{"id":273325,"date":"2025-11-20T10:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/273325\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T10:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T10:11:10","slug":"cant-stop-watching-the-replays-scotland-fans-on-world-cup-qualification-scotland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/273325\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Can\u2019t stop watching the replays\u2019: Scotland fans on World Cup qualification | Scotland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scotland have qualified for the men\u2019s football World Cup for the first time in 28 years after beating Denmark 4-2<\/a> at Hampden Park. Five Scotland fans who were at the game or watching from afar share their reactions to the result.<\/p>\n

\u2018My shed had cowped over \u2013 that\u2019s how seismic this was\u2019Jan with her husband at Hampden Park. Photograph: Adam\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n

Jan Lee was at Hampden Park with her husband, Adam, watching a game that she says \u201chad it all\u201d. \u201cNormally you can point to one or two big events like a penalty, a sending off or an absolute wonder goal, but they were all in there,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support was magnificent and the crowd did not stop cheering the team on. Despite the jitters, they kept up a near-constant barrage of songs. You could almost feel the noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Scotland<\/a> won, there was understandably very high emotion. \u201cThere were tears and hugs,\u201d says Lee, 44, a solicitor who lives in Edinburgh. \u201cIn fact, just about everybody within hugging distance threw themselves at us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got home I saw that my shed had cowped over, that\u2019s how seismic this was, and I couldn\u2019t sleep as my ears were ringing from the noise. I\u2019ve got the usual hoarse throat and I\u2019m pretty sure I can no longer hear several frequencies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee says she has already booked time off next year for the World Cup<\/a> and is determined to cheer on the team. Until then, she says, she \u201ccan\u2019t stop watching the replays\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018I was on my knees on the living room floor\u2019<\/p>\n

John Wards, 46, who lives in Banbury, Oxfordshire, watched the match with his eldest son, who is 17, while his stepdad sent messages on WhatsApp from Scotland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was running around the house screaming, from about the first goal at the start of the game to the last goal when I was on my knees in the living room hugging the boy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am from near Aberdeen and was the same age as my eldest will be next year, the last time Scotland were in the World Cup in 1998, and I keep saying to him it\u2019s not always like this and to enjoy it as he might be an old man like me the next time this happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wards, a chief technology officer at a startup, says he will probably watch the World Cup at the village pub with his eldest, who will be 18 by then. \u201cAs for my middle kid, he isn\u2019t into football. And my youngest supports England \u2013 don\u2019t ask!\u201d<\/p>\n

Euan bought tickets for the Hampden Park game just after the final whistle of the match at home against Greece last month and he\u2019s very happy he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredible to be there,\u201d says Euan, a researcher who grew up in Birmingham but has lived in Glasgow for the past eight years. \u201cI am so glad I went. I\u2019ve never seen anything like it or experienced a live game like it. I am 27 and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll see such a remarkable or significant game again in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the game, Euan was cold, his throat was hoarse from all the singing and he felt quite \u201craw\u201d, but he says: \u201cThe energy of the crowd just lifted you.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone was shouting and cheering and going a bit mad. Football fans often get a bad rap but it was all very good-natured. We walked all the way up from the stadium into the town, which is about 45 minutes, with this big crowd of people streaming up from Hampden Park. Cars were honking their horns and people were leaning out of their windows and cheering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he won\u2019t be travelling to see Scotland in the World Cup, he will be supporting them from afar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game was immense,\u201d he says. \u201cI had lost belief that I would see it with this generation of players \u2013 and I lost belief several times during the game. It was never going to be easy, and it never looked easy, but we\u2019ve done it, against the odds. No one can take that away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Colours are more vivid and winter is so much better now\u2019<\/p>\n

Ryan Wilkinson says he is \u201cstill on a high\u201d after watching Scotland\u2019s victory.\u201cI feel absolutely fantastic,\u201d he says from his home in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. \u201cColours are more vivid and winter is so much better now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson, 52, a manager at Royal Mail, watched the game at home with his English wife.\u201cI was living through every minute,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t think I was shouting that loudly at the TV but apparently I was \u2013 I even set the dog off barking. It took an hour for my heart rate to go below 100 after the match. I was so happy, beyond words, and very emotional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilkinson, who is originally from Livingston in West Lothian, describes himself as a \u201clongsuffering supporter of Scotland\u201d. \u201cI remember the 1998 World Cup. I was running a pub in Stoke and watched Scotland lose to Brazil,\u201d he says. \u201cThe pub was empty and there were these buckets of vodka drinks on promotion. I cracked them open and drowned my sorrows, I was inconsolable. But now I cannot wipe the smile off my face. I am bouncing around.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says he has been \u201cracking up\u201d air miles and is tempted to use them to travel to watch Scotland in the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u2018The venue exploded\u2019<\/p>\n

Ann Falconer, 58, was watching Bob Mould rocking \u00d2ran M\u00f3r in Glasgow at the time of the game, \u201cbut half the audience had their phones on the match live scores\u201d, she says. \u201cAt two-all there was a quiet resignation setting in, but after the fourth goal the venue exploded with cheers and people jumping for joy. I\u2019m not sure Bob knew why there was such an increase in applause and appreciation mid-song.\u201d<\/p>\n

The celebrations spilled out into the street after the gig. \u201cIt was a really special atmosphere. The pub we were in had people singing \u2018Scotland\u2019s on fire\u2019 to the tune of Freed from Desire by Gala, as well as Caledonia, Loch Lomond and Dignity. Good-natured Danish fans congratulated us and joined in the celebrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Falconer has followed Scotland since she was 10. \u201cI remember the pain of Ally\u2019s Army in Argentina 1978. It has felt like a lifetime of high hopes and then seemingly predictable lows for Scotland.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be honest, I thought we\u2019d lead until the last minute and then typically concede a late goal. It was such a joy and novelty that it worked out the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Whatever happens, it\u2019ll be a rollercoaster\u2019Jonathan Sharp at a VfB Stuttgart match in 2023. Photograph: Guardian Community<\/p>\n

\u201cI went into the game with a positive feeling,\u201d says Jonathan Sharp, 48, a Scottish university lecturer living in Germany. \u201cAnd even when Denmark kept equalising, I felt it was in the stars for Scotland this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp watched the match online with his two sons, who support their parents\u2019 countries, Scotland and Germany. \u201cThe younger one is only eight, and when I told him Scotland had qualified for the World Cup he kind of shrugged his shoulders,\u201d he says. \u201cIn his memory it\u2019s kind of a foregone conclusion that Germany qualifies.\u201d<\/p>\n

His older son was slightly more impressed. \u201cHe\u2019s turning 13 and I\u2019ve told him stories about watching Mexico 86 with my dad, so I think he\u2019s starting to get into the Tartan Army culture, if I can call it that. When he supports Germany, he expects success \u2013 at least the semi-finals \u2013 whereas with Scotland he has more of a siege mentality. He\u2019s got used to the fact that every game is a do-or-die situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my German friends don\u2019t watch the qualifiers, and many don\u2019t even watch the group games in tournaments \u2013 they only tune in once it gets to the knockout rounds. The way I see it, being a Scotland fan is so much richer. Last night was a cup final for us. And now we\u2019ve got the World Cup to look forward to. Whatever happens, it\u2019ll be a rollercoaster, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scotland have qualified for the men\u2019s football World Cup for the first time in 28 years after beating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-273325","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}