Frontlines TPUSA reporter, Savanah Hernandez, recently spoke with several tourists in New York City who had traveled from various countries to watch their national teams compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Interviewees told Hernandez they’ve received a sense of welcomeness from Americans while in New York City and the US in general, noting differences between it and the regions from which they came.
Hernandez asked several people to share their reaction to being in the United States of America at the time of the World Cup.
“I love it,” one woman from Colombia said. “It’s a great country here. I’m actually a citizen — I became a citizen last year — so I’m happy and enjoying it: living the American dream.”
Others praised the friendliness they’ve been met with since their arrival, and that political controversies presented in the media about the US have misrepresented the country.
“Coming here, you think everything is going to be about the immigrants and ICE and everything, but everything has been very friendly so far,” a Swedish man said.
In a similar vein, an Englishman said “everyone warned us that people in New York weren’t very nice, but everyone we’ve met has been amazing.”
“Where I live, it’s all green with hillsides,” an English woman told Hernandez, contrasting her homeland with New York City. “And then you come here and it’s just skyscrapers. It goes for miles and miles and miles. It is amazing.”
Hernandez also discussed with interviewees culture in the US amid the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“We’ve experienced very big portions when it comes to food, that’s for sure,” an English couple said. “We haven’t gone hungry the whole time we’ve been here.”
When asked for advice for the country ahead of America 250, a man from Sweden told Americans to keep “doing what you’re doing. Keep grabbing that flag and leading the line for the rest of us.”
In other news, alongside its X account, Frontlines has also launched a YouTube channel where this report, and other long-form video content, can be viewed.
