Japanese football star Ritsu Doan has had fans on the internet talking about his appearance ahead of the team’s World Cup 2026 opener against the Netherlands. Prolific winger and team captain, Doan was photographed sporting a custom metal chain, with his name spelled out in block letters, during his team’s arrival at Dallas. The match, which took place on the 14th of June, ended in a hard-fought draw, with both sides scoring 2 goals each.
Ritsu Doan’s custom chain is ice cold. pic.twitter.com/Fmi7MF0SB1
— VERSUS (@vsrsus) June 13, 2026
Ritsu Doan is undoubtedly one of the stars to look forward to in the Japanese team this summer, and his appearance and fashion sense will also be a matter of great scrutiny after he brought out the ice cold metal chain. The Eintracht Frankfurt winger had an impressive run in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season, scoring 5 goals and assisting 5 more in 31 matches.
Born in 1998 in the industrial city of Amagasaki in Hyogo, Ritsu followed his older brothers to football training, and immediately showed a prowess that not many possess. Having originally played as a midfielder, he made a switch to the winger position early in his career, and this worked in his favor. He was selected into the Gamba Osaka junior youth team, and then eventually got the promotion to the senior team in 2015. At the time, Doan became the youngest player in Gambia Osaka history to play in the J1 League, at just 16 years and 11 months. He has then gone on to play in the Bundesliga, currently playing in Frankfurt, and he has been impressive for the Japan international team as well, having scored against both Germany and Spain in the 2022 World Cup.
Experience in Europe followed, as he moved to Groningen in the Dutch League in 2017, and then switched to PSV Eindhoven in 2019. He made full use of the global recognition that he was getting, and moved to Germany with SC Freiburg in 2022. In the summer of 2025, Eintracht Frankfurt paid about 21 million euros to add them to their roster.
Doan has been a regular performer in every league that he has played in, having scored 16 times for Groningen and 13 times for PSV Eindhoven. In Germany, he scored 26 times for Freiburg and now has 7 goals for Frankfurt in all competitions. Ritsu Doan made his way into the Japanese under-20 team in the 2017 U-20 World Cup, where he scored three goals. He finally got his first international call-up in 2018, and has become an integral part of the team since then, having scored 11 times. His two goals in the 2022 World Cup were both extremely crucial to his nation, as they gave Japan famous victories over Germany and Spain.
Coming to his flashy appearance, Ritsu Doan hails from the whereabouts of Nishinari, which was historically the slum ward of Osaka, where the hip-hop culture from the USA has had an impact since a long time. Fans on the internet have compared Nishinari to the 3000 Viviendas slum neighborhood in Seville, as well as the Raval neighborhood in Barcelona. While Nishinari is considered to be one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Japan, it also has a vibrant culture, which involves flashy clothes, jewelries and music. Off the field, Doan looks to be representing this culture, in similar vein to many footballers in the current era.
Doan is also a self-proclaimed fan of hip-hop music and culture, with him having earlier mentioned how Japanese rapper AK-69 is one of his absolute favorites. Back in 2022, AK-69 released his song, “Noise wo Koeru”, which translates to “Defy the Noise”, based on the life and accolades of Ritsu Doan. It is evident that his affinity for hip-hop culture has had a significant impact on his fashion sense as well.
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