World Cup soccer fans are discovering America’s greatness. It’s time Americans did, too

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, we received an unexpected gift from millions of World Cup visitors: a fresh reminder of what makes America exceptional.

Tourists from dozens of countries descended on American cities this summer for the World Cup, or FIFA 2026, and what they found shattered everything their media had told them. They had been warned about an angry, divided, dangerous country in irreversible decline. Instead, they found something so ordinary it became extraordinary...