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Music

BTS Vaults iTunes Charts After South Korea Saves Mexico's World Cup Chances

South Korea's surprise defeat of Germany ensured that Mexico would advance to the knockout stage, and Mexican fans are showing their gratitude seemingly by downloading K-pop.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/BBMA18/WireImage

In today's episode of Fuck the Right Wing from Now Until Infinity, US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he will be stepping down, leaving open the very real possibility of another Trump appointment to the country's highest court. Maybe it won't be the worst thing in the world, but it's… not great. However, this year has shown us that some good things can flourish outside of the toxic American cesspool, like K-pop, Latin American pride ('sup), and soccer. All three of these things combined today when Mexican fans apparently sent BTS up their country's Tunes chart after South Korea's win against Germany in the World Cup.

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Some context for the types that don't follow the world's game or sports of any kind (which, really? You're not cool for calling it "sportsball," dudes). The FIFA World Cup is going on right now in Russia, and we're just reaching the end of the group stage. A set of point totals each team gets according to overall wins and losses determines whether they go to the knockout stage. Mexico was in danger of not proceeding if Germany won against South Korea today. Surprisingly, South Korea whooped their asses, eliminating a top-tier team that won the Cup in 2014. This also meant that Germany's point total was low enough to allow Mexico through. South Korea has given their fans and Mexican soccer aficionados some new dreams of FIFA glory, so Mexico is apparently celebrating by downloading a fuckton of music by BTS, South Korea's most prominent cultural export.

As reported by Remezcla, BTS' hit single "Fake Love" experienced a bump in the Mexican iTunes charts after the game, and while we can't access the stats from before the game, a BTS fan Twitter dedicated to tracking their chart data suggests it went up 31 spots following the game, and then shows that it went up another ten in the hours afterward. Regardless, there have now been various joyous tweets from Mexicans proclaiming gratitude and love towards South Korea, which are truly heartwarming:

Likewise, many BTS ARMYs are amazed and amused at the sudden outpouring of love for the group:

Now, this has become such a big deal in Mexico that famous Mexican singer Aleks Syntek got very racist with his own thanks towards South Korea, which is just the latest in a long history of him being a bigoted chode. However, even a few scumbags can't ruin the magic of a moment like this. The world is much more than isolated despair. Sometimes two countries connect through fire pop songs after destroying another country in non-violent competition. Humanity is just funny that way.

Phil is on Twitter.