After closing the group stage, Brazil advanced as the leader of its zone, while Japan did so as second. The draw ended up confirming a confrontation that many fans have described as “out of anime”, coinciding with one of the most iconic football stories in fiction.
The expression “it became canon” comes from the world of anime, manga and series, and is used when something fictional happens to coincide with reality in a surprising way. In this case, users have applied it to the crossing between Brazil and Japan due to its similarity to Captain Tsubasa (The Superchampions).
In the series created by Yōichi Takahashi, Japan—led by Tsubasa Ozora—faces Brazil in decisive stages of youth soccer, with a memorable match that ended 3-2 in overtime in favor of the Japanese team.
Nostalgia, networks and real football
The crossover has reactivated the nostalgia of those who grew up with the series in the 1980s and 1990s, generating comparisons between the anime characters and current figures such as Vinícius Júnior, Rodrygo or the Japanese players of the 2026 World Cup.
In sports, Brazil starts as one of the big favorites for the title, while Japan has shown tactical order, intensity and the ability to compete against higher-ranking teams. As a recent precedent, Japan beat Brazil 3-2 in a friendly played in October 2025 in Tokyo.
The match is scheduled for Monday, June 29 at 11:00 a.m. Guatemala time.
Beyond the result, the match has already established itself as a cultural phenomenon: a crossover that connects fiction with real football and that has turned a direct elimination match into an event of global nostalgia.
Football, this time, seems to have written the chapter that many first saw in cartoons.