Scotland is at its first World Cup in 28 years, and the fans have made themselves impossible to miss in Boston.
It started on June 11, according to a report by Yahoo Sports, when a group of Scottish supporters arrived at their rented Airbnb in the middle of the night, unpacked their bagpipes, and began playing outside at 6:30 in the morning. A neighbor filmed it and posted the video to social media, where it spread quickly.
The neighbors were not upset. They invited the Scots over. By the time Scotland had picked up a win, the same group of fans were telling Sky News about the warm reception they had received from locals, including doughnuts and 12 bottles of whisky.
From there, the Tartan Army kept going. Fans were filmed boating in Boston Harbor, the same location where American colonists dumped British tea in 1773. Others showed up at Fenway Park to take in a baseball game, drawing attention from sports media accounts across the country. Jomboy Media posted that Scotland should be entered into the World Baseball Classic just to keep their fans coming to ballparks.
The scenes drew wide reaction online. One account wrote that the whole city was singing after Scotland's win and called for some kind of annual event to bring Scottish fans back to Boston, saying it cannot be a once-every-28-years occurrence.
Scotland's last World Cup appearance was in 1998. The country qualified for this tournament as co-hosts alongside the United States, Canada, and Mexico, though host nation status does not automatically guarantee a spot in the field under FIFA rules for this edition.
The bagpipe group's story continued to grow after the initial video. The fans spoke with Sky News correspondent James Matthews about the attention they had received and the connections they had made with locals during the week.
