Arigato! Younger brothers are moved by the locker room cleaning and thank-you letter following the senior...What you did after you were eliminated from U17

Nov 24, 2025

Source=Japan Football Association SNS

The Japanese U-17 national soccer team left a deep impression on the site of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2025.

Japan lost 0-1 to Austria in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Doha, Qatar, on the 21st (Korea time) and suffered a setback. Japan, the only Asian team to reach the quarterfinals after beating North Korea in the round of 16 after a penalty shootout, stopped on the day.

Since they are young players, they must be sad about losing, but Japan kept their manners behind them.

The Japan Football Association (JFA) released a message on the blackboard of the locker room where the Japanese team stayed on its official SNS after the game. On the blackboard, which is believed to have been written by one of the staff members of Japan's U-17 team, the message 'Anschuk's Jaslan! (Thank you in Arabic) 'Thank you to everyone who cheered for the game.

In English and Japanese, the expression 'Thank you' and the word 'Japan' were also left. The locker room had been cleaned clean without a towel or water bottle.

XinhuaYonhap News

'Cleaning the locker room' has established itself as the culture of the Japanese soccer team's squad. Japan's A team won praise from soccer fans around the world for its clean exit from the 2018 World Cup in Russia. After losing the round of 16 to Belgium 2-3, the team cleaned the locker room clean, and Japanese away fans cleaned up the trash in the stands. The greeting 'thank you' on the locker room blackboard left a big resonance.

Japan also continued the 'Cleaning Culture' at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the 2023 Australia-New Zealand Women's World Cup, and the 2025 EAFF E-1 Championship.

During the group stage of the tournament, the players of the U-17 team reportedly washed dishes themselves after eating at the restaurant and cleaned the room they stayed in. In line with this, the Mexican team, which shares the same accommodation, also joined the campaign to use the accommodation cleanly.

Japanese team cheering Mexican players who share the same accommodation with high-fives during the U-17 World Cup. Source = Japanese Football Association

Shuji Muramatsu (18, LA FC), the main goalkeeper of Japan's U-17 team, said "We tried to organize the area around the restaurant and the room as much as possible. Mexican players, like us, cleaned up all the tables."

Japan, which missed two decisive chances in the first half against Austria, dedicated the winning goal to Johannes Mosser with a mid-range shot in the fourth minute of the second half.

South Korea, led by head coach Baek Ki-tae, advanced to the round of 32 tournaments in the tournament, which expanded to 48 countries, but suffered an early elimination by losing 0-2 to England.

Austria and Italy, Portugal and Brazil are each expected to determine the finals in the semifinals. The final match will be held at Khalifa International Stadium on the 28th.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.