Characters / Captain Tsubasa Japanese Players

Nankatsu

Tsubasa Ozora

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Oliver Atton (aka Oliver Atom/Oliver "Holly" Hutton/Olivier Atton)

Voiced by: Yōko Ogai (in Captain Tsubasa, the first half of Captain Tsubasa J and Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game), Nozomu Sasaki (second half of Captain Tsubasa J), Kikuko Inoue (as a child in Road to 2002, first half), Tomokazu Seki (Road to 2002, second half), Yuko Sanpei (2018-2023 anime); Elsa Covián and Jorge Roig Jr. (Captain Tsubasa), Gustavo Melgarejo (Captain Tsubasa J), Benjamín Rivera (Road to 2002), Rosalinda Márquez (2018 anime, child), Emilio Ángeles (2018-2023 anime, teenager) [Latin American Spanish dub], Teresa Acaso (Captain Tsubasa), Jorge Saudinós (Captain Tsubasa J and Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

The protagonist of the story, his dream is to one day win the World Cup for Japan. As a Child Prodigy, he was captain of his school Nankatsu's varsity team, and became the youngest captain of Japan's U-17 in the Youth World Cup. After graduation, he turned professional and played for both Sao Paulo in Brazil and Barcelona in Spain's La Liga. He is now the captain of Japan's Senior Men's Football Team.

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• The Ace: He constantly walks the thin line between The Ace and Invincible Hero (and The Minnesota Fats, within the story). His Ace qualities are slightly downplayed in World Youth Cup and Road to 2002, but not that much.
• All of the Other Reindeer: A milder version. Natsuko, his mother, says that Tsubasa didn't have friends other than Yayoi until they moved to Shizuoka. Tsubasa himself doesn't seem to mind that much since soon the Nankatsu kids befriend him.
• Animal Motif: He's usually represented by a peregrin falcon, specially in the anime. Or phoenix, in much rarer occassions.
• Big Brother Mentor: To Shingo. Also has vibes of this with Misaki.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Milder case when compared to others. Is a more innocent, slightly less energetic but still idealistic and determined version.
• Book Dumb: According to the Memories chapters, he would often have trouble when it came to his studies.
• Broken Win/Loss Streak: Since the elementary school arc, he hadn't suffered a single on-screen defeat. Until Next Dream, when Natureza and the Real Madrid defeat Barcelona FC 4-1.
• Catchphrase: Tsubasa Oozora's motto is "The ball is my friend".
• Chaste Hero: He's so Married to the Job that his Oblivious to Love nature becomes the source of many a Running Gag, until Sanae finally gets to date and marry him.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Sanae. They have known each other since their Elementary days, which eventually grown into love when they are teenagers. They are currently married, and she's pregnant with their first child.
• Clueless Chick-Magnet: Oblivious to his popularity with girls and even puzzled as to why girls like him that much.
• Determinator: Boy, is this guy ever. An example: in the final of the third National championship he plays despite numerous injuries.
• Disappeared Dad: His father is a ship captain, so he's usually absent.
• Friendless Background: Back when his family lived in Tokyo, he didn't have any friends due to being the only kid in town who liked soccer. At one point, his grandmother even suggested that he tried joining a baseball team to make friends, but it didn't stick.
• Happily Married: To Sanae.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • The semi-canon Endless Dream one-shot shows that he spent the days that followed Nankatsu's first cup in a brief but intense depressive state, after Roberto goes back to Brazil alone and both Wakabayashi and Misaki move away from Shizuoka.
  • He also had one during the match with Musashi, upon learning about Misugi's heart condition, Tsubasa became incredibly concerned that he could accidentally injure him, prematurely ending his career, and as result, his game was severely affected.
• Hero Protagonist: He is the main character of the manga and anime and is also a charismatic, friendly leader. A prodigious football player, Tsubasa dreams of one day winning the FIFA World Cup for Japan. His position is midfielder and sometimes plays as forward, usually wearing jersey #10.
• Hope Bringer: His sole presence is enough to motivate his teammates, and in the WYC finals Genzo even states that he's always able to bring a miracle during the direst hour.
• Jack of All Stats: Bordering into Master of All; his greatest asset as a player is that he can play any position (bar goalkeeper) effectively, and he can shift his playing style in the middle of a match, catching his opponents off-guard.
• Kindhearted Simpleton: When off work.
• The Leader: Type IV (Charismatic). Of both the Nankatsu and the Japanese national team.
• Lovable Jock: Yes, he's handsome and popular. Yes, he's a Child Prodigy in regards to soccer. But he works very hard for his success, truly loves the sport, and cares very much for his teammates and his friends. He embodies this trope so much he's possibly the Trope Codifier in anime and manga.
• Magnetic Hero: Has a long list of rivals turned into friends and teammates, and is also an excellent team player and leader with all of them.
• Married to the Job: He's so married to soccer that boy-and-girl relationships are the rarest element to be found around him; considering this a Shounen genre, it's not very strange. Subverted slightly when he confesses his love to Sanae. Then he goes to Brazil and marries the job again, so that his girlfriend has to follow him there, love-struck and almost in tears before they finally get married for real.
• Nice Guy: He's a friendly person, supportive of his teammates, and respectful of his adversaries.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • Tsubasa's career trajectory is partially based off of the legendary Kazuyoshi Miura, whose life would warrant a series of its own.
  • His personality has some shades of the legendary Japanese Team captain, Hidetoshi Nakata.
• Oblivious to Love: He fails to see Sanae's interest in him for quite a while.
• Power Copying: Often, he imitates the techniques used by his opponents and makes them his own. Sometimes even on the first try!
• Protagonist Title: He's the titular captain.
• Red Baron: Soccer no moushigo (Heaven Sent Child of Soccer), Soccer Genius, Field Samurai.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man:
  • Sensitive Guy to Wakabayashi and Hyuuga's Manly Man.
  • Inverted with Misaki, the Sensitive Guy to Tsubasa's (slightly) Manly Man.
• Signature Attack: His famous Drive Shoot, a long shoot with a topspin-like rotation in which the ball dives halfway during the shoot. It gains speed and momentum when it dives towards the goal, which takes most goals by surprise and they react too late. Later he learns from Roberto an even stronger version, the Skywing Shoot.
• Spirited Competitor: There's nothing that makes him happier than facing the strongest rivals on the soccer field, and he's always striving to reach new heights.
• Team Spirit: Whenever he can't overpower his opponents alone, he can always rely on his teammates to help him do so.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist:
  • His dream is to win the World Cup, in a time when Japan hadn't ever even classified for participating in the tournament.
  • His celebration speech after having won the World Youth tournament also reflects this. In it, he reminds about the civil war in the World Youth tournament's initial host country, the Burundi; he wishes war would never exist and that fights should be settled with a fair-and-square soccer match, and calls for "world peace through soccer".

Genzo Wakabayashi

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Benjamin/Thomas(Fr) Price, aka "Benji"

Voiced by: Koichi Hashimoto (Captain Tsubasa), Shin-ichiro Miki (Captain Tsubasa J), Kenichi Suzumura (Captain Tsubasa Road to 2002 and 2018-2023 anime); Eduardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Benjamín Rivera and Roberto Mendiola (Captain Tsubasa J), and José Arenas (Road to 2002), Luis Navarro (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Pepe Carabias (all the series) [European Spanish dub]

Goalkeeper for Shutetsu and Tsubasa's main rival before he transferred to Nankatsu. Also played for Japan's U-17. After turning professional, he played for the German Bundesliga's Hamburger SV, and was constantly on the talks to transfer to Bayern Munich, to his refusal.

