Two men. Three countries. 10,000 miles. 39 days. 16 stadiums. One World Cup.

Englishman Ollie Jenks and Canadian friend Seth Scott are attempting to complete the enormous task of driving to all 16 venues used at this summer’s World Cup, but with an unusual and very British twist.

The entire challenge is being done in a traditional London black cab with the added pressure of finishing before the World Cup concludes in New Jersey on 19 July.

It is an unusual, yet fascinating adventure but does leave the question – why?

“I get bored very quickly is the simple answer to that,” Jenks quips.

But the real answer is more nuanced.

The adventure was partly inspired by a 2008 BBC documentary called ‘Stephen Fry in America’ in which the actor and comedian travelled across all 50 United States, primarily in a black cab.

For lifelong football fan Jenks, the adventure provides the opportunity to not only follow a World Cup, but help others attending too.

The duo have been raising money for charity and mindful of the costs to travel at the World Cup have also been keen to offer lifts to spectators from across the globe.

Supporters from Colombia, Ghana, DR Congo and Argentina are among those to have already nabbed a lift in the taxi.

“The average wage in Bosnia is like $800 a month or something, so they’d have to work for three or four months just to afford a ticket,” said Jenks.

“If we can maybe help out in some kind of way, we would have done a bit of a good deed at the same time.

“I like that community aspect for football kind of brings together.”

Having completed a similar challenge driving from London to Cape Town in a Reliant Robin in the final months of 2025, the pair were quick to plan their next adventure.

“When the World Cup announced it would be hosted in the USA, Canada and Mexico, being a big football fan I thought there would be no better opportunity to do a trip I dreamt of years ago,” Jenks explains.

“[It’s] an excuse to [watch] football at the world’s biggest sporting tournament [and also visit] the stadiums. In terms of a road trip, it’s the thing of dreams.”

Across Africa, they travelled through 22 countries in a four-month, 14,000-mile expedition that made them the first people to drive the length of the continent in a three-wheeler.

But as with their drive through Africa, the expedition across Canada, Mexico and the United States has been far from smooth driving.

Their black cab, affectionally known as ‘Abby the Cabby’, was the only traditional London taxi they could find it North America.

Seth eventually managed to track it down at a film set in Vancouver.

“I looked at it and told Ollie, ‘we should not buy this, that is awful’,” he recalls.

“The fuel tank was rusted out, the brakes were seized and it didn’t even roll initially. We had to get a tow truck to drag it in. The fuel lines are full of dirt and the engine was full of mud. The radiator was rusted out. It was genuinely awful.”

But minor details such as whether the car worked were never going to halt this trip.

The duo decided to buy it for £1,000 even though it hadn’t been driven for seven years. It also needed a month’s worth of repairs before the adventure could properly begin.

Since setting off at the start of the tournament, they have been inundated with problems but have managed to travel around 350 miles per day.

Just keeping the car on the road has been a constant challenge. From overheating issues to smashed lights, ‘Abby the Cabby’ has required numerous repairs. All the time, there is the constant stress of whether it will survive their 10,000-mile journey.

They have also run into some unexpected delays too – including when police in Mexico gave the taxi a thorough search, which led to some of their kit being confiscated.

Jenks hopes their trip and the challenges overcome will inspire others.

“You say ‘not everyone can do it’, but they can. It’s just the risk,” he says. “I think our risk factors are quite low, so we just quit our jobs – granted, we don’t have kids or a mortgage but we [still had to] find a way to do it.

“[I think] the more people travel, the more they become wise and learn to treat each other with respect.

“People [might] go, ‘those two idiots can do it, maybe I’ll take my old Land Rover out of the garage and drive it to Morocco or go to a football game in Japan’.”

The duo, who are documenting their journey on social media via the handle Hold My Gear, are past the halfway mark but find themselves in a race against time to finish their journey at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey before the World Cup final on Sunday, 19 July.

And in keeping with Fry and his documentary 18 years ago, Jenks says the challenge of getting to the finish had to be completed in an iconic British vehicle.

“[It’s] the best British car of all time, the London taxi,” he says.

“[It would be] too boring if we did it in a decent car.”