Players from football club Kyoto Sanga will wear Pikmin on their 2026 kits –

Decades ago, Nintendo used to sponsor some European teams, like Fiorentina with the Nintendo logo and Sevilla with the Super Nintendo logo in the 1990s. Nintendo has since stopped sponsoring football teams, with one exception: their own Japanese club.

Kyoto Sanga FC, one of Japan’s best football clubs at the moment, has revealed the new kits for the 2026 season, that feature Pikmin characters in the back. The club is based in Kyoto, same city where the Nintendo headquarters are, and Nintendo owns 16.6% of the club, and that’s why they will carry the subtle Nintendo branding on their kits.

Even though Kyoto Sanga was founded in 1922, one of the few independent football clubs, they professionalized in 1933, thanks to funding by several companies, including Nintendo. They have since played between first and second division, but in the 2025 season they had their best season ever, ending third in the J1 league.

The Japanese league will change to a new calendar format, with seasons running from autumn to spring, instead of running in the calendar year (the same decision the North American MLS took this year, to better align with the calendars of the European league and their transfer markets). As a result, the clubs will play in a shorter tournament between February and June 2026, known as the 2026 J1 100 Year Vision League, and Kyoto Sanga will wear those shirts during that tournament.