Ecstatic Scots party into the small hours in Boston after ending 36 years of hurt with World Cup win

By SAM GREENHILL CHIEF REPORTER IN BOSTON Published: 15:50, 14 June 2026 | Updated: 15:52, 14 June 2026 The ecstatic Tartan Army partied into the wee small hours in Boston today after their team’s historic World Cup victory. The tears and beers flowed as the 1-0 victory sank in – ending 36 years of hurt for Scotland fans with their first win in the tournament since 1990. Dave Dewar, 63, was crying with joy when I met him as he was one of the first supporters through the gates at Boston Stadium before the big match – and afterwards he was weepy again with pride. He told me: ‘I’m like this because I had absolutely no idea I was even coming to this game until three hours ago. My son didn’t tell me we had tickets.’ His son Morgan, 36, had secretly snapped up a pair of £600 seats last year for this, Scotland’s opening game against Haiti. Then he convinced his dad they should travel to Boston together ‘just to soak up the atmosphere’ in one of the fan zones near the stadium. ‘I didn’t twig. I thought we would be watching it on a screen,’ said Mr Dewar senior. ‘Then three hours ago he suddenly tells me we are coming here. It’s 28 years since Scotland were in a World Cup, and I’m here. That’s why I’m crying. It just completely blew me away.’ As he stepped into the stadium grounds, retired BT engineer Mr Dewar phoned his wife Anita back home to tell her. ‘She was beside herself, so happy Morgan had done this and so very happy for me,’ he said. ‘I had thought we were going to the fan zone, but Morgan sat me down and said the tickets for the fan zone had been rejected. I was so disappointed. But then he said with a smile: “It’s ok I’ve got tickets for the match”.’ Dave Dewar with his son Morgan who secretly bought them tickets to Scotland's opening game against Haiti Dave and Morgan Dewar entering the Boston Stadium just three hours after Morgan told his father - who thought they were going to a fan zone - that they had tickets  Scotland fans after the team ended 36 years of hurt with a 1-0 victory over Haiti in the squad's opening game of the World Cup Morgan: ‘I kept the surprise until I had to tell him so we could get here on time. It was literally last minute.’ In the evening sunshine, the Dundee father and son melted back into the river of blue and scarlet-clad Scotland fans surging along the concourse from the main gates to the stadium itself. Kick-off was not even until 9pm, and the Tartan Army had been on the march all day in Boston in full battle dress of kilts, sporrans, ginger wigs, Saltires, and noisy chants of ‘No Scotland, no party.’ For several days, America’s most historic and educated city – home to Harvard and MIT Massachusetts – has been treated to a dawn chorus of bagpipes as the excitement grew. They have been raucous but happy, and just delighted to be at a World Cup after so long. And when midfielder John McGinn fired them ahead with a deflected strike after 28 minutes, everyone went wild. Darren Macdonald, 36, of Glasgow, who was born in the year Scotland last won a World Cup match – beating Sweden 2–1 at Italy 1990 – said: ‘I’ve never known anything different to Scotland being shite, so I can’t tell you how tremendous this feels.’ Even the eye-watering costs of supporting their team did not dampen spirits. Scotland fans paid many thousands of pounds just to get here, and many told me cheerfully how they had shelled out £700 or £500 or even in one case £850 just for seats that were not exactly front row. Trains to the venue were quadruple the normal price, meaning $80 (£60) for a round-trip from Boston, and car parking costs were astronomical – the cheapest I saw was $155 cash, in a field a mile from the stadium, but many pre-booked official spaces had gone for over £500. Flamboyantly-clad Haiti fan Dieunette Deliard Harrison Finnigan, 8, with his father Thomas at the stadium Dave Dewar and Morgan Dewar, with friends Brian Clark and Scott Clark before the big game kicked off Scotland fans celebrate following the FIFA World Cup Group C match at the Boston Stadium Scotland fans react watching the Scotland v Haiti match at The Hydro in Glasgow Audrey Fleming, 57, a retired nurse, and her partner Colin Gordon, 60, an NHS out of hours driver, had spent $4,200 (£3,100) getting to the match. Kirsteen Macdonald, a finance officer from Glasgow sporting Saltire deely boppers, has spent £10,000 with her husband Chris to attend two Scotland games. They took the train from Boston to get to the first one, and Mrs Macdonald said: ‘I am 55 and I had four vodkas before I got on the train. There was a lot of singing but I slept through it.’ Enterprising groups of fans hired distinctive American yellow school busses. A fleet of them snaked along the Interstate 95 highway on a 45-minute trip from the town of Providence, which thousands of Scotland fans have made their base. Supporters clad in kilts sat shoulder to shoulder as they sang loudly, drank heavily, and stuck their heads out of the iconic yellow windows waving Scottish flags in the 30C heat. After a day of touring the bars of Boston and Providence, fans were confronted with a price list at stadium bars of $22 (£17) for a can of premium lager and £20 for cocktails. Contrast that with the 0.22 euros a supermarket can of beer cost during last year’s UEFA Cup Final in Bilbao, Spain. To be fair, the pricey Boston beer came with what many considered the finest view in the world from a rooftop bar directly overlooking the pitch where the dreams started to become real. Liam Gerrie, six, who could well have been the only sober Scotsman in the crowd, and his father Joe, 35, were among those watching from the glass-panelled rooftop bar rather than take their seats. The Americans, who are co-hosts of World Cup 2026, know how to put on a show, and before kick-off the crowds were whipped into a frenzy by a sound test to see whose fans were loudest. The brightly-dressed Haiti contingent managed 96 decibels but were outdone by a mighty roar of Scotland fans in reply which topped 109 decibels. The 64,164-capacity stadium was declared a ‘full house’ by an announcer, and Scotland supporters appeared to outnumber the Haitians about four to one. Although Boston has a large population from the small Caribbean island, many had stayed away in fear of being rounded up by ICE immigration officers. Not so the flamboyantly-clad Dieunette Deliard, 43, a proud Haitian from Florida, who tottered to her seat in 4-inch high heels, painted toenails, a dress made from the Haitian flag, and red and blue feathers sprouting from her head. She told me: ‘It’s just great to be here.’ The Scotland team marched onto the pitch as the piped battle cry of Scotland the Brave rang through the stadium. The venue is 30 miles southwest of downtown Boston in the town of Foxborough, and home to the New England Patriots - but the American Football team plays on synthetic grass. For the World Cup, quite rightly, real turf was laid. Scotland’s triumph – watched by Sir Rod Stewart who flew in on a private jet - put them top of their group, even above five-time World Cup champions Brazil which managed only a 1-1 draw in their opening match against Morocco. After the final whistle, First Minister John Swinney recorded a selfie video from the stands declaring the ‘team have done us proud’, adding: ‘The Tartan Army have been great ambassadors for Scotland, in great voice and making sure that Boston know Scotland have arrived.’ The Tartan Army’s diplomatic mission continued for hours more. The chorus of celebrations on the journey home from the stadium rocked Massachusetts into the night. Thomas Finnigan, from Glasgow, who brought his son Harrison, eight, to the match said: ‘We’ve been buzzing. The wee man loved it and had his top off most of the game! The stadium was amazing. What a superb result.’ Lewis Porter, 35, a construction engineer from Kilmarnock, could not stop singing: ‘Absolutely tremendous. What a feeling. Just to get a goal. The celebration!’ he told me. Raymond Hay, 35, who works for a plumbing specialist in Kilmarnock, added: ‘That was phenomenal. Absolutely brilliant. And Boston is brilliant as well.’ The partying stretched into the small hours back downtown, with delirious fans snaking across historic Boston Common and past Fenway Park, the home of the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team. It was a great start - but they know the hard part is yet to come. ‘Scotland hasn’t been to a World Cup in our lifetime. Hopefully won't be a once in a lifetime, but it could be,’ said Callum Byers, 22, of Ayr. The team’s next match is against Morocco on Friday – which, through luck of the draw, is back in the Boston Stadium that last night created so many happy memories. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. 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