The United States is co-hosting the World Cup with Canada and Mexico, and early fears about high ticket prices, travel difficulties and political tensions have been softened by positive reviews from European visitors, Polish state news agency PAP has reported.
It said fans from Germany, Sweden and other Western European countries have posted enthusiastic comments on social media about American hospitality, reasonable food and fuel prices, and the organization of the tournament.
Many have also praised friendly service at stadiums, restaurants and roadside stops.
Some posts have focused on experiences rarely found in Europe, such as all-night diners, and large travel centers and convenient gas stations have received especially warm reviews from visiting fans.
The reaction contrasts with a darker view of the United States that has become more common in Europe since President Donald Trump’s first term.
It also follows media predictions that the tournament could become a public-relations problem for the United States, including amid controversy over Trump’s criticism of Europe.
Małgorzata Zachara-Szymańska, a professor of American studies at the Jagiellonian University in the southern Polish city of Kraków, said she was not surprised by the positive response from fans.
She told Poland's PAP news agency that visitors had come to the World Cup for the emotion of the tournament and to see monumental stadiums, an area in which the United States has long excelled.
Major sports events are usually carefully prepared, she said, and US organizers have made strong efforts to show fans a friendly version of America.
"The question is whether this positive response will translate into any neutralizing of the already established mood of distrust toward the United States," Zachara-Szymańska said.
She added that, for many Europeans, America has become less associated with opportunity and the American dream since Trump's first presidency.
In her view, that myth is fading in Europe. She said American popular culture itself increasingly shows a country struggling with poverty and social tensions.
Zachara-Szymańska also said Europeans were unsettled by political developments in the United States because they differed from the image long associated with America.
“For at least the past 100 years, leadership was always based on both interests and values that were aligned with European ones, but that has changed,” she said. She added that the US political class appeared less able to diagnose its own mistakes.
Recent polling points to the same shift. A Pew Research Center survey carried out between February and May in 36 countries found a sharp fall in trust toward the United States and Trump’s foreign policy.
Poland remains one of the more pro-American countries in Europe, but favorable views of the United States fell there by 28 percentage points, from 77 percent in February 2024 to 49 percent.
Globally, 37 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the United States, while 57 percent had a negative view.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP