Social media explodes, celebrations in the streets as Argentina wins its first-ever Softball World Championship

Press release World Baseball Softball Confederation

The National Softball Team of Argentina won its first-ever World Championship in the sport of Softball, defeating powerhouse Japan, 3-2, in a thrilling extra-inning Final of the WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship 2019 at a packed 2-000 seat Svoboda Park in Prague, Czech Republic, on Sunday.

Social media has since exploded across Argentine society, with celebrities, politicians, major news networks, journalists, athletes from other sports, actors/actresses and fans sending their congratulations to the Argentina National Softball Team for winning the world title.

Hours following the conclusion of the thrilling Final in Prague, the President of Argentina, Mr. Mauricio Macri, tweeted: “Impressive, Argentina champion of softball! The immense effort you made paid off and today you’re the best in the world. Congratulations to the whole team!!”

Argentina’s biggest media outlets, including Clarin, La Nación, Página/12, Infobae, Ole, ESPN Deportes, Fox Sports, TyC Sports and CNN Radio all reported the news that the South American nation won the Softball World Championship, pushing the news to millions of its viewers, listeners and readers. Sporting newspaper “Ole” featured the Argentina National Softball Team on the front page of its Monday edition.

Sport celebrities also joined social media to congratulate the new men’s softball world champion. Argentine tennis legend and Olympic medallist Gabriela Sabatini celebrated her country’s world title: “Let’s go Argentina!!! #Softball world champions!!”.

International soccer star, former Argentina Soccer National Team captain and also Olympic medallist Javier Mascherano tweeted: “Congratulations guys! World champions”.

Argentina players get Hero’s welcome

The Argentina softball players were received as national heroes upon returning home from the Czech Republic. Top sports TV networks, like ESPN and TyC Sports, awaited the team for interviews at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires.

A victory parade with thousands of cheering fans was given in Parana city, home town of most of the players of the National Team.

“These types of reactions are usually reserved only for the elite global sports,” said WBSC President Riccardo Fraccari. “These images coming from South America are a great indication that softball is being embraced and growing in importance at the world level.”

Most watched and most followed Men’s Softball event in history

The WBSC Men’s Softball World Championship 2019 also set historic records in terms of viewership and social media engagement, generating more than 12 million impressions and over 8 million video views across WBSC’s social media channels during the flagship men’s softball event.