The (soccer) World Cup kicks off later today with the first match — Mexico against South Africa — at 22:00 Israel time. Scotland have qualified after 28 years of missing out and it would appear that the football-fever I remember from my time living in Scotland has not subsided. If anything, it looks more intense.

My Facebook feed is full of Scottish World Cup material ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous and beyond. There are backward glances at the qualifying games and past World Cup campaigns, there are several Scottish Team World Cup Songs (of varying quality), lots of videos of fans departing from airports throughout the world, often accompanied by pipe bands. And, inevitably, the Irn Bru advert:

I wish the Scotland team well.

I hope Israel will qualify for a future World Cup but I’m not optimistic. If they do qualify, I hope they’ll be allowed to participate but I’m not optimistic.