In 2024, Japan’s U20 American football team defeated the United States 41-20 in the semifinals of the IFAF World Junior Championship — eliminating the two-time defending champions. Japan’s defense held the United States to seven points in the first half while Japan built a 20-7 halftime lead through a combination of a fumble recovery touchdown and two offensive scoring drives. The US mounted a second-half comeback but Japan’s offense answered every score, including two additional touchdowns from running back Taisei Urushibara. The US head coach noted after the game that Japan had won at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, crediting the result directly to Japan’s preparation across months of structured practice compared to the US team’s limited time together. Japan went on to face Canada in the gold medal game, where Canada won 20-9 to claim an unprecedented third consecutive championship. The USA-Japan result generated significant attention on social media given the pe...