A sea of yellow. A woman holding a baby with ear defenders. A man wearing a red wig with pigtails. A boy shouting at the top of his lungs. And drumming — so much drumming.Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of the Sweden fan march — a staple at international tournaments that made its men’s World Cup return on Sunday.The Sweden team hadn’t qualified for football’s most prestigious tournament since 2018, when they reached the quarter-finals in Russia. They made up for lost time on and off the pitch in Monterrey, beating Tunisia 5-1 to revive memories of their glory days in front of a fervent travelling faithful.One of their supporters’ favourite chants includes the line: “We come from Svealand with 100,000 men” (Svealand is the core region of Sweden from which the rest of the nation developed). That almost felt accurate in northeastern Mexico this weekend — except it was men, women and children from Stockholm, Gothenburg and beyond.Sweden fans swarm across the roads to the stadium (The Athletic)“Anyone who’s ever been sees how much fun it is, then there’s always one more (travelling supporter),” says Pelle Nilsson Nuñez, one of the organisers of the march for the fan group Camp Sweden. “They tell their friend, and then they tell their friend.”Sweden fans walking to stadiums en masse has developed naturally over the years in men’s and women’s tournaments. While it’s not completely clear exactly when it originated, Pelle thinks Euro 2000 might have been the starting point. And there is something about the block of yellow descending on a host venue that seems to speak to the passion and organisation of a country of football-loving people.This summer is special for those supporters — the last time they were in North America for a men’s World Cup, they finished third in 1994. But it was still impressive to see the 2,500+ (some estimates put that number closer to 5,000) who travelled to Monterrey for their only game in Mexico (their final two group matches are in Houston and Arlington).Credit: The AthleticThey had plenty of local support. One man from Mexico City, Jorge Eduardo Arvizu (above), was wearing a Mexico shirt with a Sweden badge stitched on; he had taken the hour-and-a-half flight north to Monterrey simply because he loves the country’s music. A couple from Texas and Sweden, meanwhile, were asked to pose for countless photos with locals.Fans gathered for hours before the march at the newly inaugurated Parque del Agua, in the shadow of the Cerro de la Silla mountain and around a kilometre from Estadio Monterrey (also known as Estadio BBVA). They enjoyed local speciality tacos, drank Corona and generally tried to find ways to cope with the 30C (86F) heat.