It was around 2.28am in the UK that John McGinn ended 28, arguably 36, years of hurt – and anyone daft enough to be asleep will surely have stirred as chants of “no Scotland, no party” echoed from Boston to Glasgow.
The scenes after McGinn’s deflected goal and Scotland’s 1-0 defeat of Haiti were joyous. Sheer unbridled happiness. And relief.
Dead-of-night watch parties were held across Scotland, the biggest at the Ovo Hydro arena in Glasgow, where more than 5,000 fans celebrated Scotland’s first World Cup match since 1998.
When the final whistle blew, drinks went flying in the air and the noise raised the roof.
For neutrals, the match between the 42nd Fifa-ranked team (Scotland) and the 83rd (Haiti) was not a great footballing spectacle. It was a laboured, anxiety-inducing victory, but nobody cared. For Scotland, a win is a win.
“It was really good, but I think we could have done better,” said 12-year-old Darcy Morrison, who was watching in Glasgow with her mother and brother. “I thought we were going to beat them 4-0 but we didn’t.”
Denise Rae, 52, from Aberdeen, was dressed in a Scotland bucket hat and sunglasses. “It was amazing,” she said. “It’s been a long time coming. Come on, Scotland, we can do it. Let’s get to the next round.”
Fiona Barrie, 24, said the game had been a “big deal” for her sister, Dee. “She was born the last time Scotland were in the World Cup, she was 74 minutes old at the final whistle. So it’s a big deal for her,” she said.
William MacGregor, 41, from Dumbarton, described the post-goal atmosphere as “bouncing … Drinks were flying everywhere when the goal went in. Not mine, I kept mine.”
Scotland’s last World Cup appearance was 28 years ago, but the last victory was even further back – a 2-1 win against Sweden in 1990, which included Mo Johnston hammering home a late penalty.
Among the famous names in the stadium for Sunday’s match was Rod Stewart, who cancelled a gig in San Diego on Friday because of illness. Hours later, he posted a clip of himself and two of his sons on a private jet to Boston singing: “no Scotland, no party”.
Stewart, 81, said he had been to six World Cups and that if Scotland could get through to the next round, “I’ll die a happy man”.
Also in the 64,000-plus crowd were the actors Gerard Butler and Martin Compston, the singer Clare Grogan and the chef Gordon Ramsay, who visited the players before the match, reportedly telling them: “Let’s fucking go!”
There were reports at the weekend that the thousands of Scotland fans who had converged on Boston before the match had gone some way to drinking the city dry.
One fan spoken to by WBZ News at Logan airport said his only complaint about the flight to Boston had been that “we ran out of beer”. Another said he was about to drink his duty-free whisky before hitting the town. “I want to find Cheers,” he said.
The Boston Globe described thousands of “kilt-wearing, bagpipe-playing” Scottish fans as taking over parts of the city. After the final whistle it was “time for even more beers”, the newspaper’s reporter at City Hall Plaza wrote. Callum Liddle, 29, who had travelled from Scotland to Boston, said: “It’s the best day of my life.”
The Scottish first minister, John Swinney, was also at the match. After the final whistle he described the team as outstanding and said the Tartan Army had been “great ambassadors for Scotland”.
“I can tell you, there’s not as lovely a feeling as being the first first minister in Scotland to see Scotland win a game in a World Cup,” he said.
In Boston the morning after, the kilts had largely been put away and people were nursing sore heads with big smiles as they gathered around the Common.
“The game was a typical Scotland game but we sneaked it so that’s fine”, said Jordan Davidson, in town from Aberdeen on a joint trip with his daughter, Molly. “The whole week we’ve been here has been great. The bars have been brilliant, people have been wonderful and the atmosphere at the game was fantastic. Haitian people were lovely, they were singing, they were dancing and the Tartan Army were just on first-class form. As you can probably hear from my throat.”
Molly wasn’t born the last time Scotland got a win at the World Cup and didn’t want to tempt fate by predicting another, with Scotland still to face Morocco and Brazil in Group C. “I’m scared to predict anything at this stage. I think that’s exactly what a Scotland fan would say, right? But I’m really happy to just be here now and have these memories, especially with my dad. Yesterday with the Haitian fans, seeing everybody dancing together, coming together, even though you’re technically opponents – I think that’s what sums up the World Cup and to experience that firsthand has been incredible.”
The victory means Scotland are top of their group, after Brazil drew with Morocco. Although not mathematically certain, things will really have to turn for them not to qualify.
For Haiti the result is clearly disappointing, but to even qualify for tournament was a massive achievement. There were no home fixtures because of the humanitarian crisis and gang violence in the country.
For Sunday’s match, most councils in Scotland extended the licensing hours of bars and clubs. The hospitality trade expects to see a sales boost of about 40%.
There will be headaches, but the king has approved Swinney’s proposal of a Scotland bank holiday on Monday 15 June. So who cares?
