Japan fans clean up stadium after World Cup shock vs Germany

Japan fans continued their tradition of cleaning up football stadiums, taking time to clear any mess before celebrating their side's World Cup shock win over Germany.

On Wednesday afternoon, Japan caused a big upset in Group E, as they defeated 2014 world champions Germany, in the opening game of the group.

Hansi Flick's side took the lead in the first half, and should have been 2-0 up, but were on the wrong end of a huge comeback by the side from the Far East.

The full time whistle was unsurprisingly met with a huge celebration from the whole Japan squad, with the substitutes even shown celebrating a clearance during injury time.

However, one group of fans waited until a while after the game had finished to start their partying, instead waiting for the rest of the crowd to leave and then helping to clean up the stadium, as you can see in the video below.

It's not the first time that fans of the Samurai Blue, possibly the coolest nickname of any international football team, have cleaned up after themselves.

The tradition really came to people's knowledge during the World Cup in Russia, four and a half years ago, and they've continued to do so in Qatar.

Earlier in the week, Japanese fans were spotted cleaning up after everyone after the opening game of the tournament, where Ecuador beat the hosts.

There may have been even more for them to clean up that night, with plenty of debris still around from the opening ceremony ahead of kick off, which Morgan Freeman was involved in.

Japan fans cheer on their team during the game with Germany. Image: Alamy

It's not just the fans that have been involved in cleaning up after themselves, with the players also known to leave stadiums better than they found them.

In the previous World Cup, Japan managed to make it out of the group stages due to their discipline record, after finishing with identical results to Senegal.

There was some criticism of the team from Asia for happily taking a 1-0 loss to Poland, which helped both go through, whilst avoiding any bookings.

However, any criticism was ignored when they soon became the fan favourites in their last 16 game with Belgium, going 2-0 up and on the verge of a huge shock, before Roberto Martinez's side brought it back to win in injury time.

They further endeared themselves to the fans, after they cleaned up their dressing room following the loss, even leaving a note saying 'Thank You.'

Japan players celebrate Takuma Asano's winner vs Germany. Image: Alamy

On Wednesday, Japan thought they'd taken the lead in just the eighth minute of the game, but Daizen Maeda had timed his run badly and was offside.

Ilkay Gundogan then put Germany ahead from the penalty spot, before Kai Havertz thought he'd doubled the lead, only for VAR to notice he too was offside.

Ritsu Doan levelled things up in the 75th minute and Hajime Moriyasu's side then showed they weren't willing to settle for just one point.

Takuma Asano kicked off incredible scenes inside the stadium, with his brilliant winner, to earn his country a famous victory.