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Dry Taps, Baseball, Rodeos—World Cup Fans Are Having a Blast in North America

Boston, Dallas, Kansas City and Vancouver are among cities swarmed with World Cup fans.
Ben Steiner|
Soccer supporters from around the world have taken over some of the biggest cities in North America.
Soccer supporters from around the world have taken over some of the biggest cities in North America. | Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images, Maddie Meyer - FIFA//Getty Images, Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News/Getty Images, James Manning/PA Images/Getty Images

Nobody really had any doubts about how fans from the United Kingdom’s home nations could celebrate a soccer game, but the U.S. cities hosting them to start the 2026 World Cup seem to have been caught off guard. 

As Scotland and England descend upon the United States for the World Cup, the scenes that have broken out have been exceptional, and supporters are pushing the boundaries known from traditional U.S. sports. 

The Scottish Tartan Army has taken over Boston this week, providing exceptional moments and energy across the city. After creating a resounding atmosphere for their nation’s first World Cup win since 1990 in a 1–0 victory over Haiti in Foxborough, Mass., the supporters have spread across the city as they await their second match against Morocco at the same venue. 

Among the many events that have seen Scots take over, the most striking came at a Boston Red Sox baseball game, where thousands marched towards Fenway Park accompanied by bagpipers, before chanting throughout the game—not with Red Sox chants, but the usual Scottish song hymn book. 

The same supporters also brought a local police officer into a street soccer game, and many played a small pickup game with Haitian fans in the streets as well. Outside of sports, some even found the viral “Cop slide” at City Hall Plaza, with one fan taking on the gauntlet while playing bagpipes. 

Through it all, local bars have run out of several beverages of choice, with the parent company of Sam Adams saying its Boston Taproom ran out of the brand’s flagship Boston Lager, after Tartan Army supporters drank four times as much as the beer usually sells. 

“The White Bull Tavern, there was no beer,” Scottish fan Dave Orr told NBC, before taking a dig at a predominant U.S. brew. “The Scottish fans just drank the place dry, and all they had was Bud Light.”

“We ran out of everything,” Paul Morris of The White Bull Tavern said. “Tennent’s has been number one... the fans have been unbelievable. They’re great—fun, drinking, partying—having a great time.”

Noelle Somers of Hennessy’s Bar told the New York Post that sales over the weekend with Scottish supporters were three times higher than during St. Patrick’s Day, often the busiest weekend for partiers in Boston. 

Outside of the beverages and baseball, Scottish fans have also embraced other aspects of American life, including many enticed by Chicken and Waffles, a U.S. delicacy, barbecue and Buc-EE's gas stations. Some supporters even crossed paths with Norway fans in town for their return to the World Cup, creating an exciting crossover between two sides that have struggled through the past few decades.

Those scenes from Boston are expected to continue in the lead-up to Scotland’s second match against Morocco in Foxborough on Friday, before manager Steve Clarke’s side and its fans look towards a clash with Brazil in Miami, which will no doubt bring some exceptional scenes of its own. 

England Fans Take in Rodeo, Drink Dallas Dry

It’s far from just the Scottish putting a dent in their city’s bar scene. Ahead of England’s opening match in Arlington, Texas, supporters of the Three Lions drank over 5,000 beers at a single pub, with the Londoner Pub saying it had made more than $40,000 on beer sales in just a single evening. 

Fans also made their way to a rodeo at the Fort Worth Stockyards, where local fans were likely overwhelmed by the singing and chanting that descended on the relatively small venue. 

After England’s opener, they then make their way to Boston for a clash with Ghana, joining the scenes in a city that might be more prepared after Scotland’s start to the World Cup. 

Dutch in Dallas, Argentines in Kansas City, Australians in Vancouver

The scenes have spread far from just the home nations of the United Kingdom. In Dallas, Netherlands supporters made their presence known with an exceptionally large “links-rechts” before their 2–2 draw with Japan, while Argentines flooded into a Taco Bell—one of the few restaurants around Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium—before creating an intense atmosphere for La Albiceleste’s 3–0 win over Algeria. 

In Vancouver, Australian fans flooded the pedestrianized main downtown strip as well. Their consumption prompted bars and pubs to increase staffing and alcohol orders to cope with Aussies, as well as the oncoming demands of two, potentially four, Canadian home games. 

“We ordered 200 kegs for the weekend,” Tyler Broers, the manager at Vancouver's Dublin Calling, said. “The Australians were actually trying to drink us dry. They said, ‘We’re going to drink you dry before we leave.’”

With the World Cup group stage just entering its second matchday and teams continuing to travel across the United States, Canada and Mexico, more of these scenes are bound to come—and two fanbases will get their day on July 19 at the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

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Ben Steiner
BEN STEINER

Ben Steiner is an American-Canadian journalist who brings in-depth experience, having covered the North American national teams, MLS, CPL, NWSL, NSL and Liga MX for prominent outlets, including MLSsoccer.com, CBC Sports, and OneSoccer.

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