Scotland superfan books 22 hotels before World Cup draw

Daris Nesbitt has been following Scotland since he was a teenager but he wasn't born the last time the men's team played in the World Cup finals.

The highlight of his Tartan Army CV - which includes away days in Greece, Denmark, the Netherlands and Liechtenstein - was travelling to Germany for last summer's Euros.

But since Scotland's thrilling 4-2 victory over Denmark he has been planning an epic trip to the USA which, depending on Friday's draw, may also take in Canada or Mexico.

And in a bid to beat soaring prices after the fixtures are confirmed the IT analyst has pre-booked 22 hotels in the three host nations.

Daris, 24, said: "To see Scotland in a World Cup is a lifelong dream.

"It is going to be absolutely incredible."

The men's national team last graced the global stage in France 1998 but it has failed to qualify for the six quadrennial editions since then.

Celtic season ticket holder Daris is a football fanatic and, when the Parkhead club are not playing, he uses a wheel spinner app to randomly select a match to attend.

Last Saturday it picked the Scottish Cup third round clash between Peterhead and Morton.

Daris then travelled almost 180 miles from his home in Bishopton, Renfrewshire, to take his place in the 609-strong crowd.

But next June he will cross the Atlantic for the biggest sporting event on the planet.

Daris has been closely studying the match schedule since Scotland qualified.

And his masterplan, which has been made possible by free cancellation policies, has left nothing to chance.

Daris told BBC Scotland News: "It has been a bit of a headache but the more hotels I book the less stressed I feel. I have now covered every venue."

To date, he has made online reservations in New York, Miami, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto, Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Daris hopes to secure match tickets through the Scotland Travel Club, which operates a points system based on previous away trips.

Since attending his first match at the age of four he has watched Celtic lift 16 Scottish Premiership titles and savoured some memorable European nights at Parkhead.

But Daris admits nothing comes close to what he witnessed at Hampden on 18 November.

On the morning of the final group game, he was a "bag of nerves".

The previous weekend he had travelled to Athens for a match which Scotland went into knowing a draw would set up a winner-takes-all game against Denmark.

But despite losing the match the team were handed a lifeline when the group leaders drew 2-2 against Belarus in Copenhagen

Daris said: "I was really surprised and a bit shocked. I began to feel like it was just written in the stars for us."

His confidence grew as kick-off approached.

"When we sang Flower of Scotland the stadium was a cauldron of noise," he said.

He ranked the rendition ahead of previous spine-tinglers against England last year and Italy in the 2007 Euro play-off.

It proved a portent of what was to come.

In the fourth minute Scott McTominay gave Scotland the lead with a sensational overhead kick.

Daris recalled: "The crowd was going absolutely wild

"The height he reached to connect with it was unbelievable."

The Danes drew level with a penalty in the 57th minute only to have defender Rasmus Kristensen sent off four minutes later.

Daris said: "When Shankland scored with 12 minutes to go I just thought 'let's hold on'."

"Then Denmark equalised again to make it 2-2 and I didn't think we had enough in the tank to do it."

His heart sank further when the referee only signalled six additional minutes.

But three minutes into injury time Scotland's fortunes took a dramatic turn.

Daris said: "When Tierney hit the ball, for a split second, I thought 'It's in'.

"Then it was absolute bedlam. I have never seen celebrations like it."

As the clock ticked down Daris was anxious for Scotland to keep possession.

So he looked on in disbelief as Kenny McLean shook the earth with a wonder goal from inside his own half.

He said: "I could not believe it when the ball looped over Kasper Schmeichel.

"It was like a movie. We had just witnessed three of the all-time best Scotland goals in one match."

Daris, who was in tears at the final whistle, added: "I don't think we will see another game like that ever again."

In the heady days that followed, Daris took on the almighty logistical challenge of planning a trip to a 48-team World Cup, played across three countries, without knowing where Scotland would end up.

Looking ahead to the draw, he would like to see the national team paired with four-time winners Germany, despite a sobering 5-1 defeat in the opening match of Euro 2024.

Daris would welcome games against new opponents such as debutants Cape Verde or Curaçao, which has a population of just over 150,000.

The groups will be decided at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC at 17:00 GMT (12:00 local time) on Friday.

Daris will follow the action at a special watch event in the Barras Art & Design venue in Glasgow.

He will then be poised over his laptop 24 hours later when the fixture dates and venues are officially confirmed.

Last week he told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme that he had pre-booked seven hotels but that number has now more than trebled to 22.

And on Wednesday he booked a flight from Barcelona to Boston for 10 June, the day before the tournament kicks off.

He intends to stay on until 24 June but will consider extending his trip if Scotland qualify for the knock outs for the first time.

Daris said: "It still seems surreal that this is our generation's first World Cup experience.

"The Euros were fantastic but this is next level.

"I don't think it will sink in until I get on the plane."

Linda Hill Miller, who runs LAH Travel in West Kilbride, says booking hotels in this way is not a good idea.

"It is guaranteed, with that amount of effort, that amount of hotels, that you would miss a deadline, forget to cancel one, have your credit card charged, or cancel the wrong one," she said.

"We would never do that for a customer."

Linda said there was also the danger of a cancellable booking falling through.

"You could turn up ready to pay for your hotel on arrival and the hotel had a better offer and became overbooked."

But she wished Daris good luck.

"If he has gone to that amount of effort, he deserves to get to the World Cup," she said.