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• The Ace: As a goalkeeper he's one of the best, if not the best... to the point that the author had to put him on a bus to keep matches interesting. There are not a lot of players able to score to Wakabayashi (like Schneider) and those who can are heroes to the crowd. He is also the only rival that didn't lose against Tsubasa in a match.
• Achilles' Heel: Wakabayashi's weak spots are less noticeable that other characters' since his goalkeeping style is fundamentally Boring, but Practical, but he does have a couple of them. Very strong shoots can power their way through his hands, and he also tends to suffer when over-extending due to his modest mobility.
• Advertised Extra: In European adaptations he's given top billing on par with Tsubasa even if he gets a lot less focus than him.
• Badass Boast: He often claims that he can stop anything thrown at him from outside the penalty area, and for the most part he does. Only a few exceptional strikers have been able to break that boast.
• The Benchwarmer: Despite being a better goalkeeper than Wakashimazu, he didn't play as Japan's National Team's main GK during the U16 World Cup until the finale against Germany, after Wakashimazu was injured during the semi-finals against France. The reason why he didn't attend the previous matches was to give Japan a Drama-Preserving Handicap and to help his teammates grow over themselves.
• Big Brother Mentor: For Morisaki.
• Boring, but Practical: His playing style is the least flashy of all the goalkeepers, as he is not an acrobat like Wakashimazu, a mountain like Nakanishi or a Hercules like Mueller, but he makes up for it by being the most adaptable and effective of all of them.
• Boxing Battler: When he returns in the World Youth quarterfinals, he reveals he trained boxing techniques to counter Stefan Levin's shots (which had previously injured one of his hands at the Bundesliga).
• Broken Ace: Had some shades of this as a kid, due to his massive arrogance and entitlement. It's not fully gone as he grows up.
• Character Development: After his draw against Tsubasa, he has learned to enjoy the game with his other teammates.
• Eye-Obscuring Hat: Sometimes his hat cover the eyes.
• Fatal Flaw: His massive pride.
• Game-Breaking Injury: AT LEAST two. In the World Youth finals, Santana and Natureza's shots leave his hands bleeding, and in Rising Sun Schneider accidentally injures him in the back, leaving him out for the rest of the match.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: First is given one by Mikami, then gives another to Tsubasa.
• Honor Before Reason: In Road to 2002, Hamburg is going to tie 1-1 against Bayern Muenchen, and Hamburg's coach all but instruct every Hamburg player to go for a draw, which should be still good enough for Hamburg considering Bayern is a top-class team while Hamburg is middle-to-high-class team, not to mention they play in Bayern's Home. So what does Wakabayashi do when Hamburg get a free kick at the last minutes? He left his own goalpost to assist Hamburg's last-minutes-attack... which ends in failure. This allows Schneider to launch a quick counter-attack and easily score a goal at Wakabayashi's abandoned goalpost, thus Bayern won for 2-1 at those last minutes. Nice job breaking it, Wakabayashi! What's even more stupid is that it's just a league match and not a very crucial one other than being "Wakabayashi v. Schneider match that Wakabayashi really needs to win to prove a point at Schneider", so it's generally unreasonable for goalkeeper to do something like that. It's understandable for Hamburg's coach to put him on the bench in the next matches. In the beginning of Golden 23, it's mentioned that Wakabayashi and Hamburg's coach had falling out because apparently Wakabayashi never become starting goalkeeper anymore in any match. Can also be considered as Break the Haughty/Badass.
• Hot-Blooded: To the MAX.
• Jack of All Stats: He is one of the few non-overspecialized keepers in the series.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Heavy on the jerk at first, then gearing more to the heart of gold.
• The Lancer: When playing in the same team, he's Tsubasa's foil both in role and personality.
• Lonely Rich Kid: Strongly implied to be one in the first anime. He lives in a Big Fancy House but seems to be alone there aside of Mikami, and it's later revealed that his parents work and live in London.
• Master of None: His conservative style enables him to adapt well and makes him hard to mislead with tricks, but his range, mobility and strength are very average, which means he can be overpowered by strong shooters like Hyuga or Schneider if he is under pressure and/or forced to commit to any direction.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In a Road to 2002 manga chapter which covers a league match between Hamburg and Bayern Munich, he screws up badly and ends up benched as punishment.
• Pet the Dog: He's got a literal cute puppy named John, and he's very protective of Morisaki.
• Red Baron: "Super Great Goal Keeper"
• The Rival: To Tsubasa, initially. Later, to Schneider.
• Secondary Character Title: Even though the series is only Tsubasa-centric, in many European adaptations the anime is known with a Name and Name title that makes it look like that Tsubasa and Wakabayashi are both equally important protagonists (evidenced also by the theme songs). While he is a major character, Wakabayashi is often kept Out of Focus (or even Put on a Bus) due to injuries or other reasons.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Tsubasa's Sensitive Guy.
• Weak, but Skilled: Especially compared to other keepers in the series, which are either physical specimens or have more dynamic techniques. Whenever a player scores on Wakabayashi, it tends to be by pressure and power.
• The Worf Effect: If someone manages to score him from outside the penalty area, it's a testament of their skill and power. Among the few who have done so are Schneider, Sho Shunko, and Natureza (the latter of which did it on the first try).

Taro Misaki

European Dub Name Change: Tom/Ben(Fr) Baker

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Tom Misaki

Voiced by: Eiko Yamada (in Captain Tsubasa), Megumi Ogata (in Captain Tsubasa J as a child), Akira Ishida (in Captain Tsubasa J as an adult), Satsuki Yukino (as a child in Road to 2002, first half), Kosuke Toriumi (Road to 2002, second half), Ayaka Fukuhara (2018 anime); Sylvia Garcel and Javier Rivero (Captain Tsubasa), Ricardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa J), Jesús Barrero (Road to 2002), Annie Rojas (2018-2023 anime, child), Eduardo Martínez (2018-2023 anime, teenager) [Latin American Spanish dub], Sara Vivas (Captain Tsubasa and Road to 2002), Marta Sáinz (Captain Tsubasa J) [European Spanish dub]

Played in several teams due to his father traveling through Japan all the time. Settled in Nankatsu for a semester and became Tsubasa's closest companion, but right after the championship was over, he moved away again. Later he went to France, where he joined the Japanese Team in the Youth Cup, and returned to Nankatsu to finish his education. Currently in France, where he developed a friendly rivalry with El Sire Pierre.

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• Academic Athlete: Contrary to most other juvenile soccer players, Misaki is a student with exceptional grades at school.
• Achilles' Heel: During the World Youth arc, Coach Minato Gamo takes notice that he's very dependent on Tsubasa to be effective, which leads him to be temporarily suspended from the Japanese team, until he's able to develop his individual playing style.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Most of the time, he's very peaceful and nice. But don't push him too far, as he's quite capable of standing on his own when needed. Notably when he destroys a table to prove his Game-Breaking Injury is no more.
• Beyond the Impossible: Misaki scores the second goal in the Japan-Brazil WYC finals by performing a Raiju shoot alongside Tsubasa and Hyuuga. Let's keep in mind the fact that Hyuuga learned the Raiju shoot through Training from Hell and Tsubasa took months to learn it after seeing Roberto do it. Misaki learned it on the spot and kicks it harder than Tsubasa with his injured leg, which proves to be a crucial move as it changes the path of the ball so that the keeper can't catch it. True, his leg gives out immediately afterward, but damn.
• Big Brother Instinct: Towards his younger half sister Yoshiko. Most notable when he saves her from being hit by a bus at the cost of his opportunity to play in the World Youth Tournament.
• Break the Cutie: His familiar problems make him suffer more than once, but he's not completely broken. By WYC, he retakes contact with his Missing Mom and gets along real well with his kind stepfather and cute half-sister.
• A Day in the Limelight: The sidestory Boku wa Misaki Taro is centered around him, making a very important choice.
• Determinator: During the WYC, everyone believes that Misaki won't be able to play due to his leg injury from being hit by a truck. He manages to come back for the last match against Brazil right when things look hopeless for Japan, and his arrival marks the turning point for Japan's comeback as the team now has a second game maker aside from Tsubasa.
• Game-Breaking Injury: In the first arc, due to Sawada accidentally kicking his leg while aiming for the ball. Later, in the WYC by pulling a Diving Save to save his sister from being hit by a bus.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the last part of the match against the Meiwa, he dives over a downed Genzo and deflects Hyuuga's shot at the cost of crashing against the post and being knocked out. This move alone ends up winning the match: it blocked the Meiwa goal that would have put both teams in equal scores again and gave Tsubasa the rush of Heroic Resolve he needed to burst into the enemy field and score on Wakashimazu for the safe win.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: In the Holland Youth movie, his self-esteem takes a massive nosedive when he becomes the temporary captain of the Japanese team but doesn't perform well, since he's too used to be a follower in the fields. Misugi has to talk him out of it.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: He is referred to in universe as Tsubasa's greatest partner when on the field and one of his best friends overall. Their combined play is so in sync with each other that they're called the "Golden Pair" and can understand each others intentions with a single glance.
• Jack of All Stats: Aside from teaming with Tsubasa, he's mostly a balanced player with no specialization like most of the rest.
• The Lancer: A second one to Tsubasa, and a cleaner and more consistent one than Wakabayashi. Misaki is the only one who completely understands Tsubasa's motives and can continue following him even when the other players are too tired to keep going.
• Missing Mom: Parents are divorced, mother remarried. They make amends later.
• Morality Pet: To Tsubasa. Even although Tsubasa is already a nice guy who needs no input to be moral, Misaki's sweet, sensitive nature, coupled with his ability to understand Tsubasa fully, makes Tsubasa care especially for him, almost like a Big Brother Instinct. When Misaki is injured in his Heroic Sacrifice against the Meiwa, Tsubasa is left positively broken and gets a furious surge of motivation to win the match.
• Nice Guy: One of the nicest you'll find in the series.
• Red Baron: "Field Artist".
• The Reliable One: Tsubasa can always fall back on him.
• Satellite Character: On the field, he serves mostly as Tsubasa's personal support. Averted otherwise, though, as he has his own character arc.
• Signature Move: The Boomerang Shoot, developed while in Africa. By positioning himself to the side of the goal, he kicks so that the ball rises up as it arches towards the goal, never losing its momentum.

Ryo Ishizaki

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Bruce Harper

Voiced by: Hiroko Maruyama (in Captain Tsubasa), Kappei Yamaguchi (in Captain Tsubasa J), Urara Takano (in Road to 2002), Mutsumi Tamura (2018-2023 anime); Ricardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Roberto Mendiola (Captain Tsubasa J), Arturo Mercado Jr. (Road to 2002), Carlos Siller (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Ana Sánchez (Captain Tsubasa), Álex Saudinós (Captain Tsubasa J), Javier Balas (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

One of Tsubasa's closest friends, and the first Nankatsu captain. He lacks Tsubasa and others's natural skills, but replaces it with his will of iron and his cheerful disposition. His family owns a popular bath house in Shizuoka.

