World Cup 2022: The sisters who sacrificed house deposit to watch Wales in Qatar

  • Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Lauren McNie said there was 'no way' the pair would miss seeing Wales at the World Cup after waiting their 'whole lives' for it

A football fan from south Wales put buying a house on the back-burner to use the money to take her and her sister to Qatar for the World Cup instead.

Lauren McNie told ITV1's Good Morning Britain that she had decided to spend some of the money she saved for a deposit on a property to travel to the Middle East.

Siblings Lauren and Kerrin are avid Wales supporters and have followed the team to countless away games for decades.

Wales' World Cup journey got off to a positive start following a 1-1 draw with the USA Credit: PA

So when Rob Page's side qualified, the decision for Lauren to spend some her hard-earned cash on the trip of a lifetime was a simple one.

Speaking from Doha, she said: "I had the deposit saved up but then when we qualified, I just sort of diverted some of the money I had saved towards the trip.

"I can take another couple of years and save up a bit more and get a house then when the time's right and I've seen my country at the World Cup."

Kerrin was not shocked by her sister's decision and said she always "assumed" that would be what happened.

She said while laughing: "I would expect nothing less, I didn't think it would be an issue.

"I assumed that was how it was going to go. We knew that we were going to come out here."

Lauren added: "We've waited for this our whole lives so there was no way we were going to miss it."

The pair were in the stadium for Wales' first match against the USA and said they are loving the experience so far.

"It's been incredible," Kerrin said.

  • Lauren and Kerrin documented their journey from Cardiff Airport to Doha

"It's been quite surreal at times but yeah, we're enjoying every minute of it so far."

Kerrin is confident Wales can come away from the next two games of the group stage with six points. She acknowledged the side needed to "step up" from the first half of their opening match but added that "the fight the boys showed in the second half" would help them to success going forward.

Wales face Iran on Friday 25 November before taking on England on Tuesday 29th.

Speaking about that home nations clash, Lauren said she was filled with nerves.

"I think the atmosphere is going to be very different there," she said.

"That's the one I'm more nervous about. The Iran one I'm pretty confident about but the England game - that's going to be the big one."

More optimistic than her sibling, Kerrin proclaimed: "2 - 1 Wales!"

Wales vs England kicks off at 7pm on the 29 November, while Wales' next match against Iran starts at 10am on Friday 25.