Beer, Chants and Soccer: Tartan Army Takes Over Boston, Sparks Sister City Partnership

Boston and Scotland only needed a week to form a lasting bond. 

After thousands of Scottish fans took over the streets of Boston during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the City of Boston and Glasgow, the capital of Scotland, announced a sister city partnership on Thursday. 

“We are the city of champions, so we knew that this was going to be a great experience for us,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said in a statement. “But I think we’ve won one more title this time around: Boston is clearly the best host city for the World Cup right now, and that is, thanks in large part to the Tartan Army.”

Scotland’s Tartan Army has taken over Boston as its national team won its first World Cup game at Boston Stadium last week and will play its second game there on Friday. Several videos of Scotland fans have gone viral, including clips of them riding the infamous City Hall Plaza slide and visiting bars throughout the city.

The Tartan Army has also been a force at Fenway Park over the last few days. Countless Scottish fans have been in attendance at Boston Red Sox games this week as they remained in the area between Scotland’s first two matches. 

But the one thing the Tartan Army has done that may have generated the most headlines is drink a lot of beer. Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy’s Bar, told the Boston Globe that their sales have “tripled” what they were during St. Patrick’s Day since the start of the World Cup.

While many Scottish fans remained in Boston between matches, there were some that ventured to New York City this week. However, one Scottish fan told ESPN that his takeaway from visiting New York was that “it’s not as good as Boston.” 

That admiration appeared to be mutual. As part of Thursday’s festivities, Wu announced that Boston had become a sister city of Glasgow at The Haven, a Scottish restaurant.

“What has been most beautiful about this whole experience is not just seeing fans who are as passionate about your teams, your heritage, your culture as Boston fans are, but then seeing those connections built across different cultures too,” Wu added in her statement. “We are both cities that are champions of arts and culture and innovation, but also we are willing to fight for it. We have the grit, we have the passion for making sure people are at the center of everything that we do.”

Scotland took home a victory in its opening match at the World Cup on Saturday, defeating Haiti 1-0. That match marked Scotland’s first World Cup match in nearly three decades, as it hadn’t qualified for a World Cup since 1998. Scotland will play its second match in Group C on Friday, taking on Morocco at Boston Stadium (6 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and FOX One). Scotland’s final group stage match, which is against Brazil, will take place at Miami Stadium. 

There is a chance that Scotland could play at Boston Stadium again after the group stage. The third-place team in Group C is one of the handful of teams that could play at Boston Stadium in the Round of 32. If Scotland finishes as the runner-up or third-place in Group C, it could also play in the quarterfinal match at Boston Stadium.