Waffle House, War Eagle and ranch dressing: Foreign soccer fans are discovering Americana ahead of World Cup, and they are loving it

Feedzy​  ​​Read More​     Ever since it was first announced nearly a year ago, the idea of a UFC event on the White House lawn juxtaposed against the start of the World Cup has not sat quite right.On one hand, you have a sporting event being marketed as a celebration of America’s 250th birthday, promising to be coded in politics and unlikely to reflect the sour mood of the country.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn the other, you have a sporting event that has been a question mark for the world ever since President Trump returned to office in January of 2025. Amid reports of nightmares at airports and ICE raids, would foreign soccer fans find it too difficult or too intimidating to experience what this big, complex country has to offer? Would being on the world’s biggest sporting stage be a mirror for our national discontent or showcase our strengths?Two very different events: One designed for the president to tell us how great we are, the other exposing our fears that in the eyes of the world, we’re not the country we used to be.But a surprising phenomenon has sprouted this week as the start of the World Cup draws closer and closer. Those who have arrived from overseas, touring our big cities and small towns, have done a better job reminding us what an awesome, interesting and welcoming country this is than we could ever do ourselves.Across social media, our foreign guests are expressing their awe for our massive football stadiums, delighting in plates of barbecue, enjoying iconic breakfast chains and being wowed by truck stops. Normally a pit of bile, opening the X app has been a celebration of Americana through the eyes of foreigners who are for the first time experiencing all the great little things we take for granted.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA group of German guys have been roadtripping from Atlanta to the Gulf Coast and beyond, discovering Waffle House (yeah, the food really is great) and Buc-ee’s (so big, so unnecessary, but so well-run) and the Auburn War Eagle flying around Jordan-Hare Stadium during the friendly between Argentina and Iceland (it’s an awesome stadium, but that’s just a standard Saturday for college football fans).“This is the most ‘The European mind can’t comprehend this moment of my life,’” wrote @FreddyLA7, who has gained hundreds of thousands of followers on X since arriving in the U.S.I’ve also been following a young Swedish woman named Elsa, who landed first in Indianapolis and discovered ranch dressing.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Why did no one tell me ranch sauce is like crack? EUROPE WE NEED RANCH ASAP,” @elsathora wrote while calling a roadside diner meal “the best food ever.” Now she’s in San Francisco trying cioppino and commenting on the beauty of fire trucks.There’s a Scottish guy documenting a trip through Texas being welcomed by a pitmaster who wanted to show off his work. There’s yet another German whose eyes are being opened by the stereotype-busting cleanlin