Keeping up with the Tartans: We’re following the Scots around Miami

The Tartan Army takeover is in full swing in Miami, and although the infamous fans of Scotland’s national football team have already made their mark on the city by parading down Calle Ocho, draining our bars dry, and downing their fair share of Pub Subs, the real party hasn’t even started just yet.

This evening, kilts will descend upon World Cup watch parties all over the city as Scotland takes on Brazil — a match-up seemingly designed to vanquish sobriety in Miami. To keep you up to date with the action, New Times is deploying the kinds of resources we typically save for hurricane coverage. Our staff is following the Scots all over South Florida (you know, for research!), from Little Havana to Downtown Miami to Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Culture editor Celia Almeida is headed to Calle Ocho, where Scots crowned Little Havana rooster statues with orange traffic cones earlier this week. News editor Natasha Yee will check out the action on Miami Beach, where the Tartan Army marched and barhopped all day Tuesday. Food editor Nicole Lopez-Alvar is checking out the crowds downtown, in and around Bayfront Park’s FIFA Fan Festival, where she’s sure to bump into plenty of Brazil fans, too. Staff writer Alex DeLuca will camp out at Fort Lauderdale’s Field Irish Pub, which calls itself “a little piece of Ireland in South Florida” and is luring the Tartan Army with fish and chips, sausage rolls, and shepherd’s pie.

We’ll be reporting in real time, so keep up with our coverage on this live blog and New Times’ Instagram account. We’ll let you know if Miami runs out of beer.

10:24 p.m. Chaos at Auld Dubliner. Insane crowds and two people crashed cars outside. I watched it happen, and everyone cheered. —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

8:04 p.m. Brazil spanks Scotland 3-0, but Scots in kilts are rolling into the Dead Flamingo to nurse their sorrows. We’ll keep you posted on how the Tartan Army copes with its loss. —Celia Almeida

8 p.m.-ish: “Just let them score!” a disappointed Scot screams at Dead Flamingo when Brazil blocks yet another goal. —Celia Almeida

7:53 p.m. My (half-Scottish) boyfriend just taught Scottish guys how to shotgun an American beer. They were in shock that a car key could open the side of an aluminum can. — Nicole Lopez-Alvar

7:43 p.m. The other matching Scots just left, too. They’re dropping like flies. —Alex DeLuca

7:38 p.m. One lad, who points out that I’m wearing the wrong colors (yellow, green, and blue), offers to loan me his kilt. “I’m wearing absolutely nothing underneath,” he adds. I politely decline. —Natasha Yee

7:36 p.m. Around the 70th minute of the match, the kilt-wearing gentleman downed his Guinness and left the bar. He’d seen enough. —Alex DeLuca

7:36 p.m. Everyone’s vapes have been confiscated immediately at the security entrance, but fans who wore kilts were able to hide their vapes and narcotics inside them. — Nicole Lopez-Alvar

7:21 p.m. FIFA Fan Festival announces it is at full capacity. — Nicole Lopez-Alvar

7:19 p.m. Dampened spirits? Not for Scotland fan Ryan. “All we’re looking forward to hitting up Space after,” he says. — Nicole Lopez-Alvar

7:10 p.m. This guy just proposed to me. [Editor’s note: We are not surprised.] —Natasha Yee

7:06 p.m. Ocean Drive is packed with fans, and though Brazil leads 2-0, the Scots are out in full force. TVs surround kilted men at Finnegan’s Way, where the beer flows freely.

Ethan Ferguson thought he had seen it all, he says, then he came to Miami and marched with his Tartan Army through the beach.

“It brought tears to my eyes seeing our beautiful country take over this beautiful country,” Ferguson says.

He stands with his Scottish brothers who are draped in their country’s flag, rooting loudly and proudly for their home team. —Natasha Yee

7:02 p.m. Dead Flamingo is playing an all-Scottish playlist to lift the Tartan Army’s spirits. —Celia Almeida

7 p.m. Just got to Fort Lauderdale’s Field Irish Pub, and the Scots are really quiet. An older bearded man wearing a kilt and drinking a Guinness sits quietly at the edge of the bar. A couple at the end of the bar, wearing matching navy shirts with the Scotland flag, have their eyes glued to the large projector screen. —Alex DeLuca

6:45 p.m. Omg damn second goal!! Everyone shook! —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

6:16 p.m. They opened up another line — crisis averted? —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

6:20 p.m. There’s a line of about 800 people at FIFA Fan Festival, and they aren’t letting anyone in. The fest is at capacity. —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

6:10 p.m. Bayfront Park is packed with tons of Brazilian fans. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a giant collective of yellow and green during this year’s Cup. —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

6:06 p.m. Arrived at the official FIFA Fan Festival at Bayfront Park fashionably late (on Cuban time) with my half-Scottish boyfriend. Our Uber driver drove us from MiMo to Bayfront Park and assumed my boyfriend was part of the Tartan Army, so he blasted the famous Scottish band The Proclaimers the whole way down. Already seeing a sea of kilted men with piercing blue eyes and gorgeous reddish brown locks upon arrival. —Nicole Lopez-Alvar

5:30 p.m. Spotted Bad Bunny at Dead Flamingo’s watch party. Sort of. —Celia Almeida

5:15 p.m. A crowd is still building inside Little Havana’s Dead Flamingo Bar, recently named New Times’ Best Bar of 2026. Met a dude sporting a kilt, but he was from New Jersey. He wore a shirt with a massive American eagle face on it to split his loyalties. —Celia Almeida

Social media editor Edysmar Diaz-Cruz contributed to this reporting.