The Japanese crowd cleared the field and left.

The Japan women’s national team played Spain at Regional Stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 31 in their third Group C match of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023. The result was a 4-0 victory for Japan.

Japan were unbeaten in their three group games. They defeated Zambia 5-0 in game one, Costa Rica 2-0 in game two, and Spain 4-0 in game three to improve to 9 points from three games. With an overwhelming record of 11 goals scored and 0 goals conceded, they booked their place in the round of 16.

The Japanese crowd stood out. The game drew a crowd of 20,957 at Regional Stadium, with Japanese fans bringing garbage bags to the game. After Japan’s 4-0 win, they cleared out the surrounding seats and collected the trash.

Japanese fans cleaning up the stadium is nothing new. We saw it at the last World Cup in Qatar 2022. The Japanese men’s national soccer team was drawn in the Group of Death with Germany, Costa Rica, and Spain. Contrary to expectations, they beat both Germany and Spain 2-1 to advance to the round of 16.

The Japanese crowd in Qatar brought large plastic bags to every game. After the game, they collected all the trash from the other fans. Opposing fans also gave the Japanese fans a thumbs up. FIFA highlighted their behavior. 토토사이트

Japanese athletes did the same. The Japanese men’s and women’s national soccer teams are known for leaving their locker rooms clean after World Cups and A-matches. While other teams just grab their stuff and get on the team bus, the Japanese players take out all the trash and leave a quick note.

Japan’s “cleaning culture” has carried over to the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.