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• Boisterous Bruiser: With his cheerful attitude and his determination, he is probably the straightest example in the series.
• Butt-Monkey: If anything funny or humiliating is about to happen in Nankatsu, he's the most likely candidate.
• Cool Kid-and-Loser Friendship: He's the resident Butt-Monkey and generally regarded as one of the worst players, and yet is a close friend to Tsubasa, the star of the team.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Book Dumb, childish, stubborn - but capable of marvelous things for his friends and team when he puts his heart to it.
• Deadpan Snarker: When not being himself that butt of the other's jokes, he has his snarky moments.
• Determinator: Has no world level skill, but definitely has world level willpower.
• The Dutiful Son: Shows some traces in WYC, since he knows he'll sooner or later have to take over the Family Business. Not helped by him being very aware that he Can't Catch Up. In his Love Confession to Yukari, he asks her if she'd be up for staying with him even if he leaves soccer to take over the sento, and after a brief Tsundere moment she says that she will.
• First Friend: He's this to Tsubasa, when the latter arrives to the city of Nankatsu for the first time.
• Heroic Sacrifice: At least twice, each time by blocking a critical opponent shoot with his face, leaving him KO for the count and sent in the stadium's infirmary. Counts as this as he's fully aware of the risks and has been warned about them repeteadly, yet he still pulls such moves.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: While Misaki is the closest to Tsubasa in regards to soccer, Ishizaki is very close to him in more personal matters.
• Hot-Blooded: Seen not just in the fields, but when he steps to defend Sanae from a certain Hopeless Suitor and ends up beaten for his trouble.
• Look What I Can Do Now!: He spent ten years to pull off the Heel Lift and when he do in the match Japan vs Germany in Rising Sun, everyone was surprised.
• Master of None: Can play every position in the defense: left back, right back, or center back without any sign of difference or unfamiliarity. Unfortunately, he doesn't really excel in any role, either. Misugi and Matsuyama can read the game from the back and initiate counter attacks with their accurate weighted pass, Jito has big posture useful for aerial defense, Soda has Razor Slide and he can also help with attacking from the flank. Compared to those defenders, Ishizaki can only be described as a hardworker at best.
• Plucky Comic Relief: He's not completely useless, but most of the time he's used as a comical character and a Butt-Monkey more than anything else.
• Red Baron: "Funky Gutsman"
• Ship Tease: With Kumi in the first anime's rendition of the junior high arc, with Youko in the videogames, and with Yukari in the WYC manga. He and Yukari eventually have a Relationship Upgrade.
• Unskilled, but Strong: While by no means a bad player, he's clearly a level below the majority of his partners and hopelessly outmatched by most of his team's rivals. However, he's tough as nails, fears nothing and is willing to sacrifice his life (well, at least his face) for his team.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Urabe.

Mamoru Izawa

European and Latin American Dub Name Change: Paul Diamond

Voiced by: Shigeru Nakahara (in Captain Tsubasa and Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game), Mutsuki Iwanaka (2018 anime); Anabel Méndez and Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Moisés Iván Mora (Road to 2002), Marc Winslow (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Conchita Núñez (Captain Tsubasa), Mercedes Espinosa (Captain Tsubasa J), Blanca Rada (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

An ex-Shutetsu player who joined the Nankatsu team, as well as an old friend of Wakabayashi.

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• Balance, Speed, Strength Trio: With Taki and Kisugi.
• Chick Magnet: Seems to be pretty well-liked by girls.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome

Hajime Taki

European Dub Name Change: Ted Carter

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Eddie Carter

Voiced by: Kenyū Horiuchi (in Captain Tsubasa), Junko Takeuchi (in Road to 2002), Hiroyuki Koshino (2018 anime), Hiroshi Kamiya (Playstation 2 game); Marcos Patiño (Captain Tsubasa), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Carlos Enrique Bonilla (Road to 2002), Luis Leonardo Suárez (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Álex Saudinós (Captain Tsubasa) [European Spanish dub]

Another of the four ex-Shutetsus that got into Nankatsu. He and his friend Kisugi are dubbed the "Silver Duo".

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• Balance, Speed, Strength Trio: With Izawa and Kisugi.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kisugi.

Teppei Kisugi

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Johnny Mason

Voiced by: Yoshiko Kamei (Captain Tsubasa), Kodai Sakai (2018 anime); Anabel Méndez and Ulises Maynardo Zavala (Captain Tsubasa), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Gabriel Ortiz (Road to 2002), Óscar De la Rosa (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub]

Third of the four ex-Shutetsus that got into Nankatsu. Taki's best friend and partner.

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• Balance, Speed, Strength Trio: With Izawa and Taki.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Despite having the shortest hair of the trio. Probably it's because of his long, almost girlish eyelashes.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Taki.

Shingo Takasugi

European Dub Name Change: Bob Denver

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Ulises Denver

Voiced by: Shin Mori (original series and Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game), Yuki Masuda (Road to 2002), Taro Kiuchi (2018 anime); Araceli de León and Marcos Patiño (Captain Tsubasa), Paco Mauri (Captain Tsubasa J), Miguel De León (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Celia Ballester (Captain Tsubasa) [European Spanish dub]

The fourth and last of the four ex-Shutetsus that got into Nankatsu. Quiet, but very dependable when push comes to shove.

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• The Big Guy: The largest of the four Shutetsu players. Noticeable in that he wasn't that big as a kid, but apparently hit a huge growth spurt as a teenager
• Lightning Bruiser: As proved by his goal against Souda's team, where Takasugi literally appeared out of nowhere on the rival side of the field... and right in the moment when Tsubasa needed help to get the decisive goal. Then Tsubasa makes a pass instead of shooting, Takasugi pulls a header, and the rest is done.

Yuuzo Morisaki

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Alan "Al" Crocker

Voiced by: Tasuku Hatanaka (2018-2023 anime); José Antonio Macías (Road to 2002), Miguel Ángel Ruiz (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish]

A sweet and shy young boy who has a big responsibility on his shoulders: cover up for Genzo when he's injured in the Nankatsu team. For a Naïve Newcomer like Morisaki, this is NOT easy, and he has to struggle very hard to get his work done.

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• The Benchwarmer: Initially, he served as Nankatsu SC's reserve goalkeeper who was overshadowed by Wakabayashi, but due to the latter's injury, Morisaki had to take over until the beginning of the National's Finale, giving Nankatsu SC a Drama-Preserving Handicap. After Wakabayashi left Japan, Morisaki served as the number 1 Goal Keeper for Nankatsu Middle School's team.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Associated with his Body Block skill, and he once catches Soda's very powerful and hard to catch Razor Shoot.
• Determinator: He is! He keeps getting better, and puts himself in front of powerful shoots if he can stop them. See Red Baron.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: According to the databooks and a chapter of Memories focused on Genzo, he was the reserve keeper for Shutetsu. However, the first chapters of the manga (and both the 80s and 2018 anime series) show him with a very different appearance to the one he's known for, as the unnamed keeper who fills in for Genzo while he's training for the match against Nankatsu. See here.
• Hero-Worshipper: To Morisaki, Wakabayashi is his "goal".
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Genzo, Ken and most of the aces' shoots are far beyond his abilities, and even lesser keepers like Nakanishi or Ichijo are tougher keepers than him if their flaws aren't exploited. It comes as almost as an Informed Ability that he's supposed to be the third best goalie of Japan.
• Red Baron: "Super Brave Goal Keeper" (given by Wakabayashi, to support him). This is due to him clearly knowing he can't out-perform the Waka goalkeepers but still pressing on.
• Shrinking Violet: At the beginning. More or less understandable, considering how he has to live up to super goalkeepers like Ken and Genzo.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: He can be paralyzed if there's a chance of him being hit in the face. Thank you, Hyuga. It takes him a long time to get over it.

Meiwa Higashi / Toho

Kojirou Hyuuga

European Dub Name Change: Mark Lenders

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Steve Hyuuga

Voiced by: Hirotaka Suzuoki (in Captain Tsubasa), Nobuyuki Hiyama (in Captain Tsubasa J), Rica Matsumoto (as a child in Road to 2002, first half), Takehito Koyasu (Road to 2002, second half), Ken Narita (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game), Takuya Sato (2018 anime); Jorge Roig Jr. (Captain Tsubasa and 2018-2023 anime), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Ricardo Mendoza (Road to 2002) [Latin American Spanish dub], Cholo Moratalla (Captain Tsubasa and Road to 2002), José María Carrero (Captain Tsubasa J) [European Spanish dub]

Started as The Rival, became The Lancer with time. Having lost his dad at an early age, he became hateful and rude towards the world as a whole, but very loving and hardworking to his mother and siblings. Hot-Blooded to the max and one of the best scorers in the Japanese Team, but with serious problems towards authority that have brought him trouble more than once. After working on some of such issues and graduating from school, he now plays for Juventus in Italy's Serie A.

