One Piece Rallies Behind Japan’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Squad With a Surprise Collaboration

Japan just landed stateside for the World Cup and, yes, they showed up in matching cowboy hats. Fun photo op. But the accessory everyone will remember this summer is a different hat entirely.

Cowboy hats on the tarmac, swagger on the field

As the Samurai Blue touched down in the U.S., the coordinated cowboy look did the rounds on social. It read as a light wink at the stage they are stepping onto and a sign of a squad that knows exactly how good it is. Japan rolled through qualifying and heads into 2026 as one of Asia's top threats.

One Piece passes the torch (and the hat)

Right on cue, one of Japan's biggest pop-culture exports has jumped in. One Piece and the Japan Football Association have launched a joint campaign with a straight-to-the-point title: a minute-long spot that cuts Eiichiro Oda's manga together with real match footage, all pushing the same idea — the thing everyone says you can't do won't happen until you chase it.

"To Our Highest Peak"

• The campaign's anchor is a 60-second crossover video splicing classic One Piece imagery with Japan's players chasing their own summit.
• The franchise unveiled a special blue Straw Hat modeled on Luffy's and presented it to the national team.
• A press release framed it as Luffy handing over the hat; outlets like Dexerto amplified the reveal on June 8, 2026.
• The whole thing leans into big-dream energy: becoming Pirate King sounds ridiculous until it doesn't — same goes for lifting the World Cup.

Why the blue Straw Hat actually matters

If you have even a passing familiarity with One Piece, you know Luffy's hat is not just cosplay. It stands for carrying someone else's ambition forward, staying loyal to your crew, eating the hits, and keeping your promise to climb higher no matter how unlikely it looks. Recolor it Samurai Blue and hand it to the national team, and you get a surprisingly sharp sports metaphor without anyone saying the quiet part out loud.

The crossover lands because One Piece still owns the room

Nearly three decades in, One Piece is still a juggernaut. The manga started in 1997 and has moved past 500 million copies in circulation worldwide, putting it among the best-selling comics ever. Most series do not hold the spotlight this long while pulling in new fans; this one does. So when it straps a hat on Japan's World Cup run, it doesn't feel like a random tie-in — it feels like a cultural handshake.

Cowboy hats were a cute arrival bit. The blue Straw Hat is the statement piece.