Budweiser Just Raised The Stakes At The World Cup & You Might Get A Free Beer Out Of It

If you live in a country with a team at the World Cup, then Budweiser just gave you another reason to cheer on your squad.

The beer maker says it's come up with a new plan for the huge stockpile of beer that it sent to Qatar after the country suddenly banned the sale of alcohol in stadiums ahead of the big FIFA tournament.

With all that beer just sitting there, Budweiser now says it will send the stockpile to whichever country comes out on top at the World Cup.

"Winning Country gets the Buds," Budweiser recently said after Qatar announced its last-minute alcohol ban. The tweet also included a photo of a warehouse full of cases of Budweiser.

It's unclear exactly how much beer Budweiser sent to Qatar. However, the company is reportedly asking FIFA for a $47-million partial refund on what it paid to get exclusive rights to the tournament.

That's a lot of money in lost beer sales, and potentially a lot of beer that they'll soon be giving away.

Qatar had initially agreed to allow beer sales at World Cup matches, but it suddenly reversed course ahead of the November 20 kickoff, leaving fans and Budweiser in an awkward spot.

FIFA and Qatar announced on November 18 that beer would only be sold at its fan festivals and not in the stadiums themselves. Non-alcoholic Bud Zero is still being sold in stadiums.

As for all those unsold alcoholic beers, Budweiser has yet to reveal a full plan for how it will send them to the tournament winner.

It might be tough to distribute all that beer across a large country like the United States or Canada, even though those nations are a long shot to win.

An easier plan might be to simply hand out beers during whatever party the winners throw when they go back to their home country with the trophy.

Whatever the plan, the stakes are now even higher for the World Cup final match on December 18!