Could the World Cup revive America’s struggling dating culture?
Summer is famous for flings — a few months to have fun with someone without major commitments. Throw in international travelers (and foreign accents), and this year’s round of summer love might actually be able to save America’s struggling dating culture.
Young adults in the U.S. have been living in a depressed dating economy, also known as a young dating recession. In 2025, just one in three said they were actively dating.
Most women said they weren’t dating or had dated very little in the last year, and just one in three adults expressed faith in their dating skills.
But now, the World Cup is changing things.
International dating but in the US
A new study released this week found that foreign travelers are fanning the flames of Americans’ social and dating lives, with nearly half of U.S. singles reporting they have gone on a date or hooked up with a World Cup visitor.
The main attraction? Their accents.
The study from DatingAdvice.com found that one in five Americans consider international travelers’ accents the top prize, superseding even physical attraction.
Accents likely found in these host cities? French, Argentinian, British, Spanish, Brazilian, German and more.
DatingAdvice even took things a step further, asking respondents which fans are the most dateable. Latin America took the cake, with one in four singles saying they would most want to date soccer fans from Argentina and Brazil. Brazil and Argentina also topped the leaderboard for hottest visitors, with Australia taking third.
Not only the young are benefiting
It seems young adults aren’t the only ones who love a fling with a foreigner. The DatingAdvice study found Baby Boomers had higher dating activity than younger people due to the World Cup.
Get this: 52% of boomers said they’ve gone on a date or hooked up with a World Cup tourist. That’s 10 percentage points higher than Gen X, 9 percentage points higher than millennials and 7 percentage points higher than Gen Z.
More visitors = more dates
Singles looking to date locally shouldn’t fret. While many Americans are going on dates with international travelers, there are many just going on more dates in general.
The DatingAdvice study found that 70% of singles have seen their dating lives heat up since the World Cup began, as an influx of visitors and events offer more opportunities to socialize. And more social time leads to more interaction, which may lead to more dates.
But it’s not just in-person dating — dating apps saw a surge as well. DatingAdvice found that 80% of respondents matched with someone on a dating app after the tournament arrived, and Tinder saw a 47% increase in activity across the 16 host cities.
Don’t just take our word for it
Still not convinced of the World Cup’s role in American dating? Social media is filled with individuals talking about dating in host cities, being on the lookout for international travelers and sharing their World Cup dating stories.
There are even people specifically getting back into the dating game solely because there are foreign travelers in town.
@karenngtzz I DIDNT KNOW THIS WAS HAPPENING tank by @loveyourstruly
#fifaworldcup #worldcup #dallas #hostcity #FIFA
So as these international travelers visit the U.S., many for the first time, they’re not only learning about American culture, as Straight Arrow previously reported, but also influencing American dating.
And for those interested in getting into the dating game, the World Cup continues for a few more days.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
