans, but that doesn’t mean I have to like your team. Fair enough?
Panama wasn’t the only country with stadium-cleaning fans however, as both Senegal and Japanese fans stayed behind after their country’s games to help clean up the litter.
Senegal fans took on the job after their team had just beaten Poland 2-1, staying behind to clean up rather than heading off in a celebratory rampage:
Japanese fans did the same after their 2-1 win over Colombia during the tournament, proving that win or lose, you can always lend a hand in cleaning up:
Other fans like to occasionally keep things dirty, just as Iran’s fans did ahead of their game against Portugal tonight.
A large group of Iran fans gathered outside the Portugal team’s hotel last night (June 24) in an attempt to keep the team from getting any sleep before they take on Iran tonight.
The determined fans came prepared with trumpets, drums and vuvuzelas to increase their volume as they chanted their way through the night.
The group appeared to have some success in causing disruption, as Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo came to his bedroom window and asked the lively fans to quiet down as he was trying to sleep.
You can see him here:
Unfortunately Ronaldo’s efforts seemed to encourage the fans, and they carried on making noise into the early hours of Monday morning.
We’ll see tonight if the Iranian fans’ plan to disturb Portugal has taken its toll – maybe they’ll stay behind to clean up the stadium afterwards to make up for their dirty play.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.