36 years later, Peru is going back to the World Cup. Following a comfortable 2-0 win over New Zealand in Lima, La Blanquirroja has punched its ticket to Russia 2018 as the 32nd and final entry into soccer’s biggest party. Goals from Jefferson Farfán and Christian Ramos sent the Estadio Nacional de Lima crowd into fits of joy, and those outside the stadium followed suit. In fact, Farfán’s goal, which ended up being the deciding tally, set off celebrations so loud and boisterous that regional earthquake warning systems went into overdrive:
The last time Peru made the World Cup was in 1981 for the 1982 edition of the tournament, and so plenty of Peruvian fans had never seen a World Cup appearance in their lifetime (some estimates have that number as over 20 million, if you include those born outside of the country to Peruvian parents). That’ll change, as Peru goes into Russia, and they’re looking to make some noise; the country is currently ranked 10th in the FIFA rankings, and should be a headache for any teams they come up against.
That’s a matter for another day, however; as the final whistle blew in the 94th minute, Lima and the entire country of Peru exploded into celebration, and people took to social media to exclaim, share photos and videos, and generally wild out. The party went long into the night, as the country has a national holiday on Thursday, planned ahead of time in case Peru won.
And so, in honor of the 36 long years it took Peru to get back to the World Cup, we’ve collected the 36 happiest, most elated, most grateful tweets from November 15, a date that Peruvian soccer fans won’t soon forget.
https://twitter.com/chriscmendoza/status/930998195169185792
https://twitter.com/sigh_la16/status/931012132522680320
https://twitter.com/Sabrina_A_Banks/status/931015365261393920
https://twitter.com/nikoblasto/status/931012576691048448
https://twitter.com/midsiperez98/status/931130236665769984