You might think the most fervent fans at this year’s FIFA World Cup are from Scotland if you caught this Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News broadcast. The program did an excellent job depicting the ‘Tartan Army’ as loud enough to drown out opponents in any stadium, thirsty enough to drink Sam Adams dry in Boston, and compassionate enough to take a break from drunken cheering to offer well wishes to sick kids in a pediatric hospital unit.
It’s a great story, but it made us think: which teams from the diaspora have the best World Cup fans and why aren’t they getting any shine?
We set out to highlight them, but let’s dispense with some important housekeeping first: The loudest fans aren’t necessarily the best fans, and some of the World Cup’s most fervent devotees are from small nations. (We see you Curaçao.) Seeding often pits large countries against tiny ones with expat communities as large as their domestic populations. And yes, that’s definitely a reference to the Group Stage draw between Spain and Cabo Verde. We’ll start there.
Cabo Verde
If there was ever a fanbase that could be considered small and mighty, it’s fans of Cabo Verde. We got a glimpse of it before play even started, as Cape Verdean workers at Boston’s Logan International airport did this when the team landed in Boston. That much was predictable, though, if you’ve ever lived in New England since there are about as many Cabo Verdeans living between Providence and Boston as there are in Cape Verde itself. What no one predicted was that the tiny country of about a half-million people would draw with heavily favored Spain and Uruguay or that its fans would be so committed to the bit, traveling in droves to Atlanta and Miami, and showing up for the game like this.
Ghana
When your country’s national team is called the Black Stars, and they go up 1-nil in their first World Cup match, you get this. Ghanaians don’t do small–it’s a nation of more than 30 million–and that carries over to celebrating their team on the pitch. Black Stars supporters took over downtown Toronto after Ghana beat Panama in the opening round, and a draw with England guarantees we’ll get to see more of this when they move on to the knockout round.
Haiti
It didn’t end as anyone wanted for Haiti, the only Caribbean nation to qualify for this year’s World Cup. Like Cabo Verde, Haiti is much smaller than most ot her countries in the tournament, and is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. That didn’t stop its supporters from showing up and showing out. Why wouldn’t they? With play in CONCACAF, Caribbean soccer’s governing federation, typically dominated by Jamaica, it has been 52 years since Haiti qualified for the World Cup. No wonder all that pent-up energy spilled over inside and outside of Haiti’s three group play matches, like at this outdoor party before they played in Boston. Despite being the first country eliminated, the Grenadiers’ supporters never let their enthusiasm wane.