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• The Ace: In Road to 2002.
• Achilles' Heel: When he gets drafted by Juventus, the team's physician tells him his body is heavily unbalanced (his left side is much weaker than his right one), which takes its toll during his debut match against Parma. He's given on a loan to Reggiana in the Serie C in order to correct this.
• Always Second Best: To Tsubasa, franchise-wide. Upon closer inspection, however, the trope gets actually played with a bit; while Tsubasa's greater ability to adapt and overcome obstacles cannot be discounted, it is more often through superior teamwork and by better secondary players that his teams beat Hyuuga's.
• Animal Motifs: "The Tiger"
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: More of the aggressive kind than the boastful one, but he knows his (high) place and even after his Character Development, he doesn't let anyone to dispute it.
• Blood Knight: His style is based around aggression, so this is a given. While not as dirty or foul-friendly as Soda or Napoleon, he uses a lot of brute strength and is not over roughing his enemy players around.
• Break the Badass: In Road to 2002, his debut match in the Juventus showed him how far below he is compared to European players. After he's unable to score even with his strongest shot, and gets substituted without playing the full first half, he leaves the field in tears.
• Break the Haughty: At least twice.
• Can't Catch Up: Hyuuga himself felt this was about himself for losing to Tsubasa 3 years in a row during the National Tournament. His old Coach Kira is the one who made him realise that. Thus he went to Okinawa to train leaving his Team. And then he was punished by his current coach because he did it without permission, thus he caused problems to the team as a whole.
• Combat Pragmatist: Downplayed. He's decidedly not the dirtiest player in the series, but is not afraid of fouling either, especially when getting very fired up. He sums it up nicely.
  Hyuuga: What do you mean by "Fair Play"? Those words don't exist in my dictionary. I play football to win, and I'll do everything possible for that.
• The Comically Serious: Starting from the World Youth saga, and scenes of this pop up from time to time with increased frequency as the series goes on.
• Cool Big Bro: His relationship with his younger siblings is one of the early signs in the anime of him being a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
• Determinator: It's obvious from his backstory and his attitude in general. He never gives up.
• Deuteragonist: During the elementary school and middle school arcs, Hyuga gets as least as much focus as Tsubasa does, and it actually makes both characters sympathetic enough that you could root for either of them. In the elementary school's national championship, Tsubasa's goal of winning the tournament is to go with his mentor Roberto Hongo to Brazil and become a better soccer player, while Hyuga wants to win the tournament to get scouted by Touhou and earning financial support for his family. While Tsubasa wins, Roberto flies back to Brazil without him, and Hyuga is scouted thanks to Tsubasa's decline. In the middle school's national championship, both of them want to win it for competitive reasons: Tsubasa wants to win the championship a third time in a row while he has to endure all the injuries he has to take that year, Hyuga wants to finally win the championship and defeat his rival for once. Both of their teams eventually win the championship as their final match ends in a draw.
• Disappeared Dad: Who either died of illness (anime series) or in an accident (manga). The accident deal wasn't revealed until WYC, so the anime series had to make up something out of scratch.
• Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Downplayed, but it's often brought up that his Raijuu Shoot puts a heavy strain on his leg, which is why he tends to keep it as a last resort.
• The Dutiful Son: He comes from a poor background and wants to become a professional player to support his family. He also used to help them by doing several part-time jobs.
• Evil Counterpart: His character is both similar and adversarial to Tsubasa in many ways: he's the ace of his team and an offensively oriented player just like him (and with a similar love interest to boot), but he's impetuous and violent instead of gentle, and a refined strongman rather than a technician. Subverted in the evil part, not only because this is a sport series without true villains, but also because he eventually turns out to be just as sympathetic as Tsubasa is.
• Freudian Excuse: He had a bad childhood, dealing with his father's death and his family's money problems.
• Foil: To Tsubasa, being another offensive player with a very personal playing style, character arc and companions, yet all of them very different from Tsubasa's.
• Hero of Another Story: Kaigai Gekito Hen in Calcio - Hi Izuru Kuni no Giocatore is this for both him and Aoi, as they get ready for a match between their teams and it also offers an insight in Hyuuga's daily life in Italy.
• Hot-Blooded: Very impulsive as well as passionate, and one of the most determined characters in the series.
• Jerk Jock: How he begins, though little by little he defrosts.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though he starts off as a Jerkass before his Character Development.
• Kick the Dog:
  • His treatment of Morisaki, in the beginning. At some point he deliberately kicked a ball into the poor kid's face, which traumatized him quite badly.
  • Slapping Matsuyama across the face and to the floor, just for physically standing in his way.
• Mr. Fanservice: Tall, Dark, and Handsome, also snarky and somewhat of a bad boy (but kind underneath), has several Shirtless Scenes...
• Pose of Supplication: Does this to his Stern Teacher when begging him to let him re-enter the team for the finale of the third Junior High National Championship.
• Promotion to Parent: Partially. His mom does not want him to work outside of school, but he insists on doing so.
• Red Baron: Mouko (Fierce Tiger)
• The Rival: Tsubasa's original and arguably most iconic rival in Japan.
• Self-Made Man: He comes from a very impoverished family and then trains and works his way up.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Manly Man to Takeshi's Sensitive Guy, with pretty boy Ken playing a middle ground.
• She Is Not My Girlfriend: Pulls off a weak one each time his friends tease him regarding his relationship with his sweetheart Maki Akamine. He seemingly gives up in the Next Dream preview, though.
• Signature Move: The Tiger Shot and its variations, and later, the Raijuu Shot.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Tries to tell that to Tsubasa during their first match. It does NOT work ("Soccer is my DREAM!").
• Sleeves Are for Wimps: He always rolls up his shirt's sleeves.
• Strong and Skilled: Hyuga may look only talented in overwhelming his opponents with raw strength, but he is actually far from being unskilled in any other area of the game. Unlike many other Japanese players, and more like Tsubasa himself, his playing style has no important holes and he would be still a threat even without his Tiger Shoot and aggression.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: A fairly tall guy with suntanned skin and a dry wit.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Or drink. He loves Coca-Cola. And this gets him remarks from other athletes such as Maki and Gozza, about sodas being not good for sportsmen. This doesn't faze him a single bit. That's because Hyuga was VERY poor as a kid so he couldn't afford to drink Coca-Cola regularly. (And one of his part-time jobs was carrying around empty bottles); now that he has a regular income and a good part of his goals are secured, he feels that he can allow himself that little pleasure. You can say it's a bit of Comfort Food effect.
• Troubled, but Cute: Very popular among fangirls, both in-story and in the fandom.
• Tsundere: Arguably, in regards to Maki Akamine.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Unlike Tsubasa's Dynamic Shoot and other physically improbable techniques, Hyuga's own Tiger Shoot is a regular chute, only kicked with physically improbable strength.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Although he's never a bad guy, he was much more of a Cheerful Child before his father's death.

Ken Wakashimazu

European Dub Name Change: Edward "Ed" Warner

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Richard Tex-Tex

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (in Captain Tsubasa), Daiki Nakamura (in Captain Tsubasa J as a child), Tomokazu Seki (in Captain Tsubasa J as an adult), Kentarō Itō (in Road to 2002), Yuichiro Umehara (2018 anime); Ricardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J) and Luis Daniel Ramírez (Road to 2002), César Garduza (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Iván Jara (Captain Tsubasa), Roberto Cuenca, Jr. (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

A close friend of Hyuuga, and the goalie for their team. A Tall, Dark, and Handsome Karate Heir to the Dojo who is caught between what his heart desires and his duty as heir of the Wakado-Ryu school, and later with severe self-esteem problems.

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• Achilles' Heel: His acrobatic style allows him to perform powerful and very long-ranged catches, but this logically impedes him from being able to correct his momentum if he initiates a maneuver in the wrong direction. This flaw is deliberately exploited by Karl Heinz Schneider, who tricks Wakashimazu into lunging towards one side before actually shooting on the opposite.
• Adaptational Badass: While Wakashimazu has played second fiddle to Wakabayashi from the first arc onwards, the 1983 anime filler included an extra arc before the Nankatsu-Toho match where the two were still portrayed more or less as equals that simply had different skills and holes: a substitute Ken turned out the right man to save the team after Genzo was worfed by Steve's strong game, while Genzo did the same in turn when Ken himself was worfed by Schneider's feints. This tournament also included Ken doing another saving performance in-between against Pierre Elle Sid, an opponent that has been traditionally portrayed as superior.
• Always Someone Better: He feels that he'll never have a chance to be the titular if Wakabayashi's around. Which causes everyone trouble when this belief becomes strong enough of a motivation to leave the team in WYC.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Initially, with the added bonus of being a martial artist. He later turns more polite and subdued.
• Big Damn Heroes: Save his team in the semi-final against the Furano team.
• Can't Catch Up: In his introductory arc, although Ken ultimately failed at beating Wakabayashi, you could believably claim the two were roughly on the same level. They tanked their opposing teams into two overtimes and it took a mess of chances for Nankatsu, with the help of its better teamwork and stronger support players, to ensure the win. From that point, however, Genzo just skyrocketed as a keeper in his foreign career, while Ken was left as a perennial struggler who would never be able to compete with him again. He still fared much better than the rest of Japanese keepers, though, so it could be said it is only in relation to Wakabayashi alone that he couldn't catch up.
• Characterization Marches On: Compared to the rest of the cast, his personality changes a lot over the series, to the point his two main stages look almost like different characters. In his first appearances in the Meiwa, he was very expressive and cocky, showing plenty of smug smiles and trashtalking, yet at the same time being a Graceful Loser. However, after his change to the Toho and onwards, he becomes much more stoic, serious and introverted, and his attitude towards Wakabayashi turns substantially bitter. His signature attire also changes, initially resembling Genzo's (cap included) before diverging on a wholly different one.
• Chick Magnet: Very popular with the girls. His reactions are quite cute.
• Diving Save: To rescue a puppy. The injuries he sustained would cause trouble later.
• The Dutiful Son: Torn between his love for soccer and his duty to his karate dojo.
• Enigmatic Minion: Before his introduction as a Meiwa player, he could be seen often watching the matches with his cap over his eyes and smirking. It was hinted he was a keeper because the hat made him resembled Wakabayashi, which his comments would imply further, but his allegiance and identity weren't revealed until much later.
• Evil Counterpart: Lampshaded by himself towards Wakabayashi. He's actually a better example of this than Hyuga and Sawada, as Ken does act a bit as a Card-Carrying Villain at first.
• Eye-Obscuring Hat: Wore a cap this way in his first appearances.
• Foil: To Wakabayashi. Their roles and even their names are similar, but while Genzo is quite hotheaded and uses a stationary goalkeeping style, Ken is much more collected and ironically specializes in flips and acrobatic catches.
• Graceful Loser: After losing the first arc's final match against Nankatsu, he initially collapses in misery, but he quickly gets up and comes to congratulate Tsubasa with a genuine smile.
• Heir to the Dojo: Subverted - he loves the family dojo but does not want to inherit it.
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: In-universe, as he was a childhood friend of Hyuga before arriving to the Meiwa.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: So very pretty-looking, and keeps his hair longer than any of the Japanese players.
• Martial Arts and Crafts: His gimmick: he uses karate strikes and blocks to stop shoots.
• Minored in Ass-Kicking: Unlike all the other goalies in the series, and shockingly enough, Wakashimazu is just as good as a field player as he is as a goalkeeper. Hyuuga himself stated Ken had the best shot on the entire Meiwa team only second to himself, which technically puts him over Sawada and people from other teams around Sawada's level (that is, almost everybody at that point and still in later arcs), and that despite Ken being presumably trained mainly to keep. He has even played as a substitute forward on occasion, and in the Golden 23 arc he is actually put as a forward full time with few troubles to adapt, with coach Kira revealing he had always considered him for the role since their times in the Meiwa.
• Morality Pet: Downplayed. Despite the fact that Wakashimazu and Hyuga know each other from their childhood, it is Sawada the one who becomes his main emotional support while Ken remains in the sidelines. He's still the second closest player to Hyuga, though.
• Red Baron: "Karate Keeper".
• The Red Mage: Usually loses the keeper contest with Wakabayashi, but Wakashimazu has been showed to be a strong outfield player aside from a keeper (with Hyuga even considering him better than Sawada!), which is something that Genzo and most other keepers in the series cannot boast of.
• The Rival: To Wakabayashi, like Hyuuga to Tsubasa.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: As mentioned.
• 10-Minute Retirement: In WYC, after believing that he'd never have a chance to be the titular GK.
• Unknown Rival: This was his gimmick when he was introduced, being an unknown player who believed himself to be better than the famous Wakabayashi.

