World Cup fever is taking over as fans head to Foxborough for the Haiti-Scotland match at Boston Stadium.
Traffic was building as fans headed to Boston Stadium on Saturday for the FIFA World Cup match between Haiti and Scotland.
MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver had warned people should expect a lot of traffic.
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“This is not your typical football game or Taylor Swift concert, this is something different, and traffic should be expected to be different,” he said in an interview with NBC10 Boston on Saturday morning. “If you are driving, whether you are going to the game or not, you can expect a lot of traffic around Gillette, or Boston Stadium, and you can expect a lot of traffic getting in and out of downtown Boston, as well, so the name of the game today really if you’re going to be on the roads is leave yourself a lot of extra time if you need to be driving. Take it slow, plan ahead.”
According to Gulliver, any way in and out of the stadium will be tough, including all the main routes down to Gillette like 495 or Route 1. He also expects weekday matches to be even tougher than this first match on Saturday.
Despite the long lines of traffic fans are sitting in to get to the match, the vibes were high. People we spoke with didn’t really seem to care, realizing this event is something special.
Both fan bases are beaming with pride and excitement as two long World Cup droughts will end as Haiti takes on Scotland in both nation’s Group C opening match. Haiti is making its first appearance in the tournament since 1974. Scotland is back for the first time since 1998.
There were tons of Haitian fans filing into the Foxborough area. Some said they had walked a couple of miles in the hot weather, but they’re ready for the match, which they say means everything to Haiti.
NBC10 Boston crews also saw school buses and charter buses packed with Scotland fans — and a ton of kilts.
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The kilts were not only taking over outside the City of Boston, but they were also everywhere at Fan Fest, where the excitement was palpable.
Mayor Michelle Wu was mingling with Haitian fans earlier in the day as they made their way from Copley Plaza to City Hall Plaza where the festival opened up at 2 p.m.
It’s quite an experience as soccer fans from around the world show their support for their favorite teams, enjoy food from different cultures, and soak all of this in. A die-hard Morocco fan from Quincy, Ali Goutay, says he’s proud that Boston pulled all of this together is getting the chance to show off the city.