World Cup Fans Traveling To The U.S. For The First Time Are Fascinated By 5 Things Most Americans Barely Notice
NDAB Creativity | Shutterstock World Cup matches have started to take place in cities across the U.S., causing major excitement among American and international fans. The State Department estimated there could be 5 to 7 million foreign visitors to the U.S. for the sporting event alone.
A huge part of traveling is experiencing a new, different culture, but it’s hard to think of your own culture that way. Based on social media posts, the things that seem completely ordinary to us Americans are shocking and delighting international visitors. Quite honestly, this might be the best opportunity we have to achieve world peace in our lifetime.
The simple things that are fascinating World Cup fans who traveled to the U.S.:
1. The food
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Every country has its own unique cuisine, but Americans have a tendency to throw shade at their own iconic foods like hamburgers and chicken strips, especially because most of us prefer heading to a Mexican or Italian restaurant when we go out to eat. It turns out that there are people out there who appreciate uniquely American food, though.
An X user named Freddy, who has documented his World Cup travels in detail, much to the internet’s delight, has shared his experiences ordering food from restaurants as diverse as Chili’s, Wendy’s, and Buffalo Wild Wings.
There were, of course, plenty of mentions of the portion sizes in the U.S. Research has directly linked this issue to high obesity rates in the country, which makes it an awkward subject. An X user named Skylar was able to see the bright side, though. “Everyone talks about portion sizes, but no one talks enough about how GOOD everything tastes,” she said.
2. Country music
It’s definitely hard to imagine people not knowing hit American music when it often feels so inescapable, but Freddy provided the perfect example. He and his travel companions agreed that “the best discovery of our road trip has been a musician called Ella Langley.”
He couldn’t believe the way the country singer kept popping up on the radio, sharing multiple videos to prove how much airplay she was getting. Even if you absolutely hate country music, I would have a hard time believing you haven’t heard the record-setting tune “Choosin’ Texas” by now … at least 50 times.
Apparently, Langley got word of Freddy’s fascination with her music herself, because she replied to one of his posts by saying, “Just sent you a message!” Not long after, Freddy shared that he and his friends would be attending one of her concerts and meeting her later this week. If that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is.
3. The size of the country
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It seems like our perception of distance could definitely be more than a little skewed here in the U.S. One Reddit user was shocked by “the sheer size of everything” in the country. They added, “You look at the map and think you can drive between cities easily, then realize it’s an all-day trip.”
For comparison, the United States is pretty close in size to the entire continent of Europe. So, driving for a few hours in the U.S. could easily mean not even entering a new state, but the same amount of time could put you in a completely different country across the pond.
As another Redditor said, “The distance from San Diego to Boston is almost exactly the same distance from Lisbon to Moscow, and Lake Superior has more surface area than Scotland.” Any international visitors who are traveling around the U.S. by car for World Cup matches are definitely in for a shock.
4. Basic businesses
Places that Americans stop at every day to grab groceries or a quick bite to eat are basically legendary to foreigners. For example, one Redditor said they had family visiting from Guatemala for the matches. “First thing they wanted to do when they landed is go to Target and Taco Cabana,” they said.
Freddy has shared a similar fascination with the many American institutions he’s visited on his road trip, like Bass Pro Shop, which he was interested to learn has a shooting range. He also ate at a Waffle House at 1:00 a.m., which means his crew got to experience what a Florida news outlet once called “America’s all-night stage.”
The place that seems to be blowing visitors’ minds the most is undoubtedly Buc-ee’s. Freddy was shocked to find out it was primarily a gas station, especially when he was able to get a full meal there. Someone on Reddit said they had seen "accounts of foreigners discovering what they’ve decided is pure, concentrated Americana: Buc-ee’s.”
For World Cup fans in Texas, there’s even a shuttle service that stops at Buc-ee’s and other iconic locations, on days when there are no matches. As someone who just visited Buc-ee’s for the first time at the beginning of the year, I can confirm the hype is completely deserved.
5. The people
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With political and societal turmoil, the U.S. has not been the most popular country on the world stage recently. In 2025, Pew Research Center found that most foreigners still had a favorable view of the country, but ratings had slipped a good bit since they last conducted the same survey.
People who are visiting for the World Cup don’t seem to have a problem with us, though. Multiple Reddit users noted they were pleasantly surprised by how friendly Americans are, like one who was “impressed most people are pretty open to talk and interact.”
Mikale Olson, an X user, explained this as residents just “living by American values and principles.” It’s easy to feel like we’ve lost sight of that in a world filled with so much conflict, but people are still able to see that there’s something special about the American spirit.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
