Can you believe that the World Cup is this weekend! Even if you’re reading this afterwards and just love soccer these soccer anime are definitely going to get you going. Being a fan of sports anime myself, I can confirm that these shows are all about teamwork! These are some sports anime you definitely need to check out. You won’t regret it!
Pro Tip: You’ll learn some of the rules of soccer while connecting with these characters. It’s a great sneaky way to get your anime loving partner to learn about soccer if they don’t already love soccer as much as you do.
All of these anime can be found streaming on Crunchyroll.
“BLUELOCK!” (8Bit)
Japan’s desire for World Cup glory leads the Japanese Football Association to launch a new rigorous training program to find the national team’s next striker. Three hundred high school players are pitted against each other for the position, but only one will come out on top. Who among them will be the striker to usher in a new era of Japanese soccer?
“Aoashi” (Production I.G.)
After a loss in his last junior high school soccer tourney, Ehime Prefecture’s ace player, Ashito Aoi, is devastated but in every loss there’s a victory. Tatsuya Fukuda, manager of an organization that trains students for one of the leading clubs in the J-League, sees Ashito’s raw talent and offers a tryout to his group. Together they’ll bring the youth club and Aoshi’s talents to new heights!
“Clean Freak! Aoyama-kun” (Studio Hibari)
Aoyama kun is a hot, young soccer prodigy who plays midfielder for the National U-16 Soccer Team. But he’s also an extreme germaphobe! The TV anime adaptation of “Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama kun!” (Clean Freak!! Aoyama kun) portrays the friendships he forms and the challenges he overcomes in a “spotless” coming-of-age story!
“Farewell, My Dear Cramer “(Liden Films)
Onda Nozomi has been playing soccer with boys since she was a child. Despite practicing harder and being better than anyone else, once she enters middle school, she hits a wall. “Physical difference” ─In a sport like soccer where athletes sometimes violently collide, it becomes a reason for the boys to be separated from the girls. Nonetheless, Nozomi doesn’t give up! She rejects the words “because she’s a girl” so that she can continue to play her favorite sport with her friends. Nozomi is about to become a soccer star who captures everyone’s attention!
“DAYS” (MAPPA)
With no skills or outstanding features, one boy hides a passionate heart, Tsukushi Tsukamoto. The other is a lonely soccer genius, Jin Kazama. The winds of change begin to blow in the world of high school soccer as these two boys with nothing in common come together. The curtain on this hot-blooded, touching story is rising…
“Shoot! Goal to the Future” (EMT Squared, Magic Bus)
Years after winning a National Championship for Kakegawa High School, Atsushi Kamiya returns as a coach to a less-than-stellar team. And one of the team’s best players, Hideto Tsuji, is over playing soccer altogether! Will the star of a famous soccer team turned coach be able to reinvigorate his team and Hideto?
“FUTSAL BOYS!!!!!” (Diomedea)
For the past 10-odd years, futsal has been booming across the world. After watching Tokinari Tennoji represent Japan in the U-18 World Cup, Haru Yamato aspires to be a player like him. He joins the Koyo Gakuen Futsal Club where he meets teammates Seiichiro Sakaki, a loner who refuses to pass the ball to anyone, and Toi Tsukioka, who is burdened by a past that nearly made him quit futsal for good.
