Dire warnings that hosting the World Cup in a politically and culturally divided United States would be a disaster — fan boycotts, uninterested locals, overzealous policing, terrorism threats — have, two weeks into the tournament, turned out to be spectacularly wrong.
The reality has proven the opposite, giving hundreds of thousands of visiting fans a glimpse of what the U.S. can be when it puts all the hate and social media-driven drivel to one side. Americans are genuinely enjoying the wave of diversity and color fans have brought to their shores, while the soccer faithful are having the time of their lives mingling with their hosts, and getting to know the country.
It’s an eye-opener that’s quietly demolishing stereotypes for foreign visitors, many of whom arrived braced for the worst, fed by the ugly narratives that dominate their screens back home. Turns out most of those narratives don’t reflect how everyday Americans actually behave. Who knew?
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