These women tried to meet international lovers during the World Cup. Here’s how it went

Someone has to say it: Nobody loves a bandwagon like Miami. F1 comes to town? We binge-watch “Drive to Survive” and casually bring up Lewis Hamilton in conversation. The Hurricanes make it to the college championship game? It’s all about The U. 

That’s why it’s not surprising that for the past few weeks, locals embraced our newfound status as a World Cup host city with a fervor for the ages. We donned kilts and hoisted orange cones to welcome Scotland’s Tartan Army; we cried and cheered as though we were all born and raised in Cape Verde; and we rowed our hearts out alongside Norway’s Vikings. We followed the action so enthusiastically that even if we’d never watched an entire soccer match before, we can now explain, with moderate accuracy, what an offside penalty is. 

For Miami singles, the influx of international fans did more than just boost the off-season economy; it provided a much-welcomed alternative to what is widely considered a lackluster dating scene. Hard Rock Stadium (renamed Miami Stadium during the World Cup) hosted seven matches throughout the tournament, welcoming the national teams from Argentina, Brazil, Cape Verde, Colombia, England, France, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, and Uruguay, along with their most fervent supporters.

The fans brought passion. They brought excitement. And they laid the framework for the most interesting dating environment in Miami in recent memory. New Times spoke to Miami women who went looking for love under these conditions, and at least one caught a flight to meet her paramour overseas.

Perfect gentlemen

Local photographer Susan Berry stumbled upon Argentine fans in South Beach in the lead-up to the group-stage matches, and was struck by their energy. (Argentina did not play in Miami until its round of 32 game against Cape Verde on July 3, but Miami is home base for many of the team’s fans.)

“I just went up to them, and they were playing drums, and there was music, and people waving flags and singing these songs that I didn’t know, but they just seemed so fun, so I joined in and started dancing.”

Since then, Berry has gone viral for donning a kilt and dancing with the infamous (and beloved) Tartan Army — fans who were in town for Scotland’s game against Brazil on June 24 — and for rowing with Norway’s boisterous Vikings in a TikTok that’s been viewed more than 5 million times.

Though she did not make a longterm connection, Berry, who has Scottish roots, says the Tartans and Vikings — despite their hard-partying reputations — were extremely respectful and that she felt safe in their company. “They were such sweetie pies,” she says, adding that she felt safer around them than men in American clubs. 

“The Norwegians were a lot more mellow than the Scots [but] they were really nice! Everyone was always super nice and engaging.” 

The romance began, Shea tells New Times, when “I saw a guy in a kilt walking to his Airbnb and said, ‘Hey, I like your outfit,’ and he stopped outside the door to talk to me.”

The Scotsman asked her out the next day, taking her to Casa Tua for a date. Then, he changed his flight to stay in Miami for three extra days. Two weeks after that, she was on a flight to Scotland. 

“Tell her you’ve been to Edinburgh!” her lover instructed in the background during our interview.

“It was awesome to get to know him better, and he loved showing me his country,” she says. “It was so beautiful! I got very lucky with sun the entire time, and the best place we went was Culzean Castle. It is a gorgeous country, and all the people were kind. A lovely experience.”