A Few Highlights from the World Cup

It's the World Cup season so we have to discuss all things soccer! The World Cup fever has certainly taken over Boston, with Gillette Stadium, or as it’s now being called Boston Stadium, hosting 5 groups stage matches, a round of 32 match and a quarter final match.  Most notably thus far have been the Scots, also known as the Tartan Army. Scotland has not qualified for a World Cup in 28 years, since 1998. Additionally, their 1-0 victory over Haiti earned them their first win since their win in the 1990 World Cup

Scotland team celebrates after John McGinn's goal Photo by Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

The Tartan Army has made their presence known since they arrived, showing up in their kilts and bag pipes. They have taken over public transportation and the streets with their proud support for the Scotland Men's National Team. And for those who don't know the Tartan Army, they are the fans of the Scotland national team. The photos and videos are all over social media, with a few photos shown below in case you haven’t had the privilege of seeing them.  

The Tartan Army takes over Boston Common - Photo by Andrew Milligan/Getty Images

Scotland marches to Fenway Park after their big win on Saturday Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Getty Images

Other than the lovely win for Scotland, the other highlight thus far involving the Tartan Army is their take over of Fenway Park. The Scottish celebration at Fenway was on Sunday June 14, and included an exclusive Red Sox x Scottish jersey. The Scottish were out in a large pack at Fenway singing, cheering and continuing their celebrations of Scotland's victory from the previous night. The sea of blue took over Fenway for the night.

The Scotland fans at Fenway Park - Photo by Natalie Reid/Getty Images

Also of note, the World Cup games that took place on Monday June 15, all ended in a draw. In group H and G all the teams are level at one point a piece. Perhaps one of the most surprising matches of the World Cup so far is the Cape Verde and Spain match, which ended in a nil-nil draw. Cape Verde came into the match ranked 67th in the world by FIFA. They are the third smallest country to qualify for the World Cup. They made their World Cup debut against a Spanish side that are the reigning European champions, ranked 2nd in the world by FIFA and predicted to go far in the tournament. 

This draw is essentially a win for Cape Verde and a shocking loss for Spain. Everyone had predicted that Spain would come out dominantly and score four or five goals. However, despite Spain's 27 shots and 7 of those being on target, they were unable to put any of them in the back of the net. Spain had many great chances, but Cape Verde’s own Vozinha was a brick wall in net. A hero for the Cape Verdians, but also a hero of the tournament. At 40 years old he showed that age is simply a number, and dreams can be achieved at any age. Further highlighting this is the fact that he didn't start playing as a professional goal keeper until he was 25. (Vozinha has become an overnight social media sensation, as well. At the time of this post he now had 10.8 million followers.) Regardless of what happens next, he and the team are heroes and have made us all fans, and made their country very proud. 

One of Vozinha' many incredible saves - Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Cape Verde's hero - Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images

This is what sport is all about! The unexpected outcomes and heroes. The unity and stories have us all coming back for more, even if you’re not an avid sports fan.