--- title: Japanese Team Clean Up Locker Room After Losing at World Cup description: Not even a 2018 World Cup loss is an excuse for bad manners, apparently as the Japanese fans cleaned the stadium after losing to Belgium. canonical: https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-03T15:39:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:53:39.633Z og:title: Japan's Team Cleaned Up the Locker Room After World Cup Loss og:description: Not even a World Cup loss is an excuse for bad manners, apparently og:url: https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bf5d84fab1ae4e3/69893480bc6cfc69fb3e65f7/gettyimages-989826020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5413 og:image:height: 3045 og:image:alt: Belgium v Japan: Round of 16 - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Japan's Team Cleaned Up the Locker Room After World Cup Loss twitter:description: Not even a World Cup loss is an excuse for bad manners, apparently twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bf5d84fab1ae4e3/69893480bc6cfc69fb3e65f7/gettyimages-989826020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Japan's Players Redefine Sportsmanship By Cleaning Up Locker Room After Losing at the World Cup > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=7fbace5a-1394-4f23-9500-37dcb6463e25&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 3, 2018 3:39 PM UTC  ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA - JULY 02: General view inside the Japan dressing room prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Belgium and Japan at Rostov Arena on July 2, 2018 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. (Photo by Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) ROSTOV-ON-DON, RUSSIA - JULY 02: General view inside the Japan dressing room prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 16 match between Belgium and Japan at Rostov Arena on July 2, 2018 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. (Photo by Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Michael Regan - FIFA—FIFA via Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Jul 3, 2018 3:39 PM UTC Japan suffered a devastating loss against Belgium in the knock-out round of the [World Cup](http://time.com/5328092/rabiot-psychic-world-cup-octopus-killed-japan/), after leading the game 2-0 with just 25 minutes remaining in the second half. The shocking 3-2 loss meant Japan was out of the [soccer competition](http://time.com/5328519/neymar-stepped-on/) and headed home. Before they left, though, the heartbroken team showed an impressive display of good sportsmanship and even better manners. On the field, the team respectfully bowed to their opponents. They then filed into the locker room to change. But before they departed, they left the room completely spotless and even left a thank you note in Russian for their hosts, [_The Independent_ reports](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/world-cup/world-cup-2018-japan-fans-vs-belgium-clean-up-stadium-team-changing-room-thank-you-note-a8428666.html). > [](https://twitter.com/ESPNFC/status/1014116615431114752) It wasn’t just the team, either. As they left the stadium, the devastated football fans took the time to clean up all trash in the Rostov-on-Don [soccer](http://time.com/5329190/baidianr-cat-world-cup/) arena, leaving virtually no trace of their time there. This isn’t the first time fans clad in their booster gear stayed to clean up after themselves—they packed away all their trash after the team beat Colombia earlier in the tournament. [_Sports Illustrated_ notes](https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2018/07/03/tuesday-hot-clicks-japan-world-cup-locker-room-fans-clean-stadium-belgium-loss-photos) that the Senegalese fans cleaned up their sections during the tournament, too. Perhaps American fans can learn a little something from this competition, even if the U.S. Men’s Team didn’t qualify. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/"},"headline":"Japan's Players Redefine Sportsmanship By Cleaning Up Locker Room After Losing at the World Cup","datePublished":"2018-07-03T15:39:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:53:39.633Z","description":"Not even a World Cup loss is an excuse for bad manners, apparently","url":"https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World Cup 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bf5d84fab1ae4e3/69893480bc6cfc69fb3e65f7/gettyimages-989826020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bf5d84fab1ae4e3/69893480bc6cfc69fb3e65f7/gettyimages-989826020.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Belgium v Japan: Round of 16 - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia","caption":"Belgium v Japan: Round of 16 - 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia","creditText":"Michael Regan - FIFA—FIFA via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5329250/japanese-fans-thank-you-world-cup/","name":"Japan's Players Redefine Sportsmanship By Cleaning Up Locker Room After Losing at the World Cup"}}]}] ```