The Tartan Army has shown up in force. Now Scotland must seize their World Cup moment As a group of Scotland supporters left the departures gate at London Heathrow on Tuesday morning and headed onto the America-bound plane, a member of staff sent them on their way with a cheeky "see you in a couple of weeks!" "Maybe, maybe not," was the retort. That neatly packages the Scottish psyche. On one hand, there's the knowledge that they have never reached the knockout stages of a World Cup, and their journey could be over before it gets started. But, outweighing that, is the hope of this being their moment to snap that trend. That was Tuesday, and World Cups move fast. By Friday afternoon in Boston, the place was awash with tartan. "With the fans here at last, the party is definitely on," read the headline on The Boston Globe. Among the fans, there were the stories of planes running out of beer, bagpipes waking up residents, and the state of Scott McTominay's stomach and Scott McKenna's calf were the chief concerns among the thousands of Scotland supporters who made the trip. But above all, there was one clear message uniting both fans and the team, the mantra guiding this whole campaign as captain Andy Robertson outlined. "I don't think we want any regrets," he said. Scotland's travelling support was one of the wonderful threads of the 2024 Euros. Ultimately, as they danced in the rain, their tournament fizzled out. But two years on, there's renewed optimism. They've had to wait 28 long years for this, their last kick of a World Cup ball back in 1998 when Scotland lost 3-0 to Morocco. Catching a glimpse of their team back on football's biggest stage led to the mass migration of supporters.#andy_robertson #scotland #tartan_army #scott_mcTominay #the_boston_globe
