Something unexpected has been happening during the World Cup. Visitors from around the globe are falling in love with the United States.

They’re all over You Tube, Tik Tok, Instagram and X – people from all over marveling at America the beautiful rather than the racist, sexist, xenophobic and homophobic crap hole that they were told that we are.

It’s easy to see why they thought that. America airs it’s dirty laundry. It’s called a free press. Other countries say they have freedom of speech then arrest people for a mean tweet.

Turns out, they just needed to see for themselves.

“What makes this soccer tournament so powerful is its ability to make us look up from our cellphones long enough to feel the same goose bumps as strangers from strange lands,” wrote Gazette columnist Mark Kizla. “At a time when the United States is often depicted as the world’s bully rather than a benevolent policeman, the real wonder of this World Cup is how visitors from around the globe have fallen head over heels in love with all the silly stuff we Americans take for granted.”

Yes, the carefully crafted narrative made by blue-haired bloggers that the USA is a cesspool of intolerance is falling apart. And it’s falling apart beneath the weight of some very, very American things.

Things like free drink refills. And free chips and salsa that show up at your table before you even order. And beverages “the size of my bloody head.” And American-sized food portions.

Visitors have also marveled at dozens of TVs at sports bars. The gauntlet of free samples available at Costco. Massive stadiums with all of the amenities. Air conditioning everywhere and set 10 degrees below the 78 urged by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

And then there’s Buc-ee’s. The rest of the World is discovering the delightfully American absurdity of a convenience store/gas station the size of a Walmart Supercenter. Oh, and they’ve marveled at the aforementioned supercenters as well.

And then there’s ranch dressing. Entire vlogs have been devoted to this uniquely American condiment. So much so that the TSA has had to issue a warning about how much ranch can be packed in their luggage.

That love affair has extended to some very American music. Before Team USA games, fans belt out “The Star Spangled Banner” with a gusto usually reserved for a Taylor Swift concert. And the fans of the opposing side have been joining in. Meanwhile, John Denver’s “Country Roads” is enjoying an unprecedented rebirth and is being sung loudly by foreign speakers who don’t even know what the words mean.

It’s not lost on me that some of this pro-American vibe is self-serving. Foreigners bragging about America generates clicks. Content creators know this, so you have to consider the source.

But the positive reactions to all things American is too overwhelming to ignore. People from around the world are discovering the America that most of us already knew. It’s not perfect and it’s not supposed to be. The freedom to choose often provides messy results. But the cumulative whole is amazing. Too often, we forget that.

We seek positive feedback about the USA. Shouldn’t that tell us something? Every time we turn on the news, we’re told that the USA is the problem. That’s a false narrative at its most extreme level. World Cup fans are reminding us of that.

The world’s greatest sports tournament has reminded us that we live in the world’s greatest country.