World Cup fans discover supersized America, but some viral moments are staged

The biggest World Cup ever, at a price

The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, expanded to 48 teams and 16 host cities spread across four time zones. The unprecedented scale has driven up costs for fans and teams alike. Christos Anagnostopoulos, an assistant professor in sports management at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, told Wired that “average attendance cost in the US host cities is running north of $5,000 a head, before you've factored in flights between venues.” By comparison, visitors to the 2022 Qatar tournament spent between $720 and $2,500. With stadiums separated by thousands of miles, flights have replaced the metro rides and free trains that characterized the compact 2018 and 2022 editions. “Teams and fans now must factor in flights, not metro rides, and the carbon and cost implications are real,” Anagnostopoulos said. Hotel bookings in U.S. host cities were already running below expectations, partly because travel expenses have priced out some supporters.

Giant sodas, free refills and Texas-sized portions

Despite the expense, thousands of international fans have poured into American cities and flooded social media with their discoveries. Ayoub Baghdad, a Moroccan supporter, told the BBC: “Everything is big, even the Coke is big.” He marveled at the oversized roads and trucks. Japanese fan Rinta Goto became a minor celebrity after posting about the “insanely good” bread at Texas Roadhouse in Dallas. “Why isn't Japan on the list?” he wondered upon learning the chain operates in other countries but not his own. Scottish vlogger Shaun, visiting a Buc-ee’s travel center, declared: “A place like this could ONLY exist in America and I LOVE it.” Portuguese students devoured Chipotle and Shake Shack, while clips of Scots in kilts cheering at a Boston Red Sox game racked up millions of views. Chain restaurants, free soda refills, and family-sized snack bags at Walmart became recurring motifs of the tourist experience.

A soft-power windfall

The viral fascination with everyday American life arrived at a moment of strained diplomatic relations. Victor Cha, president of geopolitics and foreign policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described the phenomenon as “an unexpected fringe benefit beyond the sports itself.” He added: “At a time when there is so much criticism and uncertainty with regard to the United States, for our country to have this unexpected windfall of people from around the world coming to the U.S. and seeing the real aspects of everyday America …” Immigration policies nevertheless remained a point of friction, with some fans reportedly facing visa hurdles. Still, the feel-good clips offered a counterpoint to political tensions, building the kind of soft power that host nations crave.

When the viral moment isn't real

Not every heartwarming clip was what it appeared. The New York Times reported that a widely shared video of an Englishman discovering a chicken parm hero in a New Jersey deli (retweeted by the state’s governor) had actually been filmed in April, weeks before the World Cup began. The man in the video, Daniel Tooke, had long since returned home to Norwich. An Italian TikTok comedian, Fabio Farati, had been impersonating an awed tourist for years; his “I can refill this 1,000 times!” video, first posted in 2025, was falsely circulated as a fresh World Cup reaction. Another popular account, Nobunaga, was a pseudonymous character with no plans to attend any matches. The mix of genuine and staged content underscored the tournament’s dual role as both a cultural exchange and a digital content gold rush.