Fact Check: Does Video Show Japan Fans Dropping Trash After World Cup Loss?

Japanese supporters are famous for their impeccable cleanliness at soccer matches, with many photos and videos, both in the 2022 World Cup and through the years, showing visitors from Japan picking up trash and leaving the seating area spotless after games.

It has been said in the past by Japanese supporters that they tidy up after a game as a sign of respect, and the nation's players do similarly in the locker room, leaving it looking pristine, as FIFA's official Twitter account testified to.

Previously fans have been pictured walking along the rows in the stadium with garbage bags in hand, ensuring that all wrappers and pieces of trash are accounted for.

This act of kindness was also seen during the FIFA World Cup's opening game between Qatar and Ecuador, with Japanese supporters at the game being seen helping clean the stadium, despite their team not being involved in the match.

But a recent video appeared to show the opposite type of behaviour following a painful defeat against Costa Rica, sparking furious online debate.

The Claim

A video posted on Twitter by Andy Ha, to his 16,600 followers, has gone viral and been viewed over 4.5 million times. The post claims that Japan's supporters actually placed trash back on the floors of the stadium after their nation's defeat to Costa Rica in the World Cup on Sunday.

He captioned the video: "Footage of Japan fans taking litter out of a bag and leaving it all over the stadium whilst laughing and smiling. Disgraceful scenes."

The tweet has garnered over 122,000 likes and has been retweeted 7,500 times, as many on social media shared their anger at the scenes in the video.

The sentiments shared in the caption were repeated numerous times by those posting the same video, much to the annoyance of those who feel that this was betraying the Japanese culture.

The Facts

At first glance, the video may look like a genuine manifestation of the fans' frustration with Japan's shock defeat to Costa Rica in the World Cup, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

As some of the more VFX-savvy social media users noted, the video is actually footage that has been reversed to make it look like the fans were placing the trash back on the seats and floor.

A closer look at the clip posted by Andy Ha reveals a number of glaring red flags supporting the idea that it is reversed footage.

For starters, the sound on the clip accompanying the video strongly resembles an audio that was ran backwards, with telling distortions of voices and music in the clip.

There is also a moment (at around 0.33 second mark) when a Japanese fan handles a German flag, giving a strong indication that this clip was taken after Japan had beaten Germany 2-1 in their first group match on Wednesday, November 23, not the Costa Rica match on November 27.

This 'clue' is corroborated towards the end of the video, when the stadium's electronic ticker-tape scoreboard briefly comes into view, clearly showing the result of the Germany versus Japan game's final score.

The original footage, featuring, among others, the same fan with a blue cap and number 16 on his shirt, shows the group of supporters collecting the trash after their team's win, not the opposite. Other videos showing the same scene have also been widely shared on social media.

Photos and videos of Japanese fans cleaning up their trash after the defeat on Sunday are also widely available, further undermining the misleading claim that they were placing their unwanted items on the floor rather than picking them up.

Newsweek has reached out to the Andy Ha Twitter account for comment.

The Ruling

Misleading Material.

Japan supporters did not place rubbish on the floor and seats of the stadium after their nation's defeat to Costa Rica.

The original footage of fans cleaning up after the game, most likely the group stage encounter with Germany, had been reversed to make it look like they were littering, possibly as a joke.

While Newsweek did consider assigning the "Satire" ruling to the fact check, the lack of clear and visible "comedy" signposting in the tweet or the source account meant that footage could have been taken at face value (and shared further without context), and is thus considered misleading.

FACT CHECK BY NEWSWEEK