Takeshi Sawada

European Dub Name Change: Danny Mellow

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Ralph Mellows (original series and J), Ralph Sawada (Road to 2002)

Voiced by: Noriko Uemura (original series), Tetsuya Iwanaga (OVAs), Junko Takeuchi (as a child in Road to 2002, first half), Kohei Kiyasu (Road to 2002, second half), Megumi Han (2018 anime); Anabel Mendez and Ricardo Mendoza (Captain Tsubasa), Marcos Patiño (Captain Tsubasa J), Enzo Fortuny (Road to 2002), Alejandría De los Santos (2018 anime, child), José Luis Piedra (2018-2023 anime, teenager) [Latin American Spanish dub]

Hyuuga's best friend and surrogate little brother, one of the few people in the Meiwa team who can keep him in line.

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• Evil Counterpart: Subverted. He is to Hyuuga what Misaki is to Tsubasa, down to character design and personality, but he is much less arrogant than Hyuuga, which makes him almost a Token Good Teammate every time the Meiwa players are the bad guys.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Had very short hair while in Meiwa Elementary, has let it grow a little longer by the time he goes to Toho. When he reaches high school, he shaves the upper part to resemble a typical soccer ball.
• Fatal Flaw: While he is an apt player at all fields, he is not very confident and can get intimidated if sorely pressed. This proves decisive in the Nankatsu-Meiwa final bout, when Sawada's sudden panic at seeing Tsubasa coming at him makes Takeshi freeze, allowing Tsubasa to take the ball from him and seal the match.
• Jack of All Stats: Like Misaki, he has no discernible field of specialization, being just a good player who syncs well with Hyuga (though not as well as Misaki does with Tsubasa).
• The Lancer: To Hyuga.
• Morality Pet: Almost the only one in Meiwa, aside of Kira and Ken, that Hyuga regularly listens to.
• Nervous Wreck: Downplayed, as he is a subdued kind of boy, but he does tend to worry a lot during the hard parts of the matches. Looking scared or worried, as pictured above, is almost his default expression every time the play is not going perfect.
• The Reliable One: He is the more emotionally stable of the Meiwa/Toho trio, although this comes to the cost that he is also the least strong-willed of the three.
• Satellite Character: To Hyuga, even more than Misaki to Tsubasa, being similarly his support player but having less initiative than Misaki.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Sensitive Guy to Hyuuga's Manly Man, with Ken in the middle.
• Token Good Teammate: In Meiwa and Toho. He's unusually polite and emotional from the start.
• Undying Loyalty: Towards Hyuga. In the original series, he goes as far as asking Sanae if she can tell Tsubasa about Hyuga's problems with his coach so he will intervene.

Kazuki Sorimachi

European Dub Name Change: Eddie Bright/Brikes

Latin-American Dub Name Change: John Michael (original series and J), Eddie Brikes (Road to 2002)

Voiced by: Kenyuu Horiuchi (original series and OVAs)

A Toho player. He usually plays with Hyuga and Sawada as a trio.

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• Evil Counterpart: Oddly, a second one to Misaki. In several ways, Sorimachi is actually a much closer one than Sawada, as he looks physically like a tanned version of Misaki yet is angrier and more confrontational, just like Hyuga is compared to Tsubasa. However, unlike Sawada, Sorimachi doesn't play any special role towards Hyuuga like Misaki does with Tsubasa.
• Hot-Blooded: His main trait is being rather intense.
• Jack of All Stats: Like Misaki and Sawada, although he use headers often.
• Minor Major Character:
  • Sorimachi is part of an official Toho player trio with Hyuuga and Sawada, to the point he actually replaced Hyuuga himself when the latter was out, but he remains a very unexplored character in comparison (especially to Wakashimazu, who is the true third member of Hyuga's trio).
  • He also forms part of Japan's offensive lineup along with Nitta and Hyuga during the WYC, after the Tachibanas are injured in the opening match against Mexico.
• Use Your Head: His signature headers.

Musashi

Jun Misugi

European Dub Name Change: Julian Ross

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Andy Johnson

Voiced by: Aya Mizoguchi (Captain Tsubasa), Yuko Kobayashi (Captain Tsubasa J, child), Shinichirou Ohta (Captain Tsubasa J, adult), Ai Orikasa (Road to 2002, child), Issei Miyazaki (Road to 2002, adult), Soma Saito (2018 anime), Megumi Ogata (Playstation 2 game); Ricardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Roberto Mendiola (Captain Tsubasa J), Irwin Daayán (Road to 2002), Alan Fernando Velásquez (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Celia Ballester (Captain Tsubasa), Blanca Rada (Captain Tsubasa J and Road to 2002), [European Spanish dub]

Captain of the Musashi school team, an excellent player... with a fatal flaw: his very weak heart. Not even an operation and treatment are fully able to let him overcome it: while his skill is intact, his stamina is severely limited. His analytical mind, however, gives him a sort-of solution: becoming The Smart Guy and The Strategist, alongside a reserve player who comes out in crucial moments.

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• Broken Ace: He is explicitly said to be Tsubasa's technical superior on the field and a leader at least just as good, but his heart condition limits deeply his performance and puts a damper in his self-worth.
• Chick Magnet: Girls loooooove him.
• Childhood Friend Romance: All but stated to have this going on with Yayoi.
• Determinator: When young, because his illness gave him a near suicidal obsession with leading his team to victory before he has to go through treatment. As he grows up, one can still see some traces of this every now and then, like when he manages to come back to action after his illness through the standard "operation" and very hard work.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Very extreme version, as he'd rather put his life in risk than lose a match. He loosens up later, though.
• Drama-Preserving Handicap: His heart illness.
• Handicapped Badass: As seen below.
• It's Not You, It's Me: Yayoi states to Yoshiko in Rising Sun that the only reason he did not become engaged with her was because he feared that his heart disease will come. Later revealed that if he overextends himself in a match, his heart illness could come back
• Red Baron: Garasu no Ace (Glass Ace). In elementary he also had "Field Prince".
• The Strategist: His role, both in and outside the fields.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's calm and not really prone to any emotional outbursts, coming across as aloof, but he's also very wise and kind to those close to him.
• Weak, but Skilled: He's a football genius on a technical level not even Tsubasa can reach at the time of their battle, but has a very low stamina due to his heart condition, so he can barely play half a match.
• Would Hit a Girl: He slapped Yayoi for telling Tsubasa about his heart condition, saying that she had no right to do that.

Furano

Hikaru Matsuyama

European Dub Name Change: Philip Callahan

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Armand Callahan

Voiced by: Mie Suzuki (in Captain Tsubasa), Tsutomu Kashiwakura (in Captain Tsubasa J), Akira Ishida (in Road to 2002), Wataru Hatano (2018 anime); Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa and Captain Tsubasa J), René García (Road to 2002), Arturo Cataño (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Álex Saudinós (Captain Tsubasa), Amelia Jara (Captain Tsubasa J), Jesús Pinillos (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

The captain of the Furano team, which is from Hokkaido. Serious, dependable and responsible, as well as with a bittersweet emotional baggage in his highschool years.

