Meet Andy Milne, British World Cup superfan whose house is on sale to fund his FIFA travel plans

British World Cup superfan Andy Milne, who made it to his 10th tournament, is making headlines after reports emerged that he sold his house to pay for travel to the US to attend the highly anticipated FIFA tournament. The 63-year-old clarified to People that the house has not been sold yet but is on the market to finance his future travel plans.

Speaking with People on the viral news about his house, Andy Milne said, "I don't know how the papers got ahold of it," adding, "That story went wild!" Member of the England Supporters Travel Club, Milne is a passionate soccer fan who still plays in an adult league himself every Thursday night with friends. Giving an insight to his devotion for football, he said “I’m not a great footballer, but I’m a very, very passionate footballer.” In a post on Instagram, he documented his first day at the inaugural game of Word Cup 2026.

The house in consideration had been out on rent ever since his partner moved out of 13 years ago and had always been a pension pot. Popularly known as the “World Cup guy,” Andy Milne was a middle school and high school biology teacher who took early retirement in 2022 to attend the 22nd FIFA World Cup, which was hosted in Qatar.

He became a person of interest after many noted his presence at FIFA events. Describing how fans started to recognize him and make memes about him, he said, “People in the UK would go, ‘Here’s that guy again, it’s him again! It’s him again!” He further revealed, “They started digging out pictures of me at previous tournaments and World Cups. And the moniker 'That World Cup Guy' kind of stuck.”

Talking about the fame he acquired through frequent TV appearances, he said, “I happened to be on television an awful lot in the first two games." It was the replica FIFA gold cup trophy, nicknamed “Sophie the Trophy”, that caught attention of cameramen multiple times and made him the showstopper.

Andy Milne even authored a book titled, “That World Cup Guy” that was published by Pitch Publishing and released on 25 May 2026. This travel memoir narrates Andy Milne's journey through more than 40 years of football fandom, including his travels across the globe to attend nine World Cups - eight men's and one women's.

He and his friends have arranged tickets for every possible England game and have even got intercity travel booked by plane, train, hire car and bus. An ardent supporter of Manchester United, he also cheers for his local team, Northwitch Victoria FC and enjoys watching Premier League and his nephew, who plays for Weston-super-Mare AFC.