World Cup tourists swoon over the real America — and they’re making us fall in love, too

Bright red fire trucks. Walmart’s cathedral of abundance. The miracle of free refills.

These are just a few of the American wonders World Cup tourists are encountering during their travels through the heartland — and they can’t seem to get enough of them.

Visitors from all over the world are documenting their journeys across the United States on social media, much to the delight of every American who doesn’t think patriotism is a dirty word.

“A place like this could ONLY exist in America and I LOVE it,” posted Sean from Scotland as he toured a Texas Buc-ees in abject astonishment.

“The vibes are insane!” exclaimed Freddy from Germany while road-tripping through Louisiana to New Orleans.

And Elsa from Sweden is demanding of X, “Why did no one tell me ranch sauce is like crack?”

They’re dining at Waffle House and Chick-Fil-A, reporting from the front lines with unfettered joy.

They’re discovering country music and friendly strangers as they’re flooded with recommendations from locals welcoming them with open arms.

It’s a rare sighting: Not the Europeans in their skinny-jean shorts — we see them regularly in big American cities like New York and Washington — but their outpouring of love and support for the United States itself.

A typical doom-scroll through social media nowadays will quickly produce a litany of what’s wrong with America, how daily life is awful (Door Dash is so expensive!) and how unfortunate we are to live in this air-conditioned, food-rich land.

A recent study found that only 41% of Zoomers, who won the birth lottery by arriving in this world on the soil of one of our great 50 states, claim they’re proud to be Americans.

Enter the tourists, expressing pure bliss as they make their way through the hinterlands.

As an immigrant myself, I’m not at all surprised.

I still remember my very first sighting of a yellow school bus, that magical machine I’d only ever seen in movies — just like the one that spurred Elsa to “scream with excitement” when she spotted it.

I vividly recall my first encounters with peanut butter, cowboy hats and Target.

The native-born may find it amusing, but for us newcomers, America was the land we saw on TV and in the movies.

Many of us, from Israel to Nigeria, grew up watching “Friends,” blasting Jay-Z from our little European cars, and asking anyone visiting the Land of the Free to bring back some hot Cheetos (OK, maybe that was just me).

The cultural influence of America is evident in the fact that many of us speak English so well (thank you, “Beverly Hills 90210” and Conan O’Brien) and is seen in the clothes we wear, the stars we look up to and the dreams we’ve pursued — many of which could only be fulfilled here.

Some Americans may look down their noses at the stars (and stripes) in our eyes, quickly pointing out what’s wrong here rather than what’s right, as one in five Americans did recently when asked by the Pew Research Center what makes them proud of their country.

Shootings, political strife and rising prices aren’t things we should dismiss, but the relative safety and plenty we enjoy compared to conditions in many other nations makes the trade-off a no-brainer.

So maybe more Americans should set their phones aside for a while and visit the mountains of Washington or talk to strangers in Texas to see this place through the eyes of those who marvel at all we’ve taken for granted.

Not only is our homeland jam-packed with lovely sights (“I’m in a place right now that’s so beautiful I’m probably about to make 50 posts about it,” raved Freddy of Alabama’s Gulf Coast), it’s also the land where we can say whatever we want, buy whatever we want and vote however we like.

It’s a place where parents worry about where to send their children to school, not whether to send them to war; a place where people who once had to line up for food they could barely afford now have a hard time choosing from all the soda options at the Five Guys self-serve.

It’s the land of friendly faces, Nerds Gummy Clusters and, for the most part, clean and safe streets.

Next time you see a gray squirrel, get stuck in traffic behind a yellow school bus or pass by a Texas Roadhouse (featuring “the best cost-performance steak,” Mr. K from Japan gushed), think of the thousands of people around the world whose phones are now bursting with photos of these everyday attractions — and who are already planning their next visit to the place we’re fortunate to call home.

 Yael Bar tur is an Israeli living in New York and author of “Everyone on the Internet Hates You” on Substack. X: @yaelbt.