Last week, Scottish and Moroccan fans danced together in the streets of Boston. They sang together before their match, supported each other during it, and kept celebrating long after the final whistle.
For days, the city felt different. Fans from Haiti, Brazil and dozens of other countries filled City Hall Plaza, crowded onto trains, packed bars, and spilled into neighborhoods across Greater Boston. Strangers swapped jerseys and dribbled in public squares.
The World Cup arrived and Boston became the kind of place we wish it could be more often: united.
Sports are often portrayed as another source of division. We cheer for our team and against others. What unfolded in Boston over the past week offered a different type of fandom.
The Tartan Army traveled to support Scotland. They did that passionately. They sang loudly, marched proudly, and turned every gathering into the best kind of spectacle. They filled Fenway Park with kilts and topped our statues with cones. Their energy became the defining story of the tournament's opening week.
But what made the Tartan Army memorable wasn't their enthusiasm for Scotland. It was the way they welcomed everyone else into their community.
Visitors shared tables at pubs and met distant relatives (I saw this happen!). Local residents learned the words to unfamiliar chants. Fans from competing nations posed for photos together. Meals were bought, tabs were picked up and hospitality was extended at every turn. The atmosphere felt less like a sporting event and more like a global block party. Why?
Because the best sports culture isn't tribal. It's participatory.
It doesn't ask us to choose between supporting our team and embracing everyone else's. It makes room for both.
We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what divides us: politics, ideology, identity. Social media gives us a front-row seat to disagreement every day. Yet over the past week, ordinary people demonstrated another possibility.
The Tartan Army has moved south. The temporary fan zones will eventually disappear. The World Cup will end but the lesson should stay with us.
Community doesn't begin in government buildings. It begins in public squares. On sidewalks. In stadiums. Around high tops over a pint.
If you haven't made it downtown yet, go.
Don’t know a thing about soccer? Doesn’t matter. The most important thing happening in Boston right now isn’t on the field. It's what's happening between people.