The Samurai Blue of Japan were eliminated from World Cup play on Monday. But the crushing defeat by Belgium didn't stop the Japanese national team from cleaning their locker room until it was spotless, and leaving behind a note thanking Russia for hosting them.

A tweet from sports correspondent Tancredi Palmeri showing Japan's immaculate locker room and a one-word thank you note has gone viral, with more than 12,000 likes and 6,000 retweets as of Tuesday morning. Palmeri noted that the photo was uploaded by a delegate from FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup.

"Amazing from Japan," Palmeri tweeted. "This is how they left the changing room after losing v Belgium: cleaned it all. And in the middle, have left a message to Russia: "Spasibo" (Thank you)"

Amazing from Japan.

This is how they left the changing room after losing v Belgium: cleaned it all.

And in the middle, have left a message to Russia: “Spasibo” (Thank you) pic.twitter.com/lrwoIZt2pR — Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) July 3, 2018

Japan's fans have been praised for staying after every game of the tournament, even Monday's heartbreaking loss, and cleaning up the stadium.

Even after losing, Japan fans still stayed behind to clean up the stands 👏 pic.twitter.com/Q5t9akokKy — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 2, 2018

Respect 🇯🇵



Japan fans clean up Volgograd Stadium after their loss to #POL



[🎥 IG: Thomas_mandl] #JPN pic.twitter.com/oQ97u8jT0M — COPA90 US (@COPA90US) June 28, 2018

Twitter applauded the team and fans' attitudes.

Wrote one Twitter user, "I love this! I'm not just appreciating the fact that they cleaned, but the fact that they stayed true to their values despite the disappointing situation they had just faced. I'm forced to ask myself, do I still upload my values even when I'm going through my worst moments?"

Another called Japan an "amazing team" and praised the Japanese for bringing "a breath of fresh air" to the tournament.

I love this! ❤️

I’m not just appreciating the fact that they cleaned, but the fact that they stayed true to their values despite the disappointing situation they had just faced. I’m forced to ask myself, do I still upload my values even when I’m going through my worst moments? — Ibukun O. (@IbukunOg) July 3, 2018

Amazing team! Obviously amazing people. Japan all ways bring a breath of fresh air to the world cup — rhys platt (@rhys2k1) July 3, 2018

Thanks to #Japan for making Asia proud.

Better luck next time, Congrats to Belgium.



Belgium won the match, Japan won our hearts.



Love from 🇮🇳 — kiran krishnan (@kirankris) July 2, 2018

Some other teams' fans were also noted for cleaning the stadiums after World Cup games, including Tunisia and Senegal. This was especially noticeable when Senegal and Japan played each other on June 24, and both sets of fans set to busily cleaning the stadium after the teams played to a 2-2 draw.

Japan and Senegal fans are cleaning up the World Cup...literally 👏 pic.twitter.com/mASdYTzv7R — B/R Football (@brfootball) June 25, 2018

#TyCSportsMundial Senegal consiguió un triunfo histórico. Pero sus hinchas en lugar de festejar a minutos de terminado el partido, se encargan de limpiar su sector antes de retirarse. #RESPECT. pic.twitter.com/RiKovpfmoT — TyC Sports (@TyCSports) June 19, 2018

Interesting fact: If Japan and Senegal had received equal numbers of yellow cards and were therefore equally nice, qualification for the next round would have been decided based on how good their respective fans were at cleaning up the stadiums after them. — Ian (F) Martin (@ianfmartin) June 28, 2018

Instead of us saying "If only there were more Japanese/Senegal people in the world", we should learn from them and implement it in our system. If we can clean up our mess everytime, the world would then be a cleaner place to live in. — Harsh (@HarshBiyani_) July 3, 2018

Even FIFA's official World Cup account highlighted the Japanese contribution to the tournament in a tweet after the team's elimination. "Thank you for contributing so much to a #WorldCup classic and for everything you've added to Russia 2018, Japan," the tweet read.

Elation for Belgium, but utter heartbreak for #JPN



Thank you for contributing so much to a #WorldCup classic and for everything you've added to Russia 2018, Japan. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/rtd3xUrEyj — FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) July 2, 2018

The World Cup continues without Japan on Wednesday, as Sweden knocked out Switzerland and England and Colombia prepared to play.

World Cup 2018: Find out how to watch, learn some trivia and more.

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