Story Walkthrough: The New Stars Route Match by Match, Chapters 1–4

How the story is built

Bandai Namco’s Story Mode has four strands. The New Stars Route is the main road: your custom player joins Tsubasa on the way to the World Youth Championship. Side Stories show what happened behind the main episodes, and Link Scenarios are short scenes with rivals and teammates that hand you moves and potential. Rivals Episode tells the rivals’ own stories as friendly matches. After the New Stars Route come the Legendary and Advanced routes — original storylines “where the familiar powerhouses and new rivals take the stage”, in Bandai Namco’s words, with Germany’s Schneider reborn as the headline.

The achievement list confirms the shape: hidden trophies fire for winning the Brazilian championship, joining Team Japan, winning the Asia Youth Cup, and finishing each of the three routes. The achievements page has the unlock rates, which two days after launch read like a funnel — 60% of Steam players had won Brazil, 16% had cleared Asia, 6% had finished the route.

The matches, chapter by chapter

Bandai Namco names the opponents of the qualifying and world stages; the order, the scripted moments and the rewards below are Communityas recorded by Japanese players’ chapter walkthroughs on launch weekend. The knockout rounds are not documented yet; the Netherlands and Brazil, both named by Bandai Namco as world-stage opponents, are waiting there.

Prologue

An opening choice that changes nothing either way, then the creation screen for your New Star — name and looks can be changed later — and two tutorials: attacking as Tsubasa, defending against Pepe. The main menu opens after it, and so does the first achievement.

Chapter 1 — The Brazilian championship (São Paulo)

#	Opponent	What happens
1	La Boca Youth	A practice match against Diaz’s Argentine club
2	Porto Alegre Youth	Your first official cup; Salinas in goal is the problem; Tsubasa leaves the youth side after it
3	Rio de Janeiro	The national final, played with the senior team — your custom player is not on the pitch. Give Tsubasa the ball near the box and a scripted Flying Drive Shot goes in

Clearing Rio pays out an Overhead Shot card, a rank-B Super Shot card, and Tsubasa’s own Flying Drive Shot. Winning the title is the Brazil No.1 trophy.

Chapter 2 — The high-school tournament (Nankatsu High)

#	Opponent	What happens
1	Kunimi Institute	Your player joins Nankatsu; episode challenges start here
2	Akita Commercial	The Tachibana twins
3	Narugahama Academy	Hino — one challenge asks your player to outscore him
4	Toho Academy	The final; a Hyuga–Misaki cutscene triggers when Nankatsu scores in the second half
5	Real Japan 7	A revenge match after a scripted loss to them earlier in the chapter

Chapter 3 — The Asian qualifiers (Japan Youth)

Joining Team Japan is The Real Japan Youth trophy. The four opponents match Bandai Namco’s announced qualifying list.

#	Opponent	What happens
1	Stuttgart Youth	A friendly that starts at the 60th minute 1–4 down. You can lose it and the story continues — play it for the challenges
2	Uzbekistan	First qualifying round; too many challenges to clear in one match
3	Thailand	The Konsawatt brothers
4