We've got the best fans in the world
The oldest rivalry in international football resurfaces not on a pitch but in the conscience of Scottish supporters, as England advances toward a World Cup final Scotland will never reach. Rooted in 1872, shaped by 1966, and sharpened by decades of asymmetrical media coverage and unfulfilled Scottish dreams, the question of whether to cheer for one's nearest neighbour reveals how deeply sport can carry the weight of history, identity, and the quiet ache of perpetual underdog status. Some Scots will cheer for Argentina; a few will quietly back England; most will simply take what they can get.
- England is two wins from ending sixty years of World Cup heartbreak — and for Scotland, that prospect stings more than any defeat of their own.
- Scotland crashed out in the group stage again, leaving their fans to watch England's unlikely march toward glory with a mixture of envy, resentment, and dark humour.
- A YouGov poll lays bare the imbalance: 31% of Scots want England to fail, while only 3% of English people return the sentiment — a rivalry that burns far hotter on one side of the border.
- Glasgow sports shops are stocked with Argentina jerseys while England shirts gather dust, a commercial echo of a pattern that dates back to the 1998 World Cup.
- Cross-border family ties and personal histories complicate the 'anyone but England' instinct, with roughly one in ten Scots quietly backing the Three Lions in knockout rounds.
- Scotland's Tartan Army, beloved across the world for their warmth and good humour, are left to find dignity not in victory but in the pride of how they support — taking what they can get.
England stands two matches from ending six decades of World Cup longing, with Argentina waiting in the semi-final. For Scottish fans, the prospect has triggered a familiar crisis of conscience: support the nearest neighbours, or follow the deep-rooted instinct to back literally anyone else?
The rivalry is the oldest in international football, born in 1872 when both nations claimed to have invented the game. Scotland dominated early, but 1966 changed everything — England won the World Cup, and Scotland never has. This year, qualifying for their first tournament since 1998, Scotland's men crashed out in the opening round, leaving supporters to watch from the sidelines.
Hamish Husband, who organises the Tartan Army and was partly raised in England, cannot bring himself to watch England matches. The guilt of wanting them to lose is too much — yet he insists Scotland couldn't live with an England victory. His grievance is not with the players but with the media dynamic: English commentators speaking of 'our nation' in ways that grate on Scottish viewers, while Scotland's own anthem celebrates sending an English army home.
The picture is more nuanced than pure antagonism. A YouGov poll found 31% of Scots wanted England to perform poorly, against just 3% of English people hoping Scotland would fail. Yet roughly one in ten Scots said they would actively support England — a figure that mirrors the half-million English-born residents living in Scotland. Robbie McSkimming, a Scotland supporter from Dunfermline, has backed England in knockout stages since childhood, drawn in by their star-studded lineups on Match of the Day. He sees the 'anyone but England' mentality as harmless fun rather than real hostility.
The sentiment has taken visible form nonetheless. Glasgow sports shops are stocked with Argentina jerseys while England shirts sit unsold — a pattern that echoes 1998, when an Ayrshire factory produced thousands of blue and white strips to meet Scottish demand. SNP MP Lara Bird laughed off her own support for Mexico and Norway as light-hearted, though critics were less amused. Many Scots, however, simply ask why they should be expected to cheer for the Auld Enemy at all — a feeling not unlike New Zealanders watching Australia dominate, or any smaller nation living in the sporting shadow of a larger one.
Hamish spent last month in the United States with the Tartan Army, where he says Scottish fans were received with extraordinary warmth. Having watched his team exit early once again, he offered a reflection tinged with resignation: Scotland may never win a World Cup, and England might yet become champions. But Scotland, he insisted, has the best fans in the world. When you support Scotland, you learn to take what you can get.
England stands two matches from ending six decades of unfulfilled World Cup dreams, with Argentina waiting in the semi-final. For Scottish football fans, this prospect has created an unexpected crisis of conscience. Should they support their nearest neighbours, or embrace the deeply rooted instinct to back literally anyone else?
The rivalry between Scotland and England is the oldest in international football, born in 1872 when both nations claimed to have invented the sport. In those early years, Scotland dominated, spreading the passing game across Europe. But 1966 changed everything. England won the World Cup. Scotland never has, not even past the group stage. This year, qualifying for their first tournament since 1998, Scotland's men crashed out again in the opening round, leaving their supporters to watch England's unlikely march toward glory from the sidelines.
