World Cup Fans Came for Soccer. They Fell for Buc-ee's and School Buses.
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) -- Right now thousands of foreigners are flying to America braced for a country they are certain is not real and only exists in the movies. We're talking yellow school buses, ranch dressing and 100 different types of cereal in a massive grocery superstore called Walmart.
The 2026 World Cup brought more than a million visitors to North America. Many are seeing the country for the first time. They came for the matches. They stayed for the snacks. The result is the happiest thing online right now.
Fans aim their cameras at gas stations, ice machines, and grocery aisles. They lose it over free refills and 24-hour stores. One Swedish fan named Elsa screamed at a yellow school bus in Indiana, then begged Europe to import ranch dressing at once.
The reactions keep getting better. A visitor called a 7-Eleven Big Gulp one of his favorite American finds. A British fan gawked at a five-story Starbucks in Chicago. A Japanese reporter compared Nashville to a theme park. One German tourist declared a pile of Taco Bell "the holy land."
That German fan, known online as Freddy, has driven across the South for weeks. He filmed his first Waffle House run at 1 a.m. He raved about Walmart, green Georgia, and the wonder of coleslaw. In Houston, a former NFL player handed him a free hotel room. In Boston, Scottish fans broke out bagpipes and serenaded a whole neighborhood.
So why the flood of joy? Experts say the answer is simple. Tourists do not just remember landmarks. They remember daily life. "What Americans consider ordinary is often extraordinary to visitors," Dr. Rachel Fu of the University of Florida told ABC News.
Much of it comes down to expectations. Many visitors knew America mostly from movies, television, and the news. They pictured something louder and harder than what they found. Instead, strangers waved, chatted, and offered to help. The friendliness caught them off guard.
The route matters too. These fans are not only landing in Los Angeles or New York. Road trips drop them in small towns and roadside diners. They are seeing the middle of the country, not just the skylines. That is where the real texture lives.
Then there is the food. Portions stun them. Seasoning surprises them. Scottish fan Shaun Cumming told Newsweek the food is "just better seasoned" than back home. Chicken and waffles on one plate becomes a small revelation.
And there is the sheer abundance. Free ice. Refill stations. Drinks the size of buckets. Stores open all night. None of it feels normal to someone visiting from abroad. Seen through fresh eyes, a slushie machine looks like magic.
Part of the appeal is that nobody is selling anything. The joy is unscripted. A school bus, a kind cashier, a gas station snack — these are not attractions. They are just ordinary mornings here. Americans, watching along, are falling for their own country again.
The World Cup tournament runs through July 19. More international fans land every week.
