Soccer fans visiting the United States for the 2026 World Cup are discovering American culture. Many are documenting their experiences on social media, going viral for their awestruck reactions to everyday wonders like Buc-ee’s, Waffle House and Walmart. A German soccer fan known as Freddy has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on X during his trip through the Deep South, marveling at the size of American football stadiums and gas stations as well as the availability of fast food. “The holy land,” he wrote in a post on X alongside a photo of a Taco Bell near Atlanta. “Great food, great prices, and friendly staff. 10/10, we will be coming back.” “This is the most, the European mind can’t comprehend this’ moment of my life.” Freddy’s run has only escalated since. The viral German fan has been invited to the White House by Special Presidential Envoy Nick Adams, scored a stay at a five-star Houston hotel courtesy of former Texans defensive end JJ Watt, taken stadium tours with the New Orleans Saints, the Pelicans and the LSU Tigers, visited astronauts at NASA, and met country singer Ella Langley — whom he had called his “best discovery” of the trip — at her Oklahoma City concert.

At a diner in Indianapolis, Sweden’s Elsa Thora discovered ranch dressing and demanded it be exported to Europe. “Why did no one tell me ranch sauce is like crack?  Tommo, a soccer fan from Leeds, England, who has been documenting his beer-fueled World Cup journey through the Midwest, wondered if ranch was an acceptable pizza dipping sauce. Fiago, another German soccer fan and YouTuber, had some “proper Chicago” fare at Portillo’s. “They have a milkshake with cake in the cup,” he wrote on X. “It’s ridiculous.”

A bus full of orange-clad soccer fans from the Netherlands going to Sunday’s World Cup opener against Japan at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, made a pit stop at Buc-ee’s, prompting a local Fox affiliate’s “alert.” And in Boston, the Tartan Army of kilt-wearing Scottish soccer fans followed Scotland’s win in its first World Cup appearance in 28 years by marching to Fenway Park, packing the bars behind the Green Monster to celebrate. Shaun, a Scottish soccer fan whose wife got a “minor case of food poisoning” during their World Cup trip, posted a video of the hospital in Taunton, Mass., where she was treated. “It was a tremendous experience. The staff in this place were phenomenal,” he said. “10 out of 10 experience in a hospital.”

Scotland’s Tartan Army fans were welcomed in Boston, where reports quickly surfaced of beer shortages in popular bars and breweries. Scotland fans have been taking the US by storm during the World Cup . Brewing company Sam Adams also reported running out, with demand for its Boston lager four times what its taproom typically sees during a holiday period.

Exposing your values in the small moments no camera was supposed to capture but one always does now closes the gap between what an institution claims and what people encounter. It is a broadcast. Influence, in other words, has become downstream of character. The strongest version of it was never what you say about yourself. It is what people conclude after spending time with you, and there is no longer a communications strategy that substitutes for being worth the conclusion. The FIFA tourists told their stories and their folks back home told millions more. Nobody asked them to, but nobody could have stopped them.

Maybe Americans should be listening.

FIFA Funnies

What do the English do immediately after winning the FIFA World Cup?
Turn off the Playstation.

Poland’s team for the World Cup:
Bialkowski, Fabianski, Szczesny; Bednarek, Bereszynski, Cionek, Glik, Jedrzejczyk, Pazdan, Piszczek; Blaszczykowski, Goralski, Grosicki, Krychowiak, Kurzawa, Linetty, Peszko, Rybus, Zielinski; Kownacki, Lewandowski, Milik, Teodorczyk…
You can pick your Wi-Fi password from any of the above.

Why is women’s soccer so rare?
It’s quite hard to find enough women willing to wear the same outfit.

Wife says to her husband: “Choose, either me or the soccer game!”
He responds: “Give me 90 minutes to think.”

June 22nd Birthdays

1949 – Meryl Streep, 1953 – Cindy Lauper, 1960 – Tracy Pollan, 1960 – Erin Brokovich

1936 – Kris Kristofferson, 1987 – Lee Min Ho, 1971 – Kurt Warner, 2000 – Sam Retfrod

Morning Motivator:

“Follow your bliss – the universe will open doors for you
where there were only walls.”

World Cuppers Discovering America

Here are four links about America from the FIFA visitors that will make you rejoice.