SAN DIEGO FC just made CAPTAIN TSUBASA real — sort of

San Diego FC is doing something no other MLS club has done: teaming up with VIZ Media to celebrate Captain Tsubasa, written and illustrated by Yōichi Takahashi, the manga about a FIFA player that convinced an entire generation soccer balls could defy physics.

The partnership lands on September 16, 2026, when SDFC takes on Club Tijuana in the 2026 Baja Cup, a match that now doubles as a Tsubasa tribute, scarf included. Fans can grab a Captain Tsubasa Ticket Package: one match ticket plus a limited-edition scarf, because nothing says “I read this manga in middle school and it changed my relationship to ambition” like wearable merch. Packages are up now at SanDiegoFC.com/Tsubasa, with more matchday details promised later.

For anyone who didn’t grow up on it: Captain Tsubasa has been shaping how the world watches soccer since the early ’80s, turning kids across multiple continents into either strikers or hopeless romantics about the sport (often both). SDFC leaning into that legacy — in just its second season of existence — says a lot about where the club wants to plant its flag culturally, not just competitively.

SDFC is MLS’s 30th club, playing out of Snapdragon Stadium. Ownership includes Sir Mohamed Mansour and the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation — the first Native tribe with major ownership stake in a men’s pro sports team in the U.S. Investors span Manny Machado, Juan Mata, Issa Rae, and Tems, and the club sits under the Right to Dream youth academy umbrella.