Andrei Fontana came to the US with two big empty suitcases on his World Cup trip. He’s heading home with both packed to the brim.
Fontana, 33, traveled from Tapejara, Brazil, with his dad, uncle, and cousin, to Atlanta, Miami, and New York City to watch the World Cup. They went to one match — and spent at least two hours a day shopping.
The suitcases now carry new clothes, shoes, electronics — like iPhones and MacBooks—, and Sephora makeup for his girlfriend and sister-in-law. They decided to splurge in the US because there are better brands, higher-quality items, and cheaper prices than back home, he said. Fontana estimated he spent, on average, 30% less in the US than he would have spent on the same items back home.
“North Face, Columbia, Lacoste, Nike. We have all of these in Brazil, but here it is cheaper,” Fontana said.
The US is one of the three hosts of this year’s FIFA World Cup, along with Canada and Mexico. Five to 10 million foreign visitors were expected to make the international trek. America’s new friends are leaning into a very US pastime: Shopping without abandon at the country’s consumer meccas.
What’s long been a foreign tradition — showing up in America’s ultra-cheap, well-stocked big box stores with nothing but an empty suitcase and a dream — has crystallized into a full-on shopping-tourism boom.
Toothpaste, melatonin, and a love of Target
Lee Sterling, chief marketing officer at Simon Property Group, which owns shopping malls and outlets nationwide, said that throughout this summer, mall traffic has been strong across the country, in both host and non-host cities.
“This is a big cultural moment,” she said. “All the markets are building on the excitement of the World Cup, whether or not they’re host cities.”
Sterling said this increased traffic was driven by tourists and locals who are going to malls to shop, dine, and seek out World Cup-related entertainment, such as watch parties, fan festivals, and themed events. The stores with “fantastic” traffic are those with sports-related products, such as Adidas, Nike, and The Gap.
While name-brand jerseys and sneakers have their own appeal, some of the items visitors flock to are more mundane. Items such as Crest whitening strips, EOS lotion, and melatonin are all popular among those bringing back “hauls” from the US, frequently appearing in TikToks about shopping sprees — and in the carts of several tourists Business Insider spoke to.
Of course, Europe has toothpaste, but the whitening agents in many American brands are restricted there; certain pharmaceuticals like melatonin are also harder to access, and some brands simply haven’t expanded overseas.
Abbey Dudley, a 23-year-old from Leeds, England, visited San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas while the US was in the midst of World Cup mania. Her timing didn’t align with England’s matches, but she came with a shopping list of goodies, including toothpaste, moisturizer, and Panoxyl face wash. Dudley documented her haul — and American shopping exploits — on TikTok.
“We had to go to Target. I mean, it was one of the biggest shops I’ve ever been in,” Dudley said. “And people in the comments were like, ‘Why are you bothered about going to a Target?’ It’s literally just a normal supermarket for them, but it was so cool to experience.”
Since the start of the tournament, Target stores in host cities have sold 66% of the brand’s World Cup merchandise than those in non-host cities, even though they represent only about a quarter of its total locations, according to a Target spokesperson. The best-selling item international tourists are scrambling for at Target: The latest set of high-end Apple AirPods.
Richie Karaburun, a clinical associate professor at NYU’s hospitality school, said visitors — especially those here for the World Cup — want to have more authentic experiences beyond the usual tourist traps.
“Experiences are the new currency,” Karaburun said. That means going into stores like Walmart and Target and marveling at the sheer size and scope, much like Dudley did. Visitors to the US have long been impressed by the sheer variety of products at Bath & Body Works or the cereal selection at a big-box supermarket. And brands have cleverly seized on this newfound awe; Karaburun pointed to McDonald’s World Cup-themed meals, or Kraft rolling out travel-sized ranch dressing.
Outside of the current World Cup tourism bump, many Europeans and other tourists have long gamed out stateside consumer binges. Susanne Bryde, who lives in Denmark, has been leading shopping trips to the US for her girlfriends for 20 years. Some of her must-haves are melatonin, cereals like Golden Grahams and Honey Bunches of Oats, yarn from Hobby Lobby, and Aunt Jemima’s maple syrup. She’s also an avid T.J. Maxx and outlet shopper.
“The first thing that you have to dispel is that the countries that we all come from, that they don’t have stuff because they have lots of stuff,” Bryde said. Instead, she buys things that she loves — even if they’re not as cheap as they used to be.
“Inflation in the states has made it so there’s really nothing, and I mean really nothing, that it truly pays for us to bring back,” she said. Instead, “it’s all about nostalgia,” and finding something unique that “nobody else has.”
The US saw sharper inflation than Denmark since the COVID-19 pandemic; US consumer prices rose about 29% between January 2020 and May 2026, compared with Denmark’s 19% rise.
Of course, the World Cup is still the main draw for many visitors — the shopping is a nice incidental perk.
Hugo Villalobos, his two brothers, and his cousin who visited from León, Guanajuato, México, said that since they are closer to the US, they can come back another time to shop.
“This wasn’t a shopping trip,” said Hugo, “We came for the World Cup.”
Still, they estimate they spend 2 to 3 hours a day shopping for clothes, vitamins, and melatonin between five World Cup games in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.
“With him, we are shopping all day,” Cristobal, Hugo’s brother, said, pointing to Hugo. “We brought extra space, so everything will fit.”
Correction: July 11, 2026 — This story has been updated to more accurately characterize a paraphrased comment from Lee Sterling, the chief marketing officer at The Simon Property Group. She said mall traffic was strong this summer.
