A German soccer fan came to the United States for the World Cup worried he might find the dangerous, crime-riddled country he’d heard about on the news. Instead, he found a place so magical he broke down crying on local television.
During an interview with NBC 10 Boston, Sebastian Krause became visibly emotional while explaining how deeply moved he was by the kindness he experienced from Americans during his visit.
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Germany’s World Cup run came to an abrupt end in the Round of 32 after a 4-3 penalty shootout loss to Paraguay. Tough way to go out. But apparently, not even a crushing soccer loss could compete with the power of American hospitality.
In the news segment, reporter Oscar Margáin said Krause “never imagined his trip to America would be so emotional.” The video shows Krause wiping tears from his eyes, turning away from the camera and using his Germany jersey to dry his face as he tried to explain what the trip meant to him.
“I fall in love with this country and this was so emotional, I even cried in the stadium,” Krause said.
WORLD CUP SOCCER FANS ARE DISCOVERING AMERICA’S GREATNESS. IT’S TIME AMERICANS DID, TOO
That is not exactly the reaction the rest of the world is often told to expect when visiting the U.S.
Krause admitted he had been nervous before the trip because of what he had heard about America from news coverage overseas.
“To be honest, I was a bit scared or had a fear to travel to the United States. News about shootings and criminals and that the country’s not safe,” Krause said.
Then he actually got here. Funny how that works.
Instead of finding some dystopian wasteland, Krause found regular Americans being regular Americans. In one clip from his phone, Krause was picked up and driven to his hotel by a group of Boston locals. He was so touched by the gesture that he reportedly watched the clip back dozens of times.
“America is great,” Krause said in the video.
Take that, all you smug European travel bloggers!
“Americans are not rude. Germans are not rude,” he said. “If we are together, we can achieve great things.”
Now, that’s just beautiful.
Krause is hardly the only international World Cup fan who has discovered that America is much better than advertised. The 2026 tournament has turned into a full-blown tourism campaign for the United States, and the reviews from foreign fans have been glowing.
The best-known example is another German fan named Freddy, who went viral on X while documenting his World Cup road trip across the U.S. Freddy became an internet sensation by reacting with unfettered joy to some of America’s most sacred institutions: Waffle House, Buc-ee’s, Taco Bell, Walmart and absurdly large fountain drink machines.
It’s culture shock in the best way.
International fans have been blown away by free refills, American breakfast portions, air conditioning, drive-thrus, barbecue, fast food chains and the fact that a stranger in Boston might just give you a ride because it’s raining.
And don’t even get them started on the ranch dressing.
Foreign World Cup fans have fallen hard for ranch. So hard, in fact, that airport shops have started stocking bottles of Hidden Valley Ranch past security because fans were trying to fly home with it. The TSA even had to remind travelers that ranch counts as a liquid and larger bottles cannot be stored in your carry-on.
This is what makes Krause’s interview so perfect. The viral food posts are hilarious, and yes, watching Europeans discover Waffle House should be preserved in the Library of Congress. But Krause’s reaction gets to something deeper.
He was told to be afraid of big, bad USA. Then he came here and found kindness. So much kindness that he didn’t even care when his team got bounced early.
God bless America.
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