MIAMI — In the aftermath of Team Venezuela’s upset win over three-time champion Samurai Japan in Saturday night’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinals, videos of Ronald Acuña Jr. repeatedly shouting a celebratory chant quickly gained traction online: “We ate sushi! We ate sushi!”
With that, Acuña became the latest to reach for what’s become an easy way to troll opponents during the WBC: invoking a rival nation’s most popular food item.
ESTÁ COMPLETAMENTE DESQUICIADO JSJSJSJSJSJSJS 🍱🍣 pic.twitter.com/YcpWFJMXGb
— Peseteiro (@jpeseteiroDT) March 15, 2026
On Sunday, the videos generated some discourse about whether it was appropriate. Acuña’s celebration has been perceived by some as light-hearted trolling, while others have found it to be cringeworthy and racially insensitive. However, Acuña appears to be channeling a vibe that has been felt in the stands, as the tournament has featured other examples of fans taking on similar approaches to chiding opponents.
Following their team’s pool play finale win over Venezuela, Dominican fans took to the concourse of Miami’s loanDepot Park to shout, “Arepa has been burnt.”
Arepas are the most popular food item in Venezuela.
Dominican fans celebrating in the stadium after the Venezuela win at the WBC 2026
byu/RandomTez inbaseball
Those fans similarly chanted that they wanted Japan — and, yes, sushi — as well as a battle against the United States.
“We want Japan, We want Sushi” 🤣🇩🇴 https://t.co/wTgADyiVnd pic.twitter.com/9eNvInoRSP
— Master Flip 🇩🇴 (@Masterflip_) March 14, 2026
Before Venezuela’s game against Japan, a popular Dominican baseball meme account shared an AI-generated image of Acuña eating sushi and of Shohei Ohtani eating an arepa, asking fans what gets eaten today, the sushi or the arepa?
That same account also shared a meme following the D.R.’s mercy rule win over Korea that a KO was given to K-pop, the massively popular music genre that originates from South Korea.
But that kind of chiding hasn’t been the only element to define the interactions of various baseball cultures during the WBC, at least in the stands anyway.
During Saturday’s Venezuela and Japan showdown, video of Japanese fans dancing alongside Venezuelans made the rounds on social media. And a day before, a contingent of Dominican fans was videoed hyping up a Team Korea fan as he danced in the middle of a blowout loss.
Dominican fans successfully hype up a Korean fan
byu/Mission_Pay_3373 inbaseball
So if Venezuela takes care of business against Italy on Tuesday, will Acuña say that his team feasted on pizza, spaghetti and espresso? At this WBC, perhaps.
And if the D.R. dispatches Team USA on Saturday night, will its fans shy away from one more opportunity to shout “burn the arepa?”
Doubtful.
