Konami has revealed the latest big crossover event for eFootball, bringing beloved characters from beloved anime Naruto to the sports juggernaut. It’s also released a trailer to celebrate, which any and all football fans absolutely must watch.
This trailer introduces a selection of famous footballers who will be getting new Naruto-themed player variants, celebrations, and more. This means that many of these professional footballers are dressed up and posing like Naruto characters. You can find it below.
Before diving in, I’m calling a truce. There’s nothing wrong with Naruto, it’s one of the most popular anime of all time. It’s one thing for world-famous footballers to pretend to throw a Rasengan for money, and another for you at home. No shame, let’s put our shuriken away.
With that established, let’s get into what exactly is going on here. Neymar Jr, having potentially found his way out of the 2026 World Cup due to fitness concerns, has instead found himself dressed up as Naruto, orange jumpsuit and all. The trailer goes on to show him kicking a ball so hard it turns into a Rasen-Shuriken, something he should probably let Brazil national coach Carlo Ancelotti know he’s capable of.
Takefusa Kubo, the Japanese right winger is present, too. Apparently being dubbed “Japanese Messi” by fans due to technical ability, it should come as no surprise Kubo possesses the Sharingan Dojutsu.
You could do this all day, but allow me to pour one out for 40-year-old Luka Modric. You can see him below dressed as Itachi Uchiha, wearing a bad-boy Atatsuki coat and defaced headband, pulling hand signs and showing off his own glowing eyes.
Other players present in this trailer, and their anime counterparts, are as follows:
- Robert Lewandowski – Kakashi Hatake
- Martin Odegaard – Shikamaru Nara
- Rafael Leao – Deidara
- Alexis Saelemaekers – Pain
- Christian Pulisic – Tobi
The response to this trailer has been mixed, as you may have imagined. Some are genuinely excited for the crossover – which, to be fair, appears to be genuinely cool if you’re a fan of Naruto. Multiple comments on the official Konami YouTube channel have declared it “absolute cinema”, whereas others have come away with less positive opinions.
“Bills cannot be this high” wrote user zen-audios in the YouTube comments, while DiegoJuarez-p2f commented: “Instead of qualifying Lewandoski does this and Neymar chose this instead of the World Cup”. Josharper simply wrote: “[eFootball] did them all dirty,” adding two crying laughing emojis for emphasis.
If this trailer has managed to win you over, the limited time eFootball x Naruto event is running from today up until the 14th May. So hop in and check it out if this is giving you chills, rather than second hand embarrassment.
