Trash-cleaning fans from Japan impress everyone at FIFA World Cup
Japan doesn’t start its quest at the 2022 FIFA World Cup until Wednesday, but their supporters in Qatar are already in the spotlight for all the right reasons.
Japanese fans attending the World Cup’s opening match featuring Qatar and Ecuador went viral after collecting bags of trash at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday.
“Someone convince me that this is normal,” said Omar Farooq, an influencer from Bahrain with millions of YouTube subscribers, in an Instagram post.
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“We are Japanese, and we do not leave rubbish behind us, and we respect the place,” a fan told Farooq.
The video has over 750,000 likes since being posted Sunday.
Top-liked comments on the video feature people responding with “wow” and “respect.”
“They should give them free tickets,” said another commenter, translated from Arabic.
“I wish everyone would learn from Japan,” added another.
Japanese supporters have a history of similar respectful acts, as does the team itself.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, fans cleaned the stadium before leaving a 2-1 loss in its tournament opener to Ivory Coast. Fans were also cleaning up at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and the team left their changing room spotless and complete with ‘thank you’ note.
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