8 Most Realistic Soccer Anime & Manga, Ranked

There have been manga about sports since the medium’s earliest days, like the retro racing fun of Speed Racer, the boxing blitz of Ring Ni Kakero, and the fantastical serves of Prince of Tennis. That said, they’re not exactly realistic. Boxers don’t smash their opponents with the “Galactica Phantom,” nor has Serena Williams socked a ball so hard it made the dinosaurs go extinct.

There are manga out there that leave the shonen-style fun at home and focus on the nitty-gritty of their sports. Slam Dunk and REAL delved deep into basketball. Major got into the wear and tear baseball can take on its players. These anime and manga take on soccer in an intriguing and realistic way.

8 Whistle!

Height Doesn’t Matter When the Player Can Go Long

Whistle! goes for a familiar plot, where its protagonist tries to overcome their cons to become a pro player. In this case, Shō is shorter than average, which puts him at a disadvantage when he transfers to a new school. It’s even worse when his teacher introduces him as a former star player for his old school’s soccer team when he never actually made it in.

Still, his progress is handled in a grounded way. Instead of having some magic shōnen technique up his sleeve, he learns to use his short height to his advantage, moving fast enough to become an effective forward. It’s through his grit and determination that he pulls his team together. As such, like Shō, the manga lacks flash but has the substance to keep readers engaged.

7 Fantasista

Country Boy Proves He’s Good Enough for the School Leagues

• Creator: Michiteru Kusaba.
• 25 Volumes, 223 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

For more high school football fun, Fantasista follows Teppei, a boy who lives and breathes soccer. He was introduced to the sport by his big sister, who even taught him how to play the game and practice his soccer-playing skills on the field. But he can only do so much playing around at their countryside home.

His sister suggests he join his high school’s soccer team to see how far he can go. Unlike Whistle, Teppei proves to be a child prodigy, but in a believable way. He isn’t launching balls like a cannon or scoring goals from the other side of the pitch. Instead, he just has the edge in skill and knowledge to be an advanced playmaker, or “fantasista,” if he can keep up with his team.

When A Woman Plays Soccer In A Man’s World

• Creator: Naoshi Arakawa.
• 2 Volumes, 8 Chapters.
• Available in English via Kodansha Comics USA.

Manga about women in sports have been around for years, ranging from being fancy to being realistic, like Teppu. Only in that strip, Natsuo at least has a women’s league to compete in. What happens when a woman wants to play a sport that doesn’t want her around? Sayonara Football shows that in full, as its protagonist, Nozomi, loves soccer, but never gets to play a game.

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It’s because her coach finds her too small and dainty to last in such a physical sport, even though she has the technical skills and tenacity to last on the pitch. Now she has to practice harder in her own time just to stay at her teammates’ level. Nonetheless, she keeps going in the hope of getting to prove her worth one day. Its story continues in Sayonara Watashi no Cramer, where Nozomi gets the chance to play with others at a rival school.

5 Catenaccio

Doing Everything It Takes To Be The Best

• Creator: Daisuke Morimoto.
• 6+ Volumes, 57+ Chapters (on hiatus).
• Available in English via MANGA Plus.

Whistle, Fantasista, and Sayonara Football all dealt with issues players face in high school soccer. But what about players who want to go pro? What hoops and hurdles do they have to leap through? Catenaccio offers an answer, as Yatarō aims to become the best soccer player in the world within ten years. But to do that, he has to get into a top-flight European team.

On top of showing just how the sport picks up young players, from scouting lower leagues to youth academies, it also shows how far players will go to make it as a professional player. Yatarō is dedicated to the sport and will go to any lengths to achieve his dream, whether it’s bending a few rules, or learning a few extra skills, like improving his chances of making it onto an Italian team by learning Italian.

4 Be Blues

Making A Comeback Off The Pitch

• Creator: Motoyuki Tanaka.
• 49 Volumes, 489 Chapters.
• Fan Translations only.

While Europe’s premier leagues tend to be where the best players end up cutting their teeth, others become stars by focusing on being the best for their home teams. Like in Be Blues, where prodigious player Ryū aims to become a part of Japan’s national soccer team, “the Blues.” But he suffers a serious setback when he’s struck by a car while trying to protect his best friend.

Other strips would have their lead undergo some miraculous recovery before playing better than ever. For Ryū, he has to go through extensive rehabilitation just to reach his old base level, and his recovery isn’t guaranteed. He could see his dream end before it began or beat the odds and rehabilitate his soccer skills after getting better. It all depends on Ryū’s determination and a little luck here and there.

3 Days

Players Don’t Need To Be Superstars To Be Important

Manga strips often follow leads who start hopeless at its premise, then get better as they progress. But Days’ protagonist, Tsukushi, doesn’t show any particular interest or aptitude for the sport until he’s saved from some bullies by his classmate, Jin Kazama (no, not that one). He asks Tsukushi to fill in for a player on his futsal team (basically indoor soccer), and he accepts, despite being hopeless at the sport.

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Yet he played through the entire game despite injuring his foot, and he managed to score the decisive goal. From there, its realism lies more in Tsukushi’s development, as he isn’t exactly a diamond in the rough, not even when Jin manages to get him onto their school’s elite soccer team. But his effort and perseverance are enough to inspire others to do their best, and he learns to appreciate himself for what he can do well.

2 Giant Killing

Using True Tactics To Take Down The Big Hitters

Plots about players learning to get better at a sport are par for the course in sports media, as are ones about quirky coaches finding a way to make their no-hoper team successful. Giant Killing follows the latter, as the struggling East Tokyo United (ETU) is on the verge of getting relegated to a lower league. Their hope lies in former player-turned-manager, Tatsumi Takeshi, who managed to turn a team of English amateurs into an F.A. Cup contender.

Now he aims to do the same for ETU through his expertise in “giant killing” – taking down bigger teams with smaller ones. It sounds unlikely, but Takeshi’s tactics have some genuine merit to them, as they’re based on actual strategic soccer plays. It also goes into how the soccer hierarchy works, which also means everyone at ETU gets their chance to shine, from the supporters in the stands to the chairperson who has the final say on what happens at the club.

1 Aoashi

The Beautiful Game Unfiltered And Delivered In Manga And Anime Form

If players and teams bouncing back on the road to recovery still sounds a little fanciful, Aoashi should be more up their street. It’s regarded as one of the best soccer stories around, as protagonist Ashito Aoi shows promise as a player. He’s dedicated to improving his skills and is committed to the sport, while also being stubborn and preferring to play offense over defense.

Nonetheless, J-Youth League coach Fukuda thinks Ashito has the potential to get far in the sport if his talents are honed right. It’s a surprisingly close adaptation of how young players get into the sport while recreating real soccer tactics so closely that J-League players have commented on its accuracy. When it comes to manga and anime, it’s hard to get more realistic than Aoashi.

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