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• Animal Motif: The eagle.
• Boring, but Practical
• Determinator: Wind or snow over him, he never stops working hard.
• Elemental Motifs: His techniques evoke imagery related to ice and snow. Hokkaido, where his team comes from, is the northernmost region of Japan, and Hikaru takes pride in how the team often had to train in a snow-covered field.
• A Father to His Men
• Hard Work Hardly Works: He is profiled as an average player whose ability to be a threat to the leads comes from being incredibly disciplined and hard-working. However, as it could not be otherwise, he is always beaten by more naturally talented people like Tsubasa.
• Hero Antagonist: His attributes mirror Tsubasa's ones and even expand them in some cases: he's a very motivated player, works as the soul of his team, and has an open Love Interest. He could believably be the protagonist of his own soccer manga.
• I Will Wait for You: With Yoshiko, first when she has to leave with her family to America after the mid-school semifinals, and more recently in the Next Dream preview, when she rejects his marriage proposal to follow her dream of being a flight attendant.
• Martial Arts Headband: Proud owner of a hand-sewn one, courtesy of Yoshiko; also qualifies as Iconic Outfit and Iconic Item.
• Number Two: In WYC, he becomes the vice-captain of the Japanese team.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: By no means he is a bad player, but in a series like this you need much more than that to have a chance.
• Red Baron: Hokkai no Arawashi (The Wild Eagle of the Northern Sea)
• Signature Move: The Eagle Shot, a ground-crawling shot that sends the ball to the goal at high speed.
• The Smart Guy: Very good at indy ploying and capable of keeping his cool in harsh crisis.
• Squishy Wizard: In a sense, as his true strength comes from the teamwork and techniques he's able to implement with his team rather than his individual skills or talents. He is still a tough, competent player, though.
• The Strategist: Part of his hard work focuses on teamwork, and he's probably even better at this than Tsubasa, not having any other asset to lean on.
• Team Dad: Not only to Furano, but also when several players get kicked out of the National Team (Hyuuga included) after they fail Gamo's Real Japan 7 test.
• Twice Shy: With his assistant Yoshiko.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He's explained to be not as gifted as other players on the technical field, but he compensates it by being tough and athletic and training like a machine.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Sometimes, with Hyuga.

Hanawa

Kazuo and Masao Tachibana

European Dub Name Change: Jason and James Derrick

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Kazuo and Masao Korioto

Voiced by: Reiko Suzuki (Kazuo) and Miki Narahashi (Masao) (Original series), Yurina Watanabe (Kazuo) and Ayako Takeuchi (Masao) (2018 anime); Armando Coria (Masao) and Sergio Gutiérrez Coto (Kazuo) (Captain Tsubasa), Ricardo Tejedo (Kazuo) and Armando Coria (Masao) (Captain Tsubasa J), Miguel Ángel Leal (2018-2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Sara Vivas (Kazuo) and Álex Saudinós (Masao) (Captain Tsubasa), Amelia Jara (Kazuo) and Blanca Rada (Masao) (Captain Tsubasa J) [European Spanish dub]

Twin brothers from the same team, whose combination is very hard to beat.

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• Achilles' Heel: Prior to the Asian preliminaries, Coach Gamo realizes they're too dependent on one another, and need to develop more individuality.
• Bash Brothers: Of course.
• Butt Monkeys: Not Played for Laughs, since the poor dudes almost always get injured in one way or another and almost never can finish a game.
• Deadpan Snarkers: Very much so, and their favorite "victim" is Ishizaki. Though that might be because he and Tsubasa are among the few able to counter their attacks.
• The Dividual: They are a single player in two bodies.
• Combination Attack: Most of their techniques are this, including the Twin Shoot, and the Skylab Hurricane. There's also their Skylab Twin Shoot, which they perform aided by Jito.
• Dented Iron: Skylab Hurricane is a fearsome technique: one guy kicks the other guy to jump way above enemy defenders. However, the Olympic series revealed that as the Tachibanas grow older, and therefore heavier, they became unable to pull this technique more than once in a match. Afterward, their legs will get injured and they will have to be substituted.
• Evil Counterpart: One to the combo formed by Tsubasa and Misaki, as they are also a pair of technicians with a brotherly bond (literally in this case) and incredible teamwork, yet much more mischievous.
• Fastball Special: Their signature Sky Hurricane.
• Fragile Speedster: Of the agile but fragile kind. They are very quick acrobats, but they get easily injured if they miss some of their high-risk maneuvers.
• Glass Cannon: They can perform shocking team moves to bypass the rival team's defenses, but the inherent complexity of their teamwork means they are constantly risking their bodies, so they are royally screwed whenever they botch it (seen in Unwitting Instigator of Doom) or after its abuse.
• Single-Minded Twins: Weaponized, even. If they weren't twins and didn't know each other as well as they do, their partnership wouldn't be as succesful as it is. However, Coach Gamo takes notice that this makes them heavily dependent on one another.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: In the junior high arc, Tsubasa gets his very serious shoulder injury when the Tachibanas fail to pull their Skylab Hurricane and he protects Masao, who got the worst part, with his own body. To be fair, had he not done that Masao would've probably gotten even more injured, and Masao is sincerely apologetic afterwards.

Hirado

Hiroshi Jito

European Dub Name Change: Clifford Yuma

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Victor

Voiced by: Ryō Horikawa (in Captain Tsubasa), Kiyoyuki Yanada (in Captain Tsubasa J), Masaya Takatsuka (in Road to 2002), Daisuke Hirakawa (2018 anime); Miguel Ángel Ghigliazza and Ricardo Mendoza (Captain Tsubasa), Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Alfredo Gabriel Basurto (Road to 2002), Gustavo Melgarejo (2018 anime), Jaime Collepardo (2023 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Eduardo Bosch (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

An eager player from Nagasaki who appears in the second half of the original series. He turns out to be less of a Dumb Muscle than everyone thinks he is, and specially when he and his partner Mitsuru Sano work together.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Downplayed. In Road to 2002, he is still a powerful player and a nasty threat, but his Backspin Pass and the rest of his most technical moves are cut out, leaving him a stylistically flatter player.
• The Big Guy: The largest player in the Japanese Team. Just to drive it, he's big and strong enough to propel both the Tachibanas at once to perform the Skylab Twin Shoot.
• Big Guy, Little Guy: The big guy to Sano (and everybody, really).
• Blood Knight: The guy loves violence, being not only an avid practitioner of contact sports, but also a veteran street fighter and a troublemaker. He's absolutely not a bully, though, which actually only makes him even more bloodthirsty: he is constantly seeking a Worthy Opponent, and gets bored if his battles end too soon or too easily.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Very stubborn and spirited on the fields.
• Boring, but Practical: Although it isn't his only resource, his enormous size and strength mean that he can simply run through their opponents rather than engaging them in technical bouts.
• Casanova Wannabe: Hilariously used in his first anime appearance.
• Challenge Seeker: In all areas, including soccer, sumo and street fights. In fact, this is the very reason he got into soccer in the first place.
• Combat Pragmatist: Downplayed. While Jito doesn't usually go for overt fouls, thrashing people around is a big part of his playing style.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: His first appearances outside the fields profile him as a dumb, goofy brute. Then the match starts, and it turns out he is absolutely neither dumb nor goofy.
• Flanderization: When he ceases being the captain to his own team, he basically stops being a Genius Bruiser and becomes instead a Dumb Muscle, as if the series had forgotten this was only a façade he actively cultivated. He even receives the special dishonor of being one of the few characters who have scored in his own goal zone. However, there are still flashes of his technical side here and there, such as in his famous three-man technique with the Tachibana twins.
• Genius Bruiser: He kept it hidden before the great revelation, but Jito is a shockingly clever player and has a bag of tricks that matched Tsubasa's own at that point of the series.
• Guile Hero: His facade of a talentless brute is not his only way to mask his true abilities. Under his leadership, the Hirado team adopted the gameplan of feigning mediocrity early in the tournaments, edging small wins by 1-0 at the first matches, in order for them to surprise their opponents in the finals and unload 6-0 beatdowns on them.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Sano.
• Instant Expert: He became a soccer player very late into his life, yet excelled at it very quickly and was chosen captain of his team.
• The Juggernaut: Due to his impressive size, strength and ability to achieve momentum, trying to stop him directly (even by accident) is downright suicidal.
• Lightning Bruiser: Being so athletic and tall, he can run incredibly fast for his size, to the point he's canonically faster than even Hyuga. Moreover, he can not only run, but slide, like a much smaller player.
• Martial Arts and Crafts: Subverted. He practises amateur Sumo Wrestling, but he uses it relatively little when playing soccer compared to Wakashimazu.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: His main character trait (and main strength) during the National Junior Interhigh arc. Jito initially looked like a crude strongman whose only gameplan was bruting his way through the field, but he turned out to be secretly a great tactician and a team player able to match the Golden Duo with his own partner.
• Outside-Context Problem: While the Hirado was not the first opposing team to present a technical challenge, Jito himself was a multi-problem kind of rival Tsubasa had never faced: a giant bruiser who could not be stopped individually by traditional means, who was just as good as a teamwork player with his own support, who had his own technical brilliance, and who was also a master strategist.
• Red Baron: "Power Defense"
• Redemption Demotion: After befriending the leads, he goes down from a true nightmare to play against to a moderately useful support player, even accidentally self-scoring once. This could be chalked up to his smarts atrophying due to not being a captain anymore and not syncing up well with his new teammates, but still, the series definitely plays it as if he had always been as much of a moron as he previously looked.
• Strong and Skilled: He prefers ramming people out of his way rather than dribbling, but he's not ignorant of the most technical aspects of soccer and in fact has a few jaw-dropping tricks up his sleeve.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Almost. He scores in his own goal zone in the WYC match vs. Uruguay, which puts the team in serious risk. He decides to make up for it by pulling a very risky move with Hyuuga's help (and Hyuuga himself is all "are you crazy?!" when Jito asks him for help), and it works.
• Volleying Insults: With his cousin Yukari.

