How Japan cleaned up at the World Cup

Japanese hearts were broken last night after their gallant team lost to a dramatic last-minute goal by Belgium, but the nation’s players have been praised for “stealing the hearts” of football fans around the world.

The Daily Telegraph reports that after their dramatic 3-2 loss against Belgium in the World Cup round of 16 - a match in which they were two goals up - Japan left their changing room at the Rostov Arena “in immaculate condition”. They even left a note saying “thank you” in Russian as they departed the 2018 finals.

Belgium came back from 2-0 down to beat Japan with a 94th-minute winner. The result left the Japan players in tears and their head coach Akira Nishino revealed they were devastated in the changing rooms afterwards.

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The Japan squad’s honourable exit follows in the footsteps of their fans who were seen cleaning the stands after their World Cup matches.

How Twitter reacted to Japan’s exit: