A week after the soccer World Cup ended, many fans went home happy. They left with more than photos, jerseys, and souvenirs. They left with a warmer view of America. Despite the harsh anti-American and anti-Trump propaganda pushed by leftist media here and abroad, many visitors seemed genuinely surprised by what they found.
Americans were kind. They were helpful. They were hospitable. The food was delicious, and the portions huge. The roads were wide. The stores were full. Even in poorer U.S. regions, visitors saw abundance. As a grateful U.S. citizen, I think that matters. Their reaction was not scripted. It did not come from a tourism campaign or a political slogan. It came from ordinary people walking through our airports, eating in our restaurants, shopping in our stores, talking to strangers, and discovering that the America they had been warned about was not the America they actually met.
A USA Today column put it plainly: “Tourists drool over Buc-ee’s, Walmart, and ranch dressing. This enthusiasm is being met with pure suspicion and surprise by some U.S. journalists.” Leftist commentators sneered at the tourists’ enthusiasm. The visitors did not seem to care. They were too busy falling for America’s bigness, wealth, abundance, and everyday friendliness. That observation emerged in numerous viral videos. The World Cup gave millions of people a chance to see America without the filter of snobbish, hostile commentary. Many seemed surprised to find a country that was way more generous, more open, and more livable than the caricature they had been sold.
That is why the tourists’ reactions struck a nerve. They marveled at things many Americans barely notice anymore. Free refills. Huge grocery stores. Friendly small talk. Tailgates. Air conditioning. Wide roads. Local volunteers. Sports bars packed with happy strangers from different countries. They saw a people proud to welcome guests and show off their communities. America remains comfortable, creative, generous, and welcoming. That is worth saying out loud, especially when so much of our education and media culture teaches Americans to see their own country through contempt.
Other reporting pointed in the same direction. Northeastern Global News described the social media response around World Cup visitors as unusually positive. It noted Scottish fans celebrating in Boston, Japanese fans trying Texas barbecue, and Algerian fans being welcomed in Kansas. Reuters made a similar point. Foreign soccer fans were marveling at parts of American life that many residents overlook, including 24-hour retail, free soda refills, chicken wings with ranch, and a warm welcome from Americans.
The economic evidence tells the same story. Before the tournament, the U.S. Travel Association reported that international World Cup visitors expected to spend more than $5,000 per person. That was about 1.7 times more than a typical international trip to the United States. It also reported that more than 80 percent were open to visiting places beyond the largest gateway cities. During the tournament, Forbes cited Bank of America data showing card-based purchases in the 16 host cities up 6.3 percent year over year. Non-local visitor spending was up 16.7 percent.
That is the part of the story too many anti-American voices miss. People do not travel thousands of miles, spend thousands of dollars, extend trips, and post joyful videos because they feel trapped in a dystopia. They do it because they have found something attractive. For many fans, the United States was not just a host country. It was an experience of scale, convenience, optimism, and neighborliness. It felt different from home. It felt memorable.
As a survivor of communism, I have heard enough anti-American lectures to last a lifetime. I know what real propaganda sounds like. I know what it does to people. That is why the incessant anti-American message in our schools and media is so exhausting and needs to be replaced by truthful appreciation of American exceptionalism.
Gratitude is not blindness. Love of country is not denial. A free nation can debate, reform, and improve without teaching its children to despise it. The World Cup tourists reminded us that the American experiment still looks extraordinary from the outside, especially when visitors meet Americans face to face instead of through the distorted lens of partisan media.
The real embarrassment is that so many Americans seem shocked that foreigners loved America. We have heard so often that our country is uniquely cruel, backward, divided, or unwelcoming that we can forget what daily life here still shows. The fans saw what ideology concealed. They saw a big, welcoming, generous country. They saw strangers helping strangers. They saw communities rallying around guests. They saw abundance, even in places that are not rich.
If the World Cup gave us anything beyond great matches, it gave Americans a mirror. The people holding it had no reason to flatter us. What many reflected back was simple: America has always been, and still is, worth admiring. I hope we are humble enough to hear the compliment. I hope we are honest enough to keep improving. And I hope we are confident enough to stop apologizing for the prosperity, hospitality, and freedom that so many visitors appreciated without reservation.
Nora D. Clinton is a Research Scholar & Project Manager at the Legal Insurrection Foundation. She was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. She holds a PhD in Classics and has published extensively on ancient documents on stone. In 2020, she authored the popular memoir Quarantine Reflections Across Two Worlds. Nora is a co-founder of two partner charities dedicated to academic cooperation and American values. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and son.
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