Hamish Husband, who organises the Tartan Army and was partly raised in England, does not watch England matches. The guilt of wanting them to lose is too much. When asked how Scotland could live with an England World Cup victory, his answer is simple: they couldn't. It is not about the players or the manager, he explains. It is about the big brother dynamic—and more specifically, about English media coverage that speaks of "our nation" and "our country" in ways that rankle Scottish viewers forced to hear English commentators narrate English triumph. Scotland's national anthem, after all, celebrates sending an invading English army home to "think again."
Yet the picture is more textured than pure antagonism. A YouGov poll before the tournament found that 31 percent of Scots wanted England to perform poorly, compared to just 3 percent of English people hoping Scotland would fail. But roughly one in ten Scots said they would actively support England—a proportion that roughly matches the 506,207 people living in Scotland who were born in England, according to the 2022 census. Family ties cut across the border. Robbie McSkimming, a committed Scotland supporter from Dunfermline, grew up with little to celebrate from his own team. As a child discovering football, watching England's star-studded lineup on Match of the Day proved irresistible. He has backed the Three Lions in knockout stages ever since, and sees the "anyone but England" mentality as harmless fun rather than genuine hostility.
But the summer has seen the sentiment take visible form. Glasgow sports shops stock Argentina jerseys in abundance—a nod to England's fierce rivalry with South America—while England shirts sit unsold. During the 1998 World Cup, when England last faced Argentina in a knockout tie, one Ayrshire factory manufactured thousands of blue and white jerseys to meet Scottish demand. The pattern repeats. Even King Charles acknowledged the unlikelihood of the Tartan Army cheering "with full voice" for England after Scotland's elimination.
SNP MP Lara Bird, who is half English, told a BBC programme last week that Scots had become "really passionate" supporters of Mexico and Norway specifically because those teams were playing England. She laughed it off as light-hearted fun, but critics called it pathetic. Yet to many Scots, the question cuts the other way: why should they be expected to support the "Auld Enemy" at all? The dynamic is not unique to Britain. New Zealanders, watching their larger neighbour Australia dominate major tournaments, feel a similar sting. Jared McMillan, a New Zealander now based in New York, describes watching Australia play in Melbourne as "insufferable"—a sentiment that mirrors, he suggests, how Scots regard England's success.
Hamish spent last month in the United States with the Tartan Army, where he says Scottish fans became "more popular than Taylor Swift." But having watched his team exit at the group stage once again, he offered a reflection tinged with resignation. Scotland's football team may never win a World Cup. England might become champions. But Scotland, he insisted, has the best fans in the world. When you support Scotland, you take what you can get.
Citações Notáveis
How could we live with it?— Hamish Husband, Tartan Army organiser, on the prospect of England winning the World Cup
England is our big brother, and sometimes you don't want your big brother to do well, do you?— Hamish Husband
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does this feel so different from other sports rivalries? Why does England's success seem to sting Scotland more than, say, Germany's success stings France?
Because England is not distant. They share a border, a language, a media space. Scottish fans watch English commentators celebrate English victories on the same channels they watch their own team fail. It is intimate in a way that makes it harder to ignore.
But there are English people living in Scotland, Scottish people with English family. How do they navigate this?
They live inside the contradiction. Some of them simply choose to support whoever they feel closer to—England, Wales, Northern Ireland. Others, like Robbie, grew up with so little to celebrate from Scotland that supporting England felt natural. The rivalry is real, but it is not absolute.
Is this really about football, or is it about something deeper—about power, about being the smaller nation?
It is both. The football is the vessel. Scotland has never won a World Cup. England won in 1966 and has been reminded of it ever since. When you are the smaller nation watching your bigger neighbour succeed repeatedly, the sting is real. It is not just about sport.
What would happen if Scotland actually qualified for a final and England was their opponent?
That would be the ultimate test. The rivalry would become unavoidable. Right now, Scots can support Argentina or Norway or Mexico because England is the threat. If Scotland were in the final, the choice would be impossible to avoid.
Do you think this will change?
Not soon. The asymmetry is too deep—31 percent of Scots want England to fail, but only 3 percent of English people want Scotland to fail. That gap tells you everything. England does not think about Scotland the way Scotland thinks about England.