Hours before the England-Croatia match, Scottish fans had taken over The Dubliner, an Irish pub in downtown Boston, turning it into a noisy, beer-soaked celebration of anything but England. The crowd outside stretched about 300 meters, and inside every table was packed with people in blue shirts, kilts, and pints in hand. One Scottish fan summed up the mood: “It’s better to be anything but an England fan. Today I’m all for Croatia.”
The atmosphere was defined by open hostility toward England and endless drinking. The article says the Scots emptied the bar’s supplies, with the floor sticky from spilled beer and waitresses moving through the crowd with huge trays. Local news in Boston, the piece jokes, should begin that week with weather updates and beer inventory. The city’s supply had been drained in one night in volumes usually seen only around July 4, which was also approaching.
The anti-English feeling seemed almost inherited. A 12-year-old boy was heard shouting insults at England, while every Croatia goal triggered fresh rounds of beer, hugs, and kisses. England goals drew disappointed sighs, but not a slowdown in drinking. On that night, the match itself barely mattered to the bar’s patrons.
At one point, an older Scot entered playing the bagpipes, drawing singalongs from every table. A young couple even showed matching tattoos of the Scottish flag and the 2026 World Cup logo. Scotland have not reached the World Cup since the era when the world was preparing for Y2K, and the fans were eager to celebrate that hope, even if it was excessive. One fan, Jake, said, “This is the best thing that ever happened to me. A World Cup without Scotland is not the same.” Outside, another Scottish fan danced with a local woman’s poodle to the bagpipes, and the owner filmed the scene. By the end, The Dubliner had become, for one night, a loud, drunk, happy Scottish enclave that mostly ignored England’s win over Croatia.
