She waited decades for Scotland to make the World Cup. At 93, she'll be cheering in person

Scotland players celebrate their win over Denmark in a World Cup qualification match at Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow on Nov.18, 2025. **Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images** Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images While ancient forms of soccer were played more than 2,000 years ago in China and Mesoamerica, England usually gets credit for inventing the modern game. It's where the rules were written down by 19th century schoolboys. But the tactics teams everywhere use now — with short, frequent passing — developed late in that century in Scotland. "The style was very different. England almost played rugby with their feet — strong shoulder charges, big tackles," says Andy Kerr, visitor attraction manager at the Scottish Football Museum. "But the Scots played what we call the short passing game, which has gone on to take the world by storm." Scotland has the world's oldest national football trophy. It was Scottish migrant workers who first exported the game to current powerhouses like Brazil and Argentina. Scotland also gave the world Alex Ferguson, the sport's most-decorated teammanager. But Ferguson moved south for glory, with Manchester United, in the land of Scotland's archrivals: England. "The English Premier League is the most famous and the most monied league in all of the world. So in Scotland, sometimes it does feel a bit like being a poor relation who's on the outside," Kerr says. Scotland "sees itself as a footballing nation," says soccer commentator Pat Nevin, who played for the Scottish national team, as well as various clubs in Scotland and England, including Chelsea and Everton. But Scotland has never made it past the group stage of any tournament. And for nearly three decades, it didn't even qualify to play in the World Cup. Fans like Moira Brown call it "glorious failure." So last November, when Scotland beat Denmark to qualify for this tournament, "it really was one of the most spectacular days in modern Scottish history!" Nevin says, laughing. "I'm not exaggerating at all." A billboard soon went up in central Glasgow with two words: "We're in."

Scotland's so-called Tartan Army of soccer fans walk toward a stadium in Cologne, Germany, for a UEFA Euro 2024 Group A match on June 19, 2024. **Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images** Bradley Collyer/PA Images via Getty Images Decades ago, the Tartan Army had a bad reputation as beer-guzzling ruffians. "They were seen as dangerous — maybe with a hint of violence behind them — and not well behaved, mostly drunk," Nevin recalls. Brown says she almost got into a "standup, knockdown, all-out fight" decades ago at an international match in Croatia. When another fan called her "an old git," the Tartan Army closed ranks around her. "They said, 'You say another word to Moira, and I'll plant one on you!' And I had to say, 'Guys, guys, settle down,'" Brown proudly recalls. In the 1970s and 1980s, as violent fan hooliganism spread in England, Nevin says Scotland fans tacked the other way, differentiating themselves by being nice, making friends with everyone — and throwing a good party. "I urge anyone in the U.S., if you know there's going to be a Scotland game in your city, go! You don't need tickets. Just go look for the lads in plaid, listen for the bagpipes," Nevin says. "You will have the most joyous, fun party you could ever imagine!" There may be something special about having no expectations. The lyrics of one of Scotland's fan anthems, "No Scotland, No Party," acknowledge: "Nobody's saying we're gonna win it, we know we ain't no Argentina!" Brown says she's hoping Scotland makes it out of the group stage. That would be historic. "I go always in hope, but often not in expectation," she says. "Strange things can happen!" No matter what happens with Scotland in this World Cup, there's always the next one — when Brown will be 97.