The day after Scotland won its first World Cup match in nearly 30 years \u2014 where the Tartan Army may have set a tournament decibel record<\/a> singing their unofficial national anthem, the \u201cFlower of Scotland\u201d<\/a> \u2014 the party moved to the city center. Several thousand jubilant fans staged a victory march to Fenway Park<\/a>, filling the streets with a grand procession of bagpipes, drums, and waving flags.<\/p>\n Bostonians were smitten. Videos, pictures, and memes of their joyous tomfoolery pinballed across social media.<\/p>\n The trains ran smoothly (mostly): In the fraught runup to the World Cup<\/a>, there were persistent doubts about whether the MBTA would be up to the daunting task of ferrying thousands of soccer fans \u2014 many of them unfamiliar with the transit system and lubricated by drink \u2014 to and from Gillette Stadium and South Station. <\/p>\n Those worries peaked during a weeks-long standoff<\/a> between Mayor Michelle Wu\u2019s administration and the MBTA over crowd control and traffic plans outside South Station. <\/p>\n In the end, however, the MBTA and commuter rail operator Keolis pulled out all the stops \u2014 deploying more than 700 staff for each match \u2014 and the trains ran safely and efficiently for most of the tournament.<\/p>\n The exception was the World Cup debut on June 13 between Haiti and Scotland, which got unfavorable reviews<\/a> from many fans over long queues at both South Station and the stadium. From then on, the trains were mostly full and on time.<\/p>\n Nearly 100,000 fans were ferried to and from the stadium for the first six games, and the average wait times to board at South Station never exceeded 20 minutes, according to MBTA data. Remarkably, 100 percent of passengers arrived at the stadium with enough time to clear security and find their seats.<\/p>\n The bars were packed and the beer flowed: How big was the payday for Boston\u2019s pubs?<\/p>\n To get a snapshot of the effect, the Globe analyzed gameday liquor sales on June 13 and compared those sales with the preceding eight Saturdays. Beer sales surged 50 percent over a typical Saturday. Rum and gin sales were up 37 and 16 percent, respectively, according to Toast<\/a>, a digital platform for restaurants. <\/p>\n In the first two weeks of the World Cup, transaction volume at Boston\u2019s bars and breweries rose 28 percent \u2014 the most of any of the 11 US host cities, according to a report from the payment platform Square<\/a>.<\/p>\n At The Anchor<\/a>, a waterfront beer garden and special events venue in Charlestown, owner Chris Sinclair estimated the tournament drew an extra 100,000 patrons. By the time it wrapped, soccer revelers had drained more than 2,000 extra kegs of beer.<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw the very best of humanity through sport,\u201d Sinclair said. \u201cThe World Cup reminded us that Boston is a cool city and a truly international city \u2014 even if we sometimes forget.\u201d<\/p>\n The \u201cbeautiful game\u201d delivered: Foxborough drew crowds of more than 63,000 for each of the seven matches, filling the stadium with sometimes deafening, dueling chants. While not every game was a thriller \u2014 Ghana and England played to a sleepy 0-0 draw<\/a>, and Norway deflated a highly anticipated matchup against France by benching 10 of its starters<\/a> \u2014 the on-field drama still delivered. Paraguay\u2019s stunning upset over Germany<\/a>, for instance, made up for any earlier disappointments with its sheer energy.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, fans who trekked to Foxborough to see the world\u2019s biggest stars absolutely got their money\u2019s worth. Norway\u2019s Erling Haaland<\/a> \u2014 the hulking, ponytailed, 6-foot-5-inch striker \u2014 netted two goals<\/a> against Iraq. Meanwhile, the French stars put on a clinic against Norway, with Ousmane Demb\u00e9l\u00e9 scoring a sensational hat trick<\/a> and superstar Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 racking up two assists.<\/p>\n Crime was at a minimum: Among the many unforgettable moments of the tournament was that of a Boston police officer masterfully juggling<\/a> a soccer ball at City Hall Plaza as a swarm of kilt-wearing Scots roared in approval.<\/p>\n The viral moment captured the joyous calm that pervaded the city throughout the tournament, and the absence of major security incidents.<\/p>\n Boston police logged 33 incidents at City Hall Plaza during the 16-day FanFest, up from five over a similar period a year earlier. However, the vast majority were minor, property-related offenses, city police data shows. Federal authorities seized some drones<\/a> entering the airspace around Gillette Stadium, yet the matches came off without any significant security issues, according to the Massachusetts State Police.<\/p>\n Planning and fund-raising woes: The winter standoff<\/a> between the Town of Foxborough and FIFA\/Kraft Group that lasted until mid-March was more of an omen than a one-off<\/a> when it came to injecting the capital needed to pull off these games. State legislators were slow to warm<\/a> to the idea of giving organizers the $20 million in taxpayer dollars they were looking for, and corporate sponsors did not beat down any doors<\/a> to get in on the action. One unintended consequence of the backlog of logjams: Vastly lowered expectations by the time the tournament began.<\/p>\n The FIFA factor: Someone should come up with a prize<\/a> for FIFA president Gianni Infantino for leading an organization guaranteed to generate headlines for all the wrong reasons<\/a>. Locally, those included excruciating delays in granting public viewing licenses<\/a> for local towns and groups to stage watch parties, and a volunteer application and tryout process plagued by bottlenecks<\/a>. The organization\u2019s lucrative revenues and tight control of every aspect of the tournament made it an easy and deserved target of fans\u2019 scorn.<\/p>\n Immigration restrictions: The glorious drop-in from Scotland\u2019s Tartan Army should not cause anyone to forget the thousands of fans who could not visit<\/a>, such as those from Haiti, Scotland\u2019s foe here for the first Foxborough game on June 13. For a select group of countries, the US government launched a FIFA Pass system for expedited visas to ticket-holders. In a time of heightened domestic scrutiny of immigration, the selective treatment was disappointing for the ultimate global sporting competition.<\/p>\n High cost of everything: A sold-out Gillette Stadium speaks to the extraordinary demand for a quality entertainment product, but that doesn\u2019t excuse the exorbitant expense involved in attending the games here, and in the other 15 cities, too. FIFA originally wanted all 16 host cities to provide free transportation to all the games, but that pipe dream turned into the $95 and $80 round-trip bus<\/a> and train<\/a> fares to get to and from Foxborough.<\/p>\n A too-short FanFest: FanFest at City Hall Plaza was a lot more than a display of FIFA sponsors\u2019 activations. It was a free and fun supervised watch party<\/a> featuring between-game entertainment that should have been up for far longer than 16 days. The fest was originally planned for all 39 days of the tournament, but Boston 26 organizers said fund-raising shortfalls caused the 59 percent slash in the event\u2019s duration. Other watch parties popped up around the city, but the irony of shortening the main event for fans priced out of the games was not lost on anyone.<\/p>\n Scotland’s ‘Tartan Army’ marches to Fenway Park for a Scottish celebration<\/p>\n Celebrating their World Cup victory, a sea of kilts walked from the Back Bay fens to Fenway for a Scottish Celebration Night with the Red Sox. (Video and photo by Jessica Rinaldi\/Globe Staff)<\/p>\n Chris Serres can be reached at chris.serres@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @ChrisSerres<\/a>. Michael Silverman can be reached at michael.silverman@globe.com<\/a>. Yogev Toby can be reached at yogev.toby@globe.com<\/a>. Scooty Nickerson can be reached at scooty.nickerson@globe.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Scotland](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/EKO7PDVQV644WMNKCGNKPMZYTU.JPG\")
Scotland fan Greg McLeod, center, leads songs with other fans inside Hennessy’s Bar.Erin Clark\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n