Wales legend Dafydd Iwan has given Welsh fans a moment they'll never forget by turning up at a hotel in Doha and leading a rousing rendition of Yma o Hyd. The singer is in Qatar supporting Wales after a whirlwind few months which has cemented his iconic status .
The song has been given a whole new lease of life in recent months after Iwan sang it on the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium before Wales’ crucial World Cup play-off games against Austria and Ukraine earlier this year. Since then, it has grown and grown in popularity and been selected as the official anthem for Wales’ appearance at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. You can read the full Yma o Hyd lyrics and their meaning here.
With around 1,600 Wales joining in a World Cup party at the InterContinental Doha hotel on Monday (which you can follow live here) a number of them had an incredible surprise when they bumped into Iwan himself. Never one to disappoint, the folk singer belted out Yma o Hyd to a packed hotel bar in emotional scenes that will live long in the memory, whatever the result of Monday night’s opening World Cup game for Wales against the USA.
Read more: Wales fans drink Qatar hotel out of beer with hours to go to kick-off
The song was written by Iwan in 1983 and released at a time of political and economical turmoil in Wales, where the age of Thatcherism saw many coal pits closing, thousands of men and women losing their jobs and times of great hardship for many. The title translates to ‘Still Here’. Almost 40 years later, the song has become the soundtrack of Welsh football, with fans up and down the country - and in Qatar itself - belting out the tune at every opportunity.
Fans at the World Cup party in Doha are certainly making the most of a historic day, with WalesOnline reporter Sion Morgan confirming early on Monday afternoon that Welsh supporters had “drunk the bar dry” with hours still to go before kick-off (7pm UK time). The hotel bar ran out of draught beer before 2pm, with only bottled beer left. With the beer flowing and a special appearance from Dafydd Iwan, it sounds like a hell of a party.
You can follow Sion in Qatar on Twitter here and on TikTok here.
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