Fans of the World

One week into the World Cup, one thing has been extremely noticeable.  The fans.  Soccer fans are lunatics.  Everybody knows this.  As Americans, we normally only get to see it from afar.  That hasn't been the case at the World Cup.  That passion has been on full display for everyone to see.  And it's been amazing!

Last Saturday was the first game at MetLife Stadium.  It featured Brazil.  Yellow-clad fans didn't just fill the stadium, they took over Manhattan!  The game ended right before Game 5 of the NBA Finals began.  The intermingling of the Brazil fans and the Knick fans created such a crazy, incredible party-like atmosphere.  Times Square was really the place to be!  It must've felt like New Year's Eve!

Brazil isn't the only South American nation whose fans have traveled well.  Every South American team in the tournament has.  Messi's 2026 World Cup debut might as well have been an Argentina home game.  It was played in Kansas City!  The Uruguayan faithful showed up in Miami.  And Azteca was also sea of yellow for Colombia's first game.  I can only imagine what the streets of those cities were like!

It's been so fun, too, to see FOX (or maybe it's the world feed, but it doesn't matter) cutting to the fans who aren't in stadiums cheering on their nation of choice at fan fests or bars across the country.  During the Canada-Bosnia game, they showed a packed house at a bar in St. Louis, which has the largest Bosnian population in the country.  Who knew?!  And I'm sure there were many similar situations going on in those different pockets of heavily ethnic communities all over the country.

That's been the case in the stadiums, too.  Seemingly every team has gotten support not just from their own fans, but from the Americans of that ethnicity who live in (or close to) the host city.  That was the case for Iranian-Americans in LA.  Despite the hostilities between the two nations and the fact that there's a travel ban in effect, Iran still had its fair share of supporters.  As I'm sure we'll see with other countries playing in other cities.

The United States is such a melting pot, though, that it almost doesn't even matter where you are.  You'll find fans wearing jerseys from different countries everywhere!  Case in point, I was wearing my Christian Pulisic jersey for the USA's opening game last Friday.  I'm walking down the street on my way to do some errands and I see a lady sitting in her car wearing...a Paraguay jersey!  That obviously led to some good-natured pointing to our respective national team's crest for a few seconds!

We knew that Mexico's games would have partisan home crowds.  We weren't sure how it would be in the U.S. and Canada.  After all, the U.S. often feels like the road team at friendlies played anywhere in the country, thanks to the people who live in that area supporting the nation of their family's heritage rather than the USMT.  Well, I'm happy to report, that the U.S. actually got to enjoy a home crowd in its opener against Paraguay.  And, at both of Canada's games, the fans have been almost entirely clad in red and rooting for the home team.

U.S. Head Coach Mauricio Pocchetino said that the opening game against Paraguay in Los Angeles was the first time he ever felt the crowd rooting for his team.  They'll have even more of a home field advantage against Australia in Seattle, which is a decidedly pro-American soccer city.  They obviously set it up so that the U.S. would play in cities that were more likely to support them over their opponent, but there's no way to know for sure that will be the case until the tournament actually starts.  Well, the American Outlaws got the memo and showed up to make sure the home team actually had home field advantage.

Teams don't even need to win for their fans to show tremendous displays of emotion.  Curacao lost 7-1.  But they also scored a goal.  Against Germany.  In their World Cup debut.  That moment alone is worth its weight in gold.  So is Cape Verde's performance against Spain, a 0-0 draw that turned their goalkeeper into an overnight sensation.  That may be the only point Cape Verde earns at the World Cup.  So what?  Their fans got to relish their tiny nation going toe-to-toe with Spain.

There's one fan group that is the undisputed winners of World Cup so far, though.  Scotland's Tartan Army.  They absolutely took over Boston.  To the point where the bars ran out of beer!  (Boston + Scottish fans = not a good combination.)  They had "Scotland Night" at Fenway Park, and the sound of bagpipes could be heard as they marched their way to the ballpark.

If you think the Tartan Army has limited itself to New England, you'd be sadly mistaken.  They took up an entire section at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday!  Throughout the game on Wednesday night, they were treating it just like a soccer game, standing and chanting virtually the entire time.  To say they drew the crowd's attention would be an understatement.  Their group grew as the game went on, with fans from other countries and even random other people making their way over and joining in the fun.  After the game, I asked one of them why they were in New York while Scotland's first two games are in Boston.  His response was "Why not?  We'll go back to Boston for the game."  It's Scotland's first World Cup in 28 years.  Their fans are making sure to enjoy the experience.

Scottish fans are far from alone, too.  Fans from all over many be here for the World Cup, but they're taking full advantage of being in the United States.  So, as my Scottish friend said, why not go to a baseball game while you're here?  And it's the Americans who've been the biggest beneficiaries.  It's just a small glimpse, but it's enough to see the incredible passion that's displayed everywhere else in the world.

All of this has me really excited for the Norway-Senegal game, when I'll get to see it for myself.  That's one of the biggest reasons I wanted to go to one of the games.  Any game.  It didn't matter.  The atmosphere will be electric regardless.  I went in thinking I'll end up rooting for Senegal because their fans seem more fun.  Then I saw the Norwegians with their Viking helmets and rowing chant, so maybe not.  It'll probably end up being a gametime decision now.

When the United States was chosen as the primary host for this World Cup, this is what they hoped/expected would happen.  People coming from all over the world plus Americans of every nationality mixing together in one raucous celebration.  So far, that's exactly what's happened.  For all the pre-tournament concerns about people not coming because of the cost or having trouble getting a visa or whatever other reason, plenty of fans have shown up from all over the world.  And they've turned the World Cup into one big party.  A party that American fans in the host cities appear more than happy to join.