Setting the stage: Can Glasgow 2026 build on the soft power of the Tartan Army?

On the pitch, Scotland’s World Cup finished in disappointment. It ended a 36-year wait for a victory in the tournament with a win over Haiti, but that ultimately couldn’t compensate for defeats to Brazil and Morocco, while nations of a similar size such as Norway and Cape Verde showed what was possible with deeper runs into the tournament. The sense of underachievement was compounded when Steve Clarke announced his resignation in the aftermath. 

But as the players struggled to leave their mark, the same could not be said of the Tartan Army. In Boston, Miami and beyond, Scottish supporters won friends, filled bars and streets, and generated the kind of goodwill that governments spend years trying to cultivate. Long after the tournament’s results are forgotten, many locals will remember the Scottish fans who lit up their cities.

In particular, a lasting relationship has been forged between the Scots and Bostonians. Local businesses boomed, with bar owners claiming Scots drank three or four times the amount of alcohol typically consumed on St Patrick’s Day. The iconic Fenway Park, home to the baseball team Boston Red Sox, was filled with Scottish fans who had marched in procession to the ground in their thousands as if it were a World Cup fixture. The Tartan Army also donated over $30,000 to local children’s charities in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.  

The city of Boston took to the Scots so well that it announced it would be twinning with Glasgow after signing a letter of intent last month at its only Scottish bar, which served as the unofficial Tartan Army headquarters throughout the tournament, with a formal agreement to follow next April during Tartan Week. 

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who wore a Scotland top for the announcement, thanked the Tartan Army for “making our city come alive”. 

“We are the city of champions, so we knew that this was going to be a great experience for us,” Wu said. 

“But I think we’ve won one more title this time around: Boston is clearly the best host city for the World Cup right now, and that is, thanks in large part to the Tartan Army.” 

She added: “What has been most beautiful about this whole experience is not just seeing fans who are as passionate about your teams, your heritage, your culture as Boston fans are, but then seeing those connections built across different cultures too.” 

One of the USA’s most famous local newspapers, The Boston Globe, dedicated a full page to the Scots. It read: “Dear Tartan Army, you came for the World Cup but gave us something more.  
“For a week, you turned train stations into sing-alongs, Fenway into a football ground, and an ordinary June into something we’ll be talking about for years.  

“Boston has hosted championships, parades, and celebrations of every kind. But we’ve never hosted guests quite like you all.  

“Thank you for the laughter, the bagpipes and the memories. The World Cup will move on. So will the songs, but we’ll never forget the joy you brought to our city.” 

Scotland’s long history with football and Brazil was celebrated ahead of the two nations’ clash when Faroque Hussain, honorary consul of Brazil in Scotland, presented the world’s oldest known football to Fifa president Gianni Infantino and a group of Brazilian footballing legends. The ball dates from the 1540s and was discovered behind wooden panelling in the Queen’s Chamber at Stirling Castle in the 1970s. Historians believe it may have been used by a young Mary, Queen of Scots. Hussain also presented the Spirit of Brazil tartan, which Holyrood wrote about last month.

But with Scotland’s journey at an end and the tournament wrapping up last week, another event is on the horizon – the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.  

It’s fair to say there isn’t as much hype around this event as there was ahead of Glasgow 2014, when it felt as though the world’s eyes were on Scotland in the wake of the successful London Olympics. The reality this time is that it is a very different event.

The games were awarded to Glasgow in September 2024 after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew due to escalating costs, with funding for Glasgow 2026 primarily coming from the Commonwealth Games Federation and commercial sources. It is being delivered on a budget of around £150m, almost £400m less than Glasgow 2014, with £100m provided by Commonwealth Sport/Commonwealth Games Federation funding, a further £2.3m from Commonwealth Games Australia, and the remaining roughly £45-50m expected to come from commercial revenues such as ticket sales, sponsorship, broadcasting rights and merchandise.  

There is also a far shorter lead-in time than Scotland had to prepare for 2014. The previous games were awarded in 2007, allowing seven years to complete major infrastructure projects, such as the Tollcross International Swimming Centre upgrade, the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, the Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, and the Athletes’ Village in the east end of the city, as well as multiple road, rail, and walking upgrades. There will not be any of these kinds of projects or upgrades this time around. 

This is a much smaller games than 12 years ago, with only 10 sports and six para sports. However, the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games are expected to attract around 3,000 athletes from 74 nations and territories. Additionally, there are 500,000 tickets on sale, and the influx of visitors is still expected to significantly boost the local economy.      

Walking around the city centre of Glasgow, it feels different to how it did in 2014. Ahead of those games, Glasgow undertook extensive cleaning and beautification measures around the city centre, including street cleaning, landscaping and public area improvements, and used George Square to host medal ceremonies and city-centre fan and cultural events for visitors and television audiences. 

