Around 14,000 Brits descended on Doha today for the crunch England and Wales World Cup games.
Fans' groups say the huge numbers of expat supporters living in the Middle East will be a major boost to the home nations. The 120,000 UK nationals based in the United Arab Emirates will see 8,000 fans in the 68,895-capacity Al Bayt stadium tonight, including 3,000 in the official FA fan group travelling from the UK.
Expats are also expected to boost the numbers following Wales to 6,000. The USA has sold 4,000 tickets. They celebrated Thanksgiving in Qatar yesterday. Ashley Brown, of the Football Supporters Association, said: "There were probably around 10,000 England fans for the game against Iran.
"So many of the people living here have decided to support England. They have the shirts on and fly the flag. And there are many UK nationals living in the Middle East.
"Wales have sold a similar number of tickets to fans back home at two to three thousand. But again the number of expats is likely to take their following to around five to six thousand."
The Red Lion pub, the only English one in Doha, is doing a pre-match brunch today priced from £57-£69 which includes a meal and drinks for three hours. Manager Steve Morgan, 50, of Barnet, a Spurs fan, said: "We have people queueing out the door all night.
"We have 22 screens for the games and the cheapest beer in Qatar. We do Heineken, Stella, Hoegaarden on draft.
"Above all we give fans a good deal - really good food and drinks at a reasonable price, it works out at £6.70 for a drink. We have seen many nationalities here, Argentinians, Mexicans, and a lot of fans from England and Wales."
He added: "There are stories of charging £80 for a beer in Doha. That was a bar with an entrance fee of 1,000 Riyal (£240) with three drinks, which works out at £80 a drink."
Father and son England fans Paul and Rushan Sahota have just arrived in Doha. They are looking forward to the match against the USA after England's 6-2 demolition of Iran.
"More the same please," said Paul, 54, owner of the Emsworth Hotel in Hampshire and a season ticket holder with Portsmouth.
"We met Iran fans in the village who told us that some of their team were pro Government, some anti.
"I have had a lot more years of hurt than my son - if we got to a quarter final against France, that would be a big test."
Rushan, 20, an economics student at Bristol University, has taken some 'time out' of his studies.
Father and son Hearts fans Gerry and Mark Campbell proudly wore their Scotland shirts - and shared some banter with fans.
Mark, 33, an accountant based in Dubai, is going to the England v US game. Asked who he would support, Mark said: "Need you ask?
"We have had a couple of comments like 'are you lost?'. But if we waited for Scotland to qualify to come to a World Cup we would have a long wait. I would be in the hoose."
They compared their 'tents in the desert' fan village to the facilities offered at a music festival. They paid 1,000 US dollars for five days.
"We applied for a few tickets and just took pot luck and got the England v US game - it will be wild at 10pm on a Friday night. The atmosphere for the games is amazing."
Gerry, 59, a retired engineer from Glasgow, joked: "There will be a news black out in Scotland if England were to win the World Cup."
England will qualify for the last 16 if they beat the United States. Manager Gareth Southgate said: "We would like to get qualification done as soon as possible. The first objective is to get out of the group.
"We would love to do that on Friday, but the game won't be anything like Monday. We have to make sure we are back to the psychological place we were at the start because the States will be an athletic team, well coached.
"They have quite a few players we know from the Premier League and they showed in the first half against Wales the best side of themselves."
Gareth Bale made clear that Wales backed the 'OneLove' message yesterday after the row over wearing the armband. The 33-year-old captain told of his team's unhappiness at the Fifa warning which prevented the gesture of solidarity.
Speaking on the eve of their crucial Group B showdown against Iran, he said: "We were not too happy about not being able to wear it with the sanctions being put in place.
"People said that we (the captains) should have worn it but I would have been sent off after 25 minutes. Of course, we support it but we are here to play football.
"Just because you don't wear it, does not mean you don't support it. We are always supportive and always trying to raise awareness."
He was asked if the team had considered another gesture of support after Germany covered their mouths in the line up before their 2-1 defeat to Japan on Wednesday.
England are said to be considering legal action over the ban. Denmark is to make representations to Fifa on behalf of all eight nations prevented from wearing the armband.
Bale, who will set a new all-time record for appearances today with 110 caps, added: "If we tried to do something else and the result did not go our way, we would be criticised for not concentrating on the football.
"Outside the game, if there is anything we can do to raise awareness and show support then we will do it."
He said that he had a knack of scoring goals in big games, adding: "The bigger the occasion the more I focus.
"I seem to have a knack of scoring in big moments. It is good for the team and we are not too bothered by when, why, what, who."
And he urged teachers to let their pupils watch the game against Iran in class.
"With it being a 10am kick-off in Wales, if I was a teacher I would let them all watch the game and hopefully they will do," he added. "A lot of schools will put the game on, to cheer us on, it's also a mini history lesson."
Welsh fans in Qatar spoke of their excitement at the prospect of going through to the last 16 of the World Cup. A convincing victory over Iran - and the same for England against the USA - could put the two home nations in pole position to go through from Group B.
Steve Thomas, 47, a company director, and his friend Leigh Wright, 51, had both travelled from Llangollen. Steve said: "No disrespect to Iran but this group could come down to goal difference.
"The second spot may be down to goals scored by us and the US." Leigh, a site manager, added: "We are going to make the most of it. We could not afford to go to the England game as well.
"We are from the same place as Neco Williams and we knew his granddad and his family. He received tremendous support from the Wales fans after his granddad passed away."
