Japanese Fans Clean Stadium After FIFA World Cup Match

Dallas. Japanese fans have once again won the hearts of sports fans worldwide by showing their traditional culture after a thrilling 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group F match. The sight of Japanese football fans cleaning the stands immediately after the match at the Dallas stadium in America is receiving worldwide praise. Local time on Sunday, after the final whistle of the entertaining match, Japanese fans collected plastic, paper, and other trash from their seating area before leaving the stadium. These pictures and videos have gone viral after being shared on social media. FIFA, the world football governing body, also shared a video on X of Japanese fans cleaning the Dallas stadium. Explaining the reason for cleaning the stadium, a Japanese fan said, 'This is our culture, it is also respect for everything. This is respect for the players, fans, and the stadium. We feel honored to be able to come here, so we don't want to leave any trash here. I think this is the main reason why we do this.' This act of Japanese fans is not new. They have created a unique identity by cleaning stadiums after matches in major international sports competitions like the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games. According to ESPN, this tradition first attracted global attention during the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. At that time, even though the Japanese team was eliminated in the group stage, the fans picked up the trash in the stadium after the match. Since then, this scene has become regular in every World Cup. In the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar, when Japan achieved a historic 2-1 victory over Germany, Japanese fans celebrated and cleaned their area at the Khalifa International Stadium. The beautiful scene seen at the Dallas stadium was made possible after Japan's excellent comeback on the field. At the beginning of the second half, Virgil van Dijk scored to give the Netherlands an early lead. But Japan's Nakamura equalized the game at 1-1. After Crisencio Summerville scored in the 64th minute, the Netherlands took a 2-1 lead again. With two minutes left in regulation time, Daichi Kamada scored to bring Japan to a dramatic 2-2 draw. With this draw, both teams shared 1-1 point in Group F.