Captain Tsubasa

The story's central theme is football, narrating the intrepid adventures of Tsubasa Ōzora and his friends from childhood until they become professionals and join the Japanese national team. The plot also focuses on Tsubasa's relationship with his friends, his rivalry with opponents, training, competition, and the events in each of the matches played.

Tsubasa Ōzora is an 11-year-old elementary school student who loves playing football and dreams of one day winning the Football World Cup for Japan.

He lives with his mother in Japan, while his father is a ship captain who travels the world. Tsubasa is known as "The football child sent from heaven." When he was barely a year old, he was almost run over by a bus while playing with a ball. However, Tsubasa held the ball in front of him, which served as a buffer for most of the impact. The force of the blow sent him flying, but he was able to right himself with the ball. Hence Tsubasa's motto, "The ball is my friend."

At the beginning of the story, Tsubasa and his mother move to Nankatsu City, a fictional town in Shizuoka Prefecture known for its talented elementary school football teams, and where Tsubasa meets Ryo Ishizaki, a young football-loving student who often sneaks away from his mother's house and chores to play football. He meets Sanae Nakazawa (also known as Patty), an enthusiastic girl who also loves football and helps cheer on the Nankatsu elementary school team, and Genzo Wakabayashi, a highly talented young goalkeeper whom he soon challenges to a match at Nankatsu's annual sports festival. He also meets Roberto Hongo, one of the world's best Brazilian footballers who is a friend of Tsubasa's father and who begins living with Tsubasa and his mother so he can train Tsubasa. Roberto becomes Tsubasa's mentor and helps him harness his footballing abilities, convincing him to join Nankatsu Elementary School and its fledgling elementary school football team, which Roberto then coaches while passing on his techniques to Tsubasa.