A blue wave has crashed into the United States.
Scottish fans — back at the World Cup after 28 years thanks to a dominant qualifying campaign — are turning out in huge numbers on the East Coast.
Flight bookings from the UK to host cities such as Boston and Miami have skyrocketed, up around 1,000% year-on-year during the World Cup period.
Although the figure also includes fans from the rest of the UK, it’s mostly Scotland that’s fueling this surge, according to airfare comparison site FlightsFinder.
‘Party central’ atmosphere in Boston
“All flights were full of Scotland fans,” says John Finnigan, a Scottish fan who flew in from Edinburgh.
He told Europe in Motion he’s seeing “thousands” of them around and that the atmosphere in Boston is “top class. Party central.”
Finnigan also followed the Scottish team to France in 1998. This time, he brought his son, Joe, with him to the US.
Scotland’s first game was a tight yet three-point-worthy 1-0 against Haiti.
With clashes against Morocco and Brazil ahead, will the Tartan Army’s support be enough to carry the team through to the knockouts?
Finnigan is confident. “The next two games are tough, but one draw should put us through,” he said.
German fans are also flying in thick and fast, with bookings doubling (+100%) compared to last year, according to FlightsFinder. They’ll be spread across Toronto, Canada, New Jersey, and Houston.
The Germans are also renowned for their organisation and efficiency, and it appears to have played a role here too. The figures show that they are the European fans who booked their US flight tickets the earliest: an average of 138 days before the start of the group stage.
The effort so far is paying off, as the Mannschaft opened its campaign with a rumbling 7-1 over Curaçao, which made its World Cup debut this year.
Another surge to host cities came from Turkish fans, who are taking over California (+85%), said FlightsFinder.
Portuguese supporters have also crossed the Atlantic in large numbers (+45%), in addition to French fans (+30%) who are hoping for a record third consecutive World Cup final.
Outside Europe, a notable spike is coming from Morocco.
According to FlightsFinder, Royal Air Maroc had to add 8,800 extra seats to accommodate demand between the 13-27 June window.
It appears that Morocco is going through the peak of its football history, following a fourth-place finish at the 2022 World Cup and a final in the last Africa Cup of Nations. The promising draw against Brazil on Sunday is further fueling enthusiasm around the Lions of the Atlas.
On the flip side, bad news for their neighbours, and European champions, Spain.
The country has seen a -26% downturn in bookings, “as fans historically prefer staying at home and have set up huge fan zones in their native country”, FlightsFinder said.
“This, combined with soaring flight prices, has contributed to the majority of the population staying put,” it told Europe in Motion.
Another European nation that hasn’t joined the travel rush is Switzerland, where bookings to World Cup host cities dropped by 3%.
Norway is down too, despite returning to the World Cup after 28 years, with bookings declining by around 5%.