Jun 18, 2026
A foreign army has swept into Boston. Instead of the English, some 250 years later, it was the Scots.
They set their sights on the city’s bars and conquered them one by one like William Wallace. Now they’re draining the taps dry, much to the astonishment of Bostonians.
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Up to 50,000 Scottish fans traveled to Massachusetts to cheer on their national soccer team square off in two separate World Cup matches against Haiti and Morocco, according to the Boston Globe. They brought bagpipes, kilts and an unquenchable thirst for beer that left some Beantown pubs struggling to keep up with the demand.
“We’ve been here for over 30 years, and we’ve never seen anything like it,” Noelle Somers, chief operating officer at Hennessy’s Bar in downtown Boston, told the Globe. “We tripled St. Patrick’s Day.”
Fans at other Boston bars reported slim pickings on beer now that the Scots have set up camp.
“The White Bull Tavern, there was no beer,” Scottish fan Dave Orr told NBC Boston. ”The Scottish fans just drank the place dry and all they had was Bud Light.”
Tartan army invasion
For the raucous group of soccer fans known as the “Tartan Army,” the upcoming matches were a milestone worth celebrating. Scotland’s men’s national soccer team hadn’t qualified for the World Cup since 1998, when dial-up was the prevailing method to connect to the internet. During that tournament, Scotland failed to leave the group stage with two losses and a tie.
It took over three decades, but the Scottish men’s soccer team’s dry spell was broken. Scotland defeated Haiti 1-0 on Saturday evening at Gillette Stadium, their first outright win in the global tournament since 1990. But the libations among Scots in Boston had started long before the match.
Samuel Adams reported that its Boston taproom had been drained dry by Scottish fans from Thursday through Sunday. The taproom’s parent company, Boston Beer, said Scots consumed four times as many Boston Lagers as they normally sell during a holiday weekend.
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The taproom had to place an emergency order on Saturday to replenish its stock. Over 3,000 pints of Boston Lager were sold that weekend, and taproom employees collected 70 empty kegs on Monday.
Those kegs are piling up around Boston, courtesy of the Scots. At the Dubliner, manager Brian McDonnell told Boston 25 News that their bar has plowed through 100 kegs of Guinness and 80 kegs of Tennent lager.
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Giving St. Patrick’s Day a run for its money
The revelry is expected to continue for a few more days. The Scottish national team is poised to face off against Morocco on June 20. Until then, the Scots appear more than happy to keep the ceilidh going.
Scottish fans have been filmed parading through downtown Boston playing bagpipes. One lone Scot played the pipes to greet the morning in a suburban neighborhood outside the city.
Their national soccer team’s fortunes are improving, as Scotland’s team is ranked 38th in the world, according to FIFA rankings, moving up four spots after defeating Haiti.
Cheerio, Scots; Salut, Three Lions and Les Bleus
Once the Scots — victorious or not — pack up and head to Miami for their final group stage match against Brazil, Bostonians can expect to receive more of the world at their doorstep.
Thousands more are expected to travel to Boston in the coming weeks with matches featuring England, Norway, Iraq and France. The city will also host a pair of knockout matches where the losing team gets eliminated from the World Cup.
Whether the other fans match Scottish fans’ beer-soaked revelry remains to be seen. One popular chant from Scots echoing through Boston may end up being true: “No Scotland, no party!”
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Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
