Ally McCoist lost one of his possessions in just "six hours" in Qatar at World Cup 2022

Ally McCoist lost one of his possessions in just "six hours" in Qatar at World Cup 2022
(Image credit: PA Images)

Ally McCoist has already lost his Qatari phone at World Cup 2022, just six hours after being given it.

The much-beloved pundit and commentator has been a highlight of ITV's coverage thus far, providing the channel with his famous sense of humour, bright outlook and historical one-liners during co-comm stints. 

On the subject of the Stadium 974 venue, commentator Jon Champion remarked how the ground is built out of 974 shipping containers that could be reused for the 2030 tournament should Uruguay win the rights to host the tournament. McCoist joked that he couldn't stop thinking about the containers floating around the Atlantic, when Champion mentioned the other reason for the stadium's name.

General view outside the stadium prior to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C match between Mexico and Poland at Stadium 974 on November 22, 2022 in Doha, Qatar.

Stadium 974 is built from shipping containers and named after the Qatari dialling code (Image credit: Maja Hitij - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

The dialling code for Qatar is in fact 974, too. In a perfect commentary segue, Champion then mentioned that McCoist hadn't had too much luck with Qatari phones during their stay in the Gulf state, having lost his recently.

"I can't believe you've shared that with everyone," McCoist laughed. It was then revealed that the clumsy McCoist had the phone within his possession for just six hours.  

"I hadn't even taken it out of the box," McCoist commented on the loss. "And that is a record for me."

"Search parties are still out there," Jon Champion added. You don't get that from every commentator, do you? That's why we all love McCoist. 

Portugal vs Ghana sees the return of Cristiano Ronald to his fifth World Cup, as the 37-year-old joins an exclusive club of players to appear at a World Cup while a free agent.

Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.