With its opening win over Haiti, Scotland gets the party started for its rollicking fans

FOXBOROUGH — Thousands of members of the Tartan Army, supporters of Scotland’s national soccer team, descended on Boston, taking over Fenway Park and Boston Common and local bars.

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The party continued Saturday night at a packed Gillette … er, Boston Stadium. The kilt-wearing, bagpipe-playing Scottish fans watched their national team secure its first World Cup win in 36 years, disposing of Haiti, 1-0, in its Group C opener.

A Scottish team with a reputation for “failing gloriously” in international play took the lead in the 29th minute on a blast from midfielder John McGinn that deflected off a Haitian defender. For McGinn, who plays for Aston Villa in the Premier League, it was his 21st career international goal in 87 matches.

With upcoming pool matches against Brazil and Morocco, both top-10 teams, Scotland manager Steve Clarke called Saturday a “must-win.”

“Tired, but absolutely delighted in our players,” Clarke said. “Will be tough games, but will be a little bit less pressure. If we defend as well as we did and show the same resilience, we’ll be OK.”

The match felt like a home game for the Scots, with “Scottish salmon” national jerseys blanketing the seating bowl. Several fans brought bagpipes. The Scots broke out in unison before kickoff with “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond” and celebrated McGinn’s goal with “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” from Scottish rock band The Proclaimers, as Scottish rock star Rod Stewart watched from a suite.

When the final whistle blew, fans draped in “The Saltire,” Scotland’s national flag, belted out “Flower of Scotland,” its unofficial national anthem.

But for those not from Glasgow and Edinburgh, it was more a celebration of two plucky, underdog soccer nations, and a match host that pulled off an impressive match despite months of headaches and anxiety over security, funding, tickets, traffic and local watch parties.

Scotland entered No. 42 in the FIFA world rankings. Haiti was 83rd, the lowest-ranked team to make the field. Saturday night was Scotland’s first World Cup match in 28 years. Haiti is making just its second-ever appearance, 52 years after its first in 1974.

Haiti likely wouldn’t have qualified for this World Cup had the field not been expanded from 32 to 48 nations. Still, its presence is worthy of Hollywood. The Haitians don’t have a national stadium, their former one still sitting in ruins from the disastrous 2010 earthquake. Political strife and street violence prevented Haiti from playing any qualifying matches at home, and their manager has never visited the country.

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Still, the Haitians persevered, qualifying for the tournament with a win over Nicaragua on Nov. 18, the same day as the Scots.

“Thousands of people filled the streets, hugging, singing and dancing together,” Haitian striker Frantzdy Pierrot, a Melrose product, said in the leadup to Saturday. “Before that, many people were afraid to leave their homes because of gang violence, but at that moment, all of those problems seemed to disappear.”

Though Haitians were outnumbered in the crowd, Boston has the nation’s third-largest Haitian population (approximately 80,000), and thousands came out to support “Les Grenadiers.”

“It’s been years since we played at home and enjoyed this relationship with our fans, so sharing this with them was truly fantastic,” said Haitian manager Sébastien Migné. “After 52 years, you can’t overstate the pleasure of being here and enjoying each minute, doing our best.”

Haiti actually controlled the ball longer (47 percent to 43 percent) and attempted more shots (14 to 9) but couldn’t generate many quality scoring opportunities. It’s best came in the 85th minute on a cross to Pierrot, but his header trickled just wide of the net.

The match, the first of seven to be played this World Cup in Foxborough, also appeared to proceed with but a few hiccups.

Traffic getting to the stadium was reasonable, similar to a Patriots Sunday. The train from South Station operated on schedule, though at an elevated rate of $80. Stadium security was robust but not overly cumbersome, as an announced 64,146 (a “full house,” according to FIFA) made it into their seats in plenty of time. Ticket prices were astronomical — the get-in price was around $1,000 for most of Saturday — and off-site parking went for about $180, but the stands were packed out and there were only a handful of empty seats in the most expensive club areas. Even the weekend’s scorching temperatures subsided for the 9 p.m. kickoff, making for a breezy, comfortable evening.

Haiti moves on to Philadelphia, where it will face Brazil next Friday, but the Scottish presence around Boston likely won’t die down for the next week. Scotland plays its next match Friday in Foxborough against Morocco. Now that the Tartan Army has secured its first World Cup victory in nearly four decades, there’s a real opportunity the Scots will reach the knockout round for the first time in nine World Cup tries dating to 1954.

“We know how special this can be for us,” Scottish midfielder Kenny McLean said. “We know we’re in a good place to create more memories and that obviously filters to everybody else in the country, our families, everybody.”

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