{"id":366798,"date":"2026-06-19T05:51:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/366798\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T05:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T05:51:10","slug":"bakersfield-watch-party-for-mexico-south-korea-match-celebrates-culture-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/366798\/","title":{"rendered":"Bakersfield watch party for Mexico-South Korea match celebrates culture and community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 As Mexico and South Korea faced off on the field, fans in Bakersfield showed that some World Cup matchups can be about more than a final score.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"FILE - FIFA World Cup 2026 Soccer\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ad247542-d227-4a8f-ad45-09fb876978bb-FIFAWorldCup2026SoccerMON2.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>FILE &#8211; FIFA World Cup 2026 Soccer<\/p>\n<p>A Mexico-South Korea watch party Thursday at Bakersfield Beer Company turned into a celebration of culture, community, and relationships, with fans emphasizing the connection between the two countries as much as the rivalry.<\/p>\n<p>Cristian Gutierrez summed up the mood, saying, \u201cNo bad blood between us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Francisco Rodriguez said the competition didn\u2019t erase the camaraderie. \u201cRight now, we\u2019re gonna be rivals, but at the end, we\u2019re still gonna be, you know, friends,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>That sense of mutual respect has roots in the 2018 World Cup, when South Korea\u2019s win over Germany helped Mexico advance. On Thursday, fans packed the watch party to cheer on their teams, with Rodriguez leading chants of \u201cViva Mexico!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"KBAK\/KBFX\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/70a6b872-82af-478d-b0a5-208a0f3b4c94-beercom.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Danvir Singh said soccer\u2019s global reach was on full display at the gathering. \u201cSoccer is truly the world\u2019s game. More than any other sport, it brings communities, it brings cultures, it brings different nationalities together in a way that no other sport in America really does,\u201d Singh said.<\/p>\n<p>Two couples at the watch party said the sport plays a big role in their relationships. Singh said he found himself supporting both sides. \u201cI love South Korea. I love Mexican culture. Obviously, I\u2019m married into the Mexican culture, so I\u2019m rooting for both teams,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Another couple cheered for the opposite teams. Noemi Bealer said, \u201cI\u2019m a new soccer fan.\u201d Neil Bankar explained how the sport brought them together: \u201cFunny story. Uh, we met here at the soccer bar. It wasn\u2019t our first soccer game, but I dragged her into plenty of games since.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rodrigues said the watch party was ultimately about being together. \u201cIt means a lot, because, um, I mean, in the end, it\u2019s, you know, it\u2019s always the family, so, um, just being together, enjoying the moment, and it just means it means the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel, middle, reaches to stop the ball during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Korea in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Silvia Izquierdo)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1aa97af6-6587-4fc1-be99-b795d69bc640-AP26170103181740.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mexico goalkeeper Raul Rangel, middle, reaches to stop the ball during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Korea in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, June 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Silvia Izquierdo)<\/p>\n<p>Mexico beat South Korea 1-0 to become the first country to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>World Cup action continues tomorrow with the United States taking on Australia at noon. The match will air on FOX 58.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif.(KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 As Mexico and South Korea faced off on the field, fans in Bakersfield showed that&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366799,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-366798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366798\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}