Two weeks before the tournament, the Commonwealth Games signs with Eilish McColgan and Duncan Scott are hung out along Buchanan Street – people know it’s happening. However, the city centre, at least, doesn’t feel as ready. George Square is boarded up and closed off to the public. The bronze statues have been removed, grass and walkways have been dug up as part of a major refurbishment project as part of the Glasgow City Region Deal, which was in planning before the games were announced for the city. Argyle Street and Sauchiehall Street, once thriving parts of the high street, look like a shell of their former self, dirty and devoid, in large part, of decent shops. 

And, sadly, Glasgow is still recovering from the Union Street fire which destroyed Forsyth House and caused the temporary closure of Central Station in March. The station has now reopened, and the street and main entrance of the station are expected to reopen a week before the opening ceremony on 23 July.  

Away from the city centre, there is more of a feeling that Glasgow is a city that is ready to host the games; Scotstoun Stadium has undergone a transformation, including a new world-class athletics track and temporary stands bringing its capacity to over 10,000. 

As well as that venue, the games will be held across the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, the Glasgow International Arena, and the Scottish Events Campus (SEC).  

The city doesn’t feel like the showcase it did in 2014, when the Commonwealth Games seemed impossible to ignore. The signs of Glasgow 2026 are more subtle. Yet that reflects the different expectations surrounding these Games.

Gayle McPherson, professor of events and cultural policy at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and director of its Centre for Culture, Sport and Events, was part of the bid team for Glasgow 2014, writing the cultural and legacy element, and is currently on the board of Commonwealth Games Scotland as the director of legacy and community engagement. She tells Holyrood that Scotland is “a multi-sport event nation”, having held the UCI World Cycling Championships, the Davis Cup twice, the World Gymnastics Championships, the inaugural European Championships (with Berlin), and the European Indoor Athletics Championships all within the last 10 years.  

She says the vision for these games is very different from that of 12 years ago. “We have a vision about it being the most sustainable games, that is more inclusive with the 10 sports and six para sports, which ensures we have a really integrated approach. 

“Of course it’s been a really short turnaround, and it’s only possible to hold this event because we’re using existing facilities and hotels rather than building an athlete’s village.” 

Increased inclusivity, while moving away from the model of the Olympic Games, will be part of the legacy of Glasgow 2026. The Commonwealth Games’ 10-year vision of moving away from the traditional mega-event model and creating smaller, cheaper, more sustainable and more flexible games that a wider range of countries can afford to host is the goal, and this was set out in Commonwealth Sport’s 2023 strategy. Glasgow 2026 is the first real test of that model.

McPherson hopes it will lay the foundations for a new era for the games, allowing for smaller and developing nations to host in the future.  

Earlier this month, the King’s Baton Relay was used as a showcase for the games’ sustainability agenda. The relay was tied to a Commonwealth-wide campaign to stop one million pieces of plastic entering oceans and waterways, and the traditional relay format was redesigned to reduce its footprint and increase community participation. Organisers described it as part of the “reimagined” Commonwealth Games model aimed at making future games cheaper and greener, with 75 per cent of supply chain contracts handed out by organisers to local firms, which McPherson says has contributed to a more sustainable event. 

But what will the legacy and benefit be for Scotland? First Minister John Swinney described Glasgow 2026 as an opportunity to build on the country’s global brand following renewed international focus on Scotland’s national men’s football team and their travelling supporters at the World Cup. 

Swinney said: “The Tartan Army captured the hearts of millions following their team in the World Cup finals tournament. Through Glasgow 2026 we have an exciting opportunity to build on our global brand and show the world what a fantastic place Scotland is to live, work, study and do business in, and to visit.” 

As part of its Summer of Sport initiative, the Scottish Government has invested £20m into a nationwide programme of free and low-cost sporting activities for children and young people, “encouraging a new generation to enjoy taking part in physical activity”. 

David McGillivray, chair of event and digital cultures at UWS and a leading expert on major events, sport policy and event legacy, says the games provide Scotland with opportunities in trade, diplomacy and raising international profile.

“It gives us the chance to gain some soft power and present Scotland as a vibrant, dynamic place, a place that can get things done. That can lead to trade and business opportunities, as well as sporting opportunities. 

“The investment from the Scottish Government provides something for the sporting ecosystem here to build upon, and getting young people involved in sports throughout this summer is also a great way of building the games’ profile, with such a small budget and short timeline, which is very different to Glasgow 2014.” 

However, Grant Jarvie, chair of sport at the University of Edinburgh, has tempered the excitement around the funding, saying that while “it removes financial barriers for some for a short period” there are still concerns “including a legacy dip risk once events and funding end”. 
The success of this blockbuster Scottish sporting summer will be measured in many ways. The quality of football on display was poor, but the soft power generated by the Tartan Army stands shoulder to shoulder with that of any nation at the tournament. Here at home, as the hosts, the Commonwealth Games in 2014 were used to project confidence and possibility. In 2026, a smaller successor arrives at a different moment in the country’s story. Yet alongside a summer in which football supporters became the nation’s most effective ambassadors, Glasgow 2026’s challenge is to show that Scotland can still turn goodwill into lasting impact.