India, June 22 -- Japan's striker corps at the 2026 World Cup features a new "egoist" mentality. If you don't quite get what that means then you need to watch Blue Lock, a football anime set in the aftermath of the 2018 World Cup.

The premise, of the series which first debuted as a manga in 2018, revolves around an extreme, controversial training programme designed to isolate 300 young strikers and forge the most "egoistic" and ruthless goal-scorer in the world. In a sense, it has already had an impact.

Striker Ayase Ueda, who plays for Feyenoord, was the leading scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie with 25 goals. Daizen Maeda enjoyed a prolific 2025-26 campaign for Celtic, tallying 14 league goals in 36 appearances. Ritsu Doan scored five go...