Mitsuru Sano

European Dub Name Change: Sandy Winters

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Ringo

Voiced by: Hisao Ohyama (in Captain Tsubasa), Hiroyuki Koshino (2018 anime); Ricardo Hill and Ricardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Rubén León and Ricardo Mendoza (Road to 2002), Eduardo Curiel (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub]

Jito's best friend and the one who got him into soccer in the first place.

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• Big Guy, Little Guy: The little guy to Jito.
• Foil: To Jito, being small and sharp rather than giant and goofy like him.
• Fragile Speedster: He is extremely short and petite, but can fly through the field.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jito.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: The sign when he gets serious is when his eye(s) are shown through his bangs.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: A mini-version, but his hair can rival Wakashimazu's in length.
• Red Baron: Hengejizai no Karuwazashi (Phantasmagoric Actrobat)
• Satellite Character: He mostly works as a contrast/assistant to Jito, both narratively and on the field.
• Shorter Means Smarter: In the Next Dream preview, when he and Jito were drafted for the Olympique de Marseille, Sano was the only one who bothered to learn French to get through the language barrier.
• Strong and Skilled: Like Jito, it initially seems that Sano's natural gifts are is his only assets, but it turns out he's not just a runner. Aside from being crazy fast and nimble, he is also a technician good enough to duel Tsubasa at certain areas, not to mention his ability to work in combination.

Azumaichi

Makoto Soda

European Dub Name Change: Ralph Peterson

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Guillermo Peterson

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (in Captain Tsubasa), Hideo Ishikawa (in Captain Tsubasa J), Yusuke Kobayashi (2018 anime); Marcos Patiño (Captain Tsubasa), Ernesto Mascarúa (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub]

A very, very aggressive and dirty player from Osaka, whose temper will bring him trouble more than once.

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• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He can take players out and he knows it.
• Blood Knight: Which cause trouble once he clashes with another (and, unfortunately for Soda, smarter) Blood Knight like Napoleon.
• The Berserker: His style is direct and forward, and he goes for the leg if he feels the need.
• Break the Haughty: His team and Nankatsu's match manages to knock him off his pedestal, and save for one or three moments he's noticeably more agreeable.
• Can't Catch Up: While he was not Hyuga or Misugi, in his first appearances he was a talented player and clearly looked cut for much more than the filler teammate he ends up being.
• Combat Pragmatist: Tactical fouls are his specialty. He does not hesitate to hurt his rivals if he can get away with it, and often targets enemy players with explicit intention to injury. In fact, what was supposed to be a simply ankle sprain for Tsubasa becomes a massive injury after Soda targets him.
• Evil Counterpart: Yet another one to Tsubasa. He is the captain of his team, has a lot of spirit, and is a technician with a penchant for tricky spinning shoots, just like Tsubasa; but while Tsubasa is gentle, civil and technically flawless, Soda is arrogant, dirty and not good enough to match him.
• Fatal Flaw: His short temper makes a bad combination with his aggressive playing style. In the Shin match against France, when Napoleon exploits this and gets him kicked out.
• Flanderization: After joining the Japanese team, his sole claim to fame is getting goaded to a fight by an even dirtier player. Even worse, in the process he's portrayed as an easily manipulable brat, when his previous appearances had shown him as a decent captain and strategist who simply took things too personally. His not negligible technical side is also progressively de-emphasized.
• Genius Bruiser: May look like his aggression is his only trump card on the field, but not at all - he is skilled enough to cause trouble to more technical players, knows himself a lot about shoots with effect (to the point of being familiar with the Drive Shoot!), and his own Razor Shoot could easily score against the third best goalie to that point, Nakanishi.
• Hot-Blooded: He's a good player and tactician, but can get very mad if he gets carried away.
• The Idiot from Osaka: While not stupid, he plays up another Osaka stereotype: being Hot-Blooded and arrogant.
• Lightning Bruiser: He's very fast and has surprisingly strong attacks (of all kinds) for his size.
• Red Baron: Kamisori Fighter ("Razor Fighter")
• Redemption Demotion: Like Jito, he's hit hard by this (although it's less of a demotion in his case because he remains a violent jerk). Enemy Soda is a true menace and almost an Evil Genius, while Heroic Soda is just an average support player who dramatically lacks self-control.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky
• Tears of Remorse: When expelled in the match against France
• Token Evil Teammate: As both Hyuga and Jito Took a Level in Kindness, Soda is currently the only dirty player in a national team that is somewhat composed by far less dirty players.
• Unknown Rival: Develops an obssession with beating Tsubasa.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: As said above, what was supposed to be a mere ankle sprain for Tsubasa made him vulnerable to Souda's fouls, becoming a far more serious wound that coupled with his injured shoulder, put him at serious risk towards the end of the Junior High arc.

Otomo

Shun Nitta

European Dub Name Change: Patrick Everett

Latin-American Dub Name Change: David Everett

Voiced by: Shigeru Nakahara (in Captain Tsubasa), Hiroyuki Satou (in Captain Tsubasa J), Yuuto Uemura (2018 anime); Luis Alfonso Mendoza and Eduardo Tejedo (Captain Tsubasa), Rolando de la Fuente (Road to 2002), Brandon Montor (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Mercedes Espinosa (Captain Tsubasa J) [European Spanish dub]

Younger than Tsubasa and Co. for two years, Nitta succeeded them after they left Nanaktsu Elementary. Then he goes to another school (Otomo) and gets the chance to be their rival..

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• Achilles' Heel: Aside from his Crippling Overspecialization below, Coach Gamo takes notice that he can only shoot with his right leg during the WYC arc, and removes him from the team until he can use both legs effectively.
• Animal Motif: The falcon.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Despite being younger than the lead generation, he's good enough to compete with them and he knows (and loves) it. Later loses the trait.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: A very offensively oriented player, his best strategy is just lunging forward with his crazy speed and trying to score.
• Big Bad Wannabe: During his career in the Otomo, he tries to shape itself as the next big rival in the series, complete with a team with black uniforms, overwhelming 4-on-1 tactics and another superb goalie. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't live up his expectations.
• Boisterous Weakling: While he is very talented, he's not as good as he believes to be at the beginning of the story.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Literal, as he is quite petite.
• Crippling Overspecialization: He excels as a quick attacker and makes a decent leader, but the rest of his skills are mediocre at the best, at least at first. Similarly, his Falcon Shoot is the fastest shoot of the series, but it's actually very inaccurate, especially in contrast with shoots like Hyuga's (which manages to be both strong and accurate at once) or Tsubasa's (which is not very strong, but very artful), which impedes it from becoming a gamebreaking skill like them.
• Cute Little Fangs: To show his pettiness.
• Fragile Speedster: He is crazily fast, possibly even more than the canonical speedster Sano, and is overall a better singles player by having more initiative and leadership. However, his skill in other fields of the game is still small in comparison to lead players like Tsubasa, Misugi, Matsuyama or even Sano himself. Even his main attack technique ends up being very ineffective due to this.
• Instant Expert: One of his main strengths is that he is a very fast learner.
• Heel–Face Turn: Loses most of his arrogance after the Otomo is bested.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With giant goalkeeper Isamu Ichijo. They became the hope of the Nankatsu after Tsubasa and Wakabayashi left the team and later kept their status in the Otomo. After that, Nitta went to the Japanese National Team and Ichijo disappeared.
• Kid-Appeal Character: Young, small, rebellious and cocky. Deconstructed later, when he still loses for all his mouth.
• Paper Tiger: His confidence, intimidating team and first showings do give the impression that Nitta is the next big menace of the series, but he turns out to be just a wannabe with a lot to learn.
• Red Baron: Hayabusa shooter (Peregrine Falcon Shooter)
• Unskilled, but Strong: Lacks technical finesse, to the point often misses his best shoot and is actually not very good with any other technique. However, his enormous speed and maneuverability allows him to make up for it even in his first matches, and his natural ability to learn helps him polish his skills with training afterwards.

Isamu Ichijo

Voiced by: Bin Shimada (Original series and 'Tatakae Dream Team'' smartphone game), Taro Kiuchi (2018 anime), Andrés García (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub]

The surprisingly tall keeper of the Otomo.

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• Big Bad Wannabe: Very much like Nakanishi, he aspires to be a star goalkeeper like Wakabayashi or Wakashimazu. Actually, he is rather around Nakanishi's level, that is, better than the average unnamed keeper but not in the league of those two.
• The Brute: To Nitta, also being appropriately huge.
• Eyes Always Shut: His eyes are never seen.
• Lightning Bruiser: He is very fast for a giant like him, and his long limbs help a lot with his catches.
• Satellite Character: He only appears as part of Nitta's singles career.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Is a pretty unknown character, but the viewers will recognize him as the desperate-looking keeper who catches Tsubasa's first shoot in Captain Tsubasa's legendary first opening.
• Younger Than They Look: His character design makes him look like an adult, but he is in the same age range as the rest of the cast.

Naniwa

Taichi Nakanishi

European Dub Name Change: Theo Sellers/Sellecks

Latin American Dub Name Change: Borjini

Voiced by: Shigeru Nakahara (original series), Shinobu Matsumoto (2018 anime), Goro Ohtsuka ('Tatakae Dream Team'' smartphone game)

A enormously obese but surprisingly agile goalkeeper for the Naniwa.

