This is one of the thing that fascinates me. Japan seems to have an obsession with soccer even though they suck at it, so it's a subject of considerable manga material. As far as I am aware of (and no I didn't read every one of them), no fictional Japanese team has ever won the World Cup. Not even Tsubasa Ozora, who defeated the All Universe team and Jesus in a game of soccer and has never lost a game of soccer in his life, has won the World Cup (he's always mysteriously injuried when World Cup comes around). The furthest I'm aware of is Japan beating Germany to the Final 8 (in fiction). In a world where people can throw fireballs and kill people with soccer ball, the World Cup still somehow eludes the Japanese players.
Is this because people in Brazil threaten to shoot the author(s) if Japan ever wins World Cup? Brazil is always the de facto 'boss team', and indeed the recent arc in Captain Tsubasa revealed that God is a Brazillian (Tsubasa's going to play him in soccer too, but guessing he'll lose for a change). It's interesting to note that in the US winning anything gets you the 'world champion' title even though it's only the US (basketball and baseball at least) because Americans sort of just assume that they're just that good. Now that's hubris but I'd say if you're writing about people who can beat Jesus in a soccer game that's far worse than calling yourself World Champions for winning in your country, yet bizarrely Japan always fails to win the World Cup!
Is this because people in Brazil threaten to shoot the author(s) if Japan ever wins World Cup? Brazil is always the de facto 'boss team', and indeed the recent arc in Captain Tsubasa revealed that God is a Brazillian (Tsubasa's going to play him in soccer too, but guessing he'll lose for a change). It's interesting to note that in the US winning anything gets you the 'world champion' title even though it's only the US (basketball and baseball at least) because Americans sort of just assume that they're just that good. Now that's hubris but I'd say if you're writing about people who can beat Jesus in a soccer game that's far worse than calling yourself World Champions for winning in your country, yet bizarrely Japan always fails to win the World Cup!
