Photo = WINTER, KWON EUNBI, CORTIS, NOWZ SNS

 

[Hanteo News = Reporter KANG SUYOUNG] On the 12th, K-POP idols cheered on Korea’s first World Cup match in their own ways. Today, ahead of the second match tomorrow (19th), we have gathered the various ways K-POP idols enjoyed the World Cup a week ago.

 

aespa’s KARINA and WINTER, along with solo artist KWON EUNBI, personally visited the match site in Mexico. It was through the '2026 FIFA World Cup Coca-Cola Away Cheering Squad' program hosted by Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Korea has operated a consumer away cheering squad program since the 1998 France World Cup, and for this North America World Cup as well, it formed a cheering squad of 70 people, including consumer winners. The three idols joined as members of this cheering squad. On the day of the match, KARINA posted on SNS, “Players, fighting,” along with photos from the site, while WINTER uploaded photos of the stadium with a Korean flag emoji. KWON EUNBI also posted a photo of herself holding a Korean flag and wearing a red top, writing, “Let’s go, Korea!” After the match ended, WINTER and KARINA shared photos of themselves wearing official North America World Cup T-shirts and wrote, “It was so amazing, and we cheered really hard. I was touched. The players worked so hard.”

 

That same morning, CORTIS took the stage at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. The group was the only K-POP group invited to 'KT 2026 Cheering: All of Us Together. Victory,' a street cheering viewing event organized by KT, the Korea Football Association, and the Red Devils. Wearing matching red uniforms reminiscent of the Red Devils and adding face and arm painting, the members appeared with the cheering song 'For Victory' and performed four songs, including the title track 'What You Want' from their debut album and the title track 'REDRED' from their 2nd mini album. Their wit offstage also drew attention. CORTIS posted a short-form video on its official SNS in which the lyrics of 'REDRED' were changed to “red tee, red tee (go red-red), tiger, tiger (go red-red), our team, our team (go red-red), move on to the round of 16, green green.” They directly re-recorded the original track with changed lyrics and newly arranged the choreography to match the World Cup mood. In a video released afterward, the members were shown enjoying themselves in the practice room while creating the choreography themselves. It was true to their identity as a “young creator crew.”

 

NOWZ uploaded a video on social media recreating, in NOWZ’s own version, a World Cup cheering choreography created by dance crew 'HOOK.' The video, which featured the national team players’ signature moves such as HWANG HEECHAN’s bull pose and SON HEUNGMIN’s click pose, surpassed a combined 12 million views across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. NOWZ told Hanteo News, “HOOK’s original choreography was already so cool, so we tried to show it in NOWZ’s own version while keeping that feeling alive, and we are happy that it received a good response,” adding, “We worked hard to bring out not only the power and groove of the original choreography, but also each player’s signature part.” They continued, “We feel really good that a video we filmed with fun and a cheering heart received such a good response,” adding, “Since it is the World Cup, we also filmed it with a lot of effort, so thank you for watching it so much, and we will continue working harder until it reaches 100 million views.” Ahead of the second match, they sent words of support, saying, “Unfortunately, we were not able to watch it in person, but we will cheer hard with our hearts,” adding, “We hope all the players stay healthy without getting injured and achieve good results. Thank you for always showing great matches, and fighting to the Korean national football team.”

 

Their methods were all different. Some visited the stadium in person, some decorated the stage at a street cheering site, and some created content on SNS. What they had in common was that they translated support into the language of fandom. As the ways idols consume the World Cup become more diverse, the points where K-POP fandom and sports fandom intersect are also expanding.

 

grace@hanteo.com

 

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