The Beautiful Game
Whether it's 40,000 in kilts - or the powerful bond of two guys thrown together - the joy, passion, love and friendship that surrounds football reminds us there are great things in the world.
HOPKINTON, Massachusetts — Andrew Henry Robertson was born in Glasgow in 1994 and began his senior football career at Queen’s Park F.C., an amateur team that played in the Scottish Third Division that season. Going up against such powerhouses as Montrose, Stirling Albion and Elgin City, Robertson’s team finished the season in third place, missing out on promotion in a loss to Peterhead.
Diogo Jota was born in 1996 in Porto, Portugal. Turned away by bigger clubs, Jota played his first senior game for Paco de Ferreira in 2014 in the Primeira Liga. They finished 8th.
In 2020, Jota would join Robertson at Liverpool F.C., a meteoric rise for both in to the English Premier League. They won the title, an FA Cup and won League Cup trophies together. They are Liverpool legends.
Tonight, Robertson will lead Scotland out as captain when the team takes on Morocco in the World Cup. The tournament has been raucous fun. Scotland won their first match; if we win tonight we qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time ever. Robertson has been instrumental to the nation’s success. A scrappy, high-energy left wing back, his passion is matched only by the roar of the 40,000 members of the Tartan Army that will be packed into ‘Boston’ Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Robertson and Jota had talked about this moment, the dream that they would both play in a World Cup for Scotland and Portugal respectively. Jota played with style, pace and panache, a forward who scored 14 goals at senior level for his country. Both were destined to play in the USA this summer. But, tragically, Jota died in a terrible car accident in Spain as he was traveling to catch a ferry back to pre-season training in Liverpool in July 2025. The soccer world was devastated. Robertson laid a wreath on behalf of the Liverpool team at the funeral of his best friend. Liverpool retired Jota’s number 20 jersey and the fans have a minute of applause at each Liverpool home game. His legacy lives on.
Scotland’s journey to the 2026 World Cup has been an emotional roller coaster. The first time the team has qualified in 28 years, the unbridled joy that has poured out of the fans has been incredible. Boston has fallen in love with the Tartan Army and the Scotland cause. But it’s about far more than drinking Boston’s bars dry (although that is kinda hilarious), it’s about a shared journey. A bond of national pride. Not in the nationalistic sense. In a sense of real pride in the players, their determination and what they and we fans want to present about Scotland to the world. So far, so good…
In the days before Scotland’s opening match against Haiti, another chapter was written in the Jota-Robertson relationship. Rute Cardoso, Jota’s widow, wrote a letter to Andy on the eve of the World Cup. You can see him read it here.
She writes:
“Andy I’m writing to you with a heart full of longing, gratitude and above all pride. Diogo often spoke of you, of the friendship you built, the battles you fought together, the challenges, the laughter, the conversations about football and about dreams.
“The World Cup was one of those dreams, a dream that the two of you nurtured side by side with the same passion with which you took to the pitch. When I heard your words and learnt what you felt on that day when Scotland qualified for the World Cup after so many years of waiting, I realised that Diogo never truly left the pitch.
“By achieving that moment and securing your place at the World Cup, you won’t be going alone; you’ll be taking his dream with you too. And when you step onto the pitch, I know it won’t be just you walking out; Diogo will be with you in your thoughts, in your steps, in your heart.
“So, today I want to thank you. Thank you for not forgetting him. Thank you for taking him with you. Thank you for turning the pain of loss into strength and into something so beautiful. That’s how we do it here at home too, every day. He would be and is incredibly proud of you.
“Cherish that dream, Andy. Live it for yourself and for him. With love, gratitude and all my support, Rute Cardoso.”
The Scottish invasion of the USA continues in Boston today and in Miami next week. The fans have been awesome. The team fills us with pride. But the game, what it means and the people it sweeps up - that’s what it’s all about. The phrase is now famous - ‘No Scotland, No Party’. But what about ‘No Football’? What would that mean? Thank goodness we have it. It pulls us together in joy and despair, in good times and bad. Individuals, teammates, whole countries. As Rute writes, those of us who have been touched by the game never truly leave the pitch.
Thanks for following along on the Summer Stack. Off to North Carolina next week, for flights 5 and 6 since we began. Hopefully a Tartan Celebration along the way.