A SCOTTISH city has been crowned "Scotland's World Cup capital" – and it isn't Glasgow.
New research conducted by football experts at 101 Great Goals analysed the number of online searches for "World Cup" and 1500 related keywords across the UK.
Search volumes were adjusted for population, revealing the towns and cities where World Cup fever was at the most intense.
Rather surprisingly, Glasgow did not emerge top of the list, despite being the home of the Scotland national team.
Tartan Army fans went viral over the summer for taking Glasgow's tradition of "coning" the Duke of Wellington Statue over the pond, with Boston's mayor even taking part and placing a cone of her own.
Instead, Stirling topped the table with 1580 searches per 1000 people.
Glasgow was named as Scotland's second-biggest World Cup hotspot, recording 1389 searches per 1000 people, while Inverness secured a third-place finish with 1261.
Dunfermline came fourth with 1049 searches per 1000 people, closely followed by Perth on 956.
Edinburgh came next, with 938, followed by Dundee with 777, and Aberdeen with 767.
Jon Fisher, of 101 Great Goals, said: “Nothing brings people together quite like a World Cup. It gives friends, families and whole communities something to share, whether they are cheering on their own national side or simply getting caught up in the drama.
“The tournament has a special ability to inspire a nation, create new football fans and produce memories that last long after the final whistle.
“These figures showed just how far that excitement spread, although it was clear that some parts of the country had caught World Cup fever more strongly than others."
