by Paul Heney
Last updated: 7:30 PM ET, Fri June 19, 2026
As the World Cup games continue to ramp up in cities across the United States, international travelers visiting here for the first time have been going viral with their love for the country.
Contrary to some stereotypes about Americans, social media posts about the friendliness of the citizens and the interesting experiences have been making the rounds.
An early leader in this regard has been Freddy, a German visitor who goes by FreddyLA7 on X. Freddy went viral with his excitable comments on everything from Waffle Houses to riding the Atlanta metro to visiting his first Buc-ees gas station. Other instances include Scotland fans drinking Boston dry, fans loving the food like southern fried chicken, Texas BBQ, and more.
“What Americans consider ordinary is often extraordinary to visitors,” Dr. Rachel J.C. Fu, chair of the Department of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management at the University of Florida explained to ABC. “Travel researchers have long found that tourists ... consume daily life. A giant supermarket aisle, free ice water, refillable drinks or a cheerful grocery clerk may be just another Tuesday for Americans, but for someone visiting from Scotland, Brazil or Japan, these experiences are fascinating cultural discoveries.”
And it’s not just happening in the cities where the matches are being held. Many smaller cities within an hour or two of the games are hosting teams and contingents of fans. In Providence, R.I., fans of the Scotland football club have been all over the city all week, even dropping in to the gay bars on Pride weekend, simply looking to join the parties. Fans left on buses Saturday afternoon to attend the team game in nearby Foxboro, Mass.
But the new love of all things American also caused the TSA to issue a strange warning: Don’t bring ranch dressing through security if larger than 100 ml.
On Threads, the official TSA account posted, “If you’re visiting for a very large sporting event & you happen to discover RANCH while you’re here… pls pack it in your CHECKED BAG on the way home.”
This comes after many foreign visitors extolled the virtues of this very American condiment that isn’t available in their home countries. Let the football fan beware.
Also, don't chug it before going through security.
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