Scotland’s World Cup run in Boston is sadly over. It’s something we won’t soon forget.
World Cup draws are like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re going to get.
When the groups were drawn up and the schedules finalized for this tournament back in December, Boston got a couple of the heavy-hitters: favorites like France and England, plus another serious contender in Morocco.
But these World Cup games in Foxborough, in the long run, might be remembered for the Scottish.
Scots were in the concourse hours before kickoff again on Saturday, singing those songs that have become so familiar to us over the last seven days (did you know they have “super” John McGinn?).
One thing that stuck out about the Scots all week: They couldn’t stop making friends, be it the locals in Boston or rival fans in Foxborough.
Before Friday’s game — which finished with a 1-0 Morocco win — Scotland and Morocco fans had the concourse bouncing. They traded chants of “no Scotland, no party” and “no Morocco, no party,” Moroccan fans joined in renditions of “Scotland’s On Fire,” (set to the tune of Gala’s “Freed From Desire”); at one point, one man in a kilt was serenading a crowd of Moroccans with, of course, a bagpipe.
And for the second time in a week, the Scottish fans belted out every word to their unofficial national anthem, “Flower of Scotland,” in a manner that would give you goosebumps.
“Amazing, like always,” Scotland midfielder Lewis Ferguson said of the support. “Like I said the other night — never in doubt. When the national anthem gets played, it’s incredible stuff.”
“It was quite emotional, you know, for a lot of us,” said Jordan Campbell, a Scottish reporter for the Athletic. “So many families have traveled over here, so many people have spent money they probably don’t have. I think to see Scotland back on the big stage was was amazing. For it to be in Boston, it’s been sort of the perfect synergy.”
The Scots might have been beaten for noise on Friday by the Moroccans, who were deafening as their team went top of Group C with a 1-0 win. It didn’t help the Tartan Army’s cause when their team conceded the game’s opening goal after just 71 seconds.
But the Scottish crowd helped give their team a lift in the second half, and they were roaring by the final minutes amid a resurgent Scotland performance that nearly produced a late equalizer.
“I thought, second half, [the fans] kind of fed off the energy from the players,” said Ferguson.
The defeat left Scotland in third place in Group C after Brazil’s 3-0 win over Haiti. To earn one of the two automatic qualification spots into the knockout stages, Scotland will likely need to beat Brazil in Miami Wednesday.
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A draw should be enough to make it through as one of the top third-placed teams, but a loss would leave Scotland’s qualification for the Round of 32 in doubt.
The potential outcomes are too numerous and complicated to list here, but there is a world where a third-place finish could bring Scotland back to Boston for the Round of 32 if the tiebreakers fall the right way.
But whether they advance or not — and whether or not they return to Boston — the locals will never forget this Scottish invasion.
The Scottish fans took over bars and public squares and flooded the streets with navy kits and plaid kilts. They hijacked the city’s orange traffic cones and organized a public meet-up to drink Irn-Bru, Scotland’s favorite orange soda.
They discovered local delicacies (Dunkin’ and ranch dressing, in particular) and the local baseball team, which couldn’t manage a win at home while the Scots were in town.
The high point of this Red Sox season (as low a bar as that may be) might have come on Sunday, when the Tartan Army marched through the Fens and took over Fenway Park.
Everywhere the Scots went, they were loved.
“I was in Germany for Euro 2024 and I’ve seen how Munich took the Scots to the heart, but I think this has been on a different level to anything I’ve witnessed,” said Campbell. “I think Fenway Park has sort of summed it up for me in terms of the Scottish, the Tartan Army’s openness to sort of embracing other cultures, it’s quite different to what the stereotype is of a British fan.
“I think they take pride in separating themselves from that. It’s not tribal, it’s very, very giving. They’ve donated a lot to charity again … that’s really at the heart of the Tartan Army. People could see it as cheesy, but you know, for this many people, tens and tens of thousands, and for there not to be trouble, it speaks a lot about the sort of self-policing and how much they want to promote the good name of Scotland in a positive light.”
So positive was the Scots’ impression on the city of Boston, Mayor Michelle Wu on Thursday signed a letter of intent to establish Boston and Glasgow as “sister cities.”
“I think that the city of Boston has took to the Tartan Army so well, and it makes you proud,” Ferguson said. “It makes you proud to be Scottish.”
They came, they saw, they drank — my, how they drank — and they embraced Boston as much as Boston embraced them.
And in their wake, they left behind love, laughs, and a city that will always welcome their return.
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