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• Acrofatic: He is gigantic, yet capable of big jumps to reach the ball.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Smirks at the Nanakatsu team and boasts of being the best keeper around. However, he is proved wrong.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Briefly. He presents himself as an invincible bully and the next great goalie, but this is quickly trounced.
• Big Eater: Eats more than several guys of his team put together.
• Big Fun: After his Heel–Face Turn.
• Boisterous Weakling: Claims to be the best keeper after Wakabayashi upon his introduction, and while he does show some initial effectivity in the job, he goes to lose to Tsubasa by five goals in a comparatively non-tough match, the worst showing by a star keeper in the entire series. Later becomes less boisterous as a consequence.
• Boring, but Practical:
  • His best tactic is simply using his large body to obstruct shoots. Later Ishizaki jokes that, if Nakanishi eats too much, he can downright cover the entire goalposts.
  • His other tactic is relying on his kick power to quickly initiate counter attacks. By kicking the ball as hard as he can, he would get the ball inside the opposing side's penalty box just in mere seconds. Boring? Maybe, but it is damn useful. Too bad none of his strikers are significant. If only he had a goalgetting striker like Hyuga or Hino, he would be the highest assisting goalkeeper in the series.
• Can't Catch Up: His aspirations to rival Wakabayashi are trumped very early, especially after a stronger candidate is introduced in Wakashimazu. Afterwards, although Nakanishi remains as the third best Japanese keeper (possibly shared with Ichijo), he stays very far from them in skill.
• Character Tics: He has a habit of smirking while sticking out his tongue, especially after catching shots.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Initially looks like a subversion, as it turns out he is not just a Stone Wall and can perform diving catches too. However, Tsubasa and company soon discover he is not very adaptable and does not have much more tricks.
• Lightning Bruiser: Nakanishi is enormous, but can jump pretty high and is not terribly slower than an average, medium-sized player his age.
• Paper Tiger: His immense size makes for a difficult shoot and can intimidate his opponents, but while competent, he is nearly not as dangerous as he looks.
• Stone Wall: While all the other Japanese keepers have at least one good field player in their teams, Nakanishi is the only star of the Naniwa, meaning he carries with all the weight of the matches himself.
• Stout Strength: Breaks the ground around him with a double punch in rage of being scored.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Zig-zagged. It looks at first that his size is his only asset, but it is revealed he is surprisingly mobile and has some conventional skill to back it up. However, it ends up not being enough to keep up once his weaknesses are exposed.
• The Worf Effect: Courtesy of Soda.
• Villainous Breakdown: When Tsubasa scores goal after goal on him, he actually tries to punch Tsubasa's leg in a fit of rage. See Stout Strength above.

Other

Shingo Aoi

European Dub Name Change: Terry/Rob Denton/Nicolas Alliot (Fr)

Latin-American Dub Name Change: Aoi Shingo (the same, but with the order fully inverted)

Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi (in Captain Tsubasa J), Showtaro Morikubo (in Road to 2002), Ayumu Murase (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game); Armando Coria (Captain Tsubasa J), Enrique Mederos (Road to 2002) [Latin American Spanish dub], Emilio García (Captain Tsubasa J), David Robles (Road to 2002) [European Spanish dub]

A Japanese boy who admires Tsubasa so very much. He tired to make his own way in Italy but things were EXTREMELY hard for him there, since he was subjected to a huge Break the Cutie process. Shingo managed to work through it, however, and becomes a good addition to the Japanese team.

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• Boisterous Bruiser: Even if he's actually diminutive.
• Cheerful Child
• Chekhov's Gag: In the Asian preliminaries, his first attempt to use the Right-Angle Feint results in him accidentally leaving the ball behind on a stop. Come the World Youth finals, he does this on purpose, fooling the Brazilian defender so that Tsubasa can pick the ball behind him and continue their counterattack.
• Determinator
• Fragile Speedster: Very fast, agile and technical, but his small size becomes a trouble when he faces the mighty Dutch defenders.
• Hero of Another Story: Kaigai Gekito Hen in Calcio - Hi Izuru Kuni no Giocatore is this for both Hyuuga and him, as they get ready for a match between their teams.
• Kid-Appeal Character
• Odd Friendship: With Hyuuga, in WYC
• The Pollyanna: Nothing brings him down for too long. At most he cries a little easily sometimes, but then he wipes his tears away and bounces back.
• Red Baron: Principe del Sole (Prince of the Sun)
• Shorter Means Smarter: He is petite, but quite fast-thinking and a survivor on his own right.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: For all his achievement in WYC, Aoi still fails to secure a spot in Inter's Starting XI; hence, he accepts a transfer move to a club belong to Serie C division to get a regular game than sitting on the bench for indefinite time and losing his momentum rise.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist:
  • Trying to enter Italian teams without any connection or notable achievement whatsoever? Pretty naive and unrealistic even by the standards of this series where Tsubasa, Wakabayashi, and Hyuga all join their respective clubs with little help from their own connections (Katagiri and Roberto, Mikami, and Matsumoto, respectively).
  • Even in the flashback when he played for Nakahara Junior High, he wanted to defeat Nankatsu Junior High despite the fact that his team is a hilariously underclassed Butt-Monkey compared to Nankatsu and was extremely unhappy with his coach and teammates' (most if not all of which are his senpais, no less) perceived incompetence. This contributes to his Friendless Background and makes him The Friend Nobody Likes in his junior high school.
  • In the World Youth, he's upset that Italy was defeated by Uruguay before their match against Japan and called them out for losing. This practically ignores the fact that Uruguay is a South American team where soccer's popularity rivals that of Europe.
• Wild Card: He is the trump card of the Japanese team in the Asian qualification round.

Tomeya Akai

Voiced by: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game)

A young boy who has developed his soccer career in Italy. Also the friendly rival of Aoi in the WYC manga.

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• Anime Hair
• The Bus Came Back: He returns after a long absence during the Rising Sun arc, on the eve of the Japan vs. Spain semifinal match in the Madrid Olympics.
• Determinator: As seen in the match against Sweden.
• Game-Breaking Injury: Twice.
  • In the WYC arc, taking Levin's shots at point-blank range renders him too injured to continue playing the match or the rest of the tournament. Fortunately, Matsuyama returns to play the extra time for him, after thanking him for his sacrifice.
  • While he contributes to Sampdoria's victory in the Serie B championship, he's heavily injured in the last play by a foul, leaving him unable to join the Japanese Team for the Madrid Olympics.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Sorta. He takes several point-blank soccer shots from Levin until he can't move, all to protect his goal. His companions and specially Tsubasa refer to this as the trope.
• Nasal Trauma: He suffers a fractured nose in the match against Sweden after taking the third of Levin's shots in a row.
• Red Baron: "The Fearless Red Stopper".
• Spanner in the Works: Serves as this during the Sweden vs Japan match. As he's replacing Matsuyama, he's the only Japanese player the Sweedish team has no data about, which allows him to neutralize Levin's attacks for quite a while.
• Taking the Bullet: Non-lethal variant. During the Japan vs. Sweden match, he repeatedly blocks Levin's shoots at point-blank with his body so Genzo doesn't get injured by them.

Gakuto Igawa

The newest addition to the National Olympic Team, he debuted in the manga series Golden 23. His older brother, Hayato, is the captain of the adult Japanese Team. He's also led an extremely harsh life abroads.

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• Breakthe Cutie: Not only his career failed to lift off the ground in Argentina, but his girlfriend fell victim to Death by Childbirth and he's had to raise their child alone.
• Good Parents: He has a really cute daughter, Risa. He clearly adores her and she loves him back.
• Jack of All Stats: He's been described as such since he's got good power, speed, defense and even some potential for goalkeeping. If not for his insecurity, he'd be a borderline perfect player.
• Stage Fright: His Fatal Flaw: not only he's a quiet and shy person, but he tends to lose his confidence very easily.

Real Japan 7 Team

As a Whole

• The Psycho Rangers: Much less villainous than usual, since this is a sports manga without real evil characters. At most they're temporary Punch Clock Villains.

Hanji Urabe

European and Latin-American Dub Name Change: Jack Morris

Voiced by: Hiroshi Kamiya (Captain Tsubasa J), Miho Hino (2018 anime); Marcos Patiño (Captain Tsubasa and Captain Tsubasa J), Yamil Atala (Road to 2002), Danann Galván (2018 anime) [Latin American Spanish dub], Rosa Sánchez (Captain Tsubasa), Mercedes Espinosa (Captain Tsubasa J) [European Spanish dub]

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• Anti-Hero
• Combat Pragmatist: During the Meiwa/Nankatsu final, he show his fare share of cheating and bumping opponents to get the ball.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Very harsh around the edges, but his heart's usually in the right place.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Ishizaki
• X Marksthe Hero: Subverted: not only he's not The Hero, but his x-shaped scar is located on his forehead.

The rest of team

Youji Sakaki

Voiced by: Tadanori Tate (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game)

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• The Big Guy

Kouji Yoshikawa (real name: Takashi Sugimoto)

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• Same Surname Means Related: Averted. He has no known relationship with Kumi Sugimoto despite having similar last name with him (his real last name, anyway).
• The Trickster: His "Fraud Shot and "Fraud Feint" caused a lot of troubles for Japan's defenders, at least before they Took a Level in Badass.

Nobuaki Yumikura

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Miura (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game)

Toshiya Okano

Voiced by: Daiki Hamano (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game)

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• Fragile Speedster

Michel Yamada

Voiced by: Sho Nogami (Tatakae Dream Team smartphone game)

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• The Quiet One: Very rarely talks in the whole RJ7 arc.

Ryoma Hino

See "foreign rivals"

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