62-Year-Old Foosball Champion Targets 2028 World Cup Gold
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 17
62-Year-Old Foosball Champion Targets 2028 World Cup Gold
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 17
Summary
At 62, the Manchester-based player is training for the 2028 foosball World Cup, studying opponents, rehearsing patterns mentally and working to turn past near-misses into gold.
That push follows a career that began in war-torn Beirut in 1975, where he practised for free after striking a deal to clean arcade tables during Lebanon's civil war.
Team GB elevated him from local casino challenges to international play: he joined after beating UK No. 1 Khalid Sharif 10-0 and later competed at World Cups and world-series events.
His biggest results include 2018 world-series gold in Austria and 2019 World Cup silver in Spain, where Britain stunned 20-time champions the United States 40-0 before losing the final to Germany.
Foosball now sits alongside running his Lebanese restaurant in Manchester, with Friday team sessions and training from his son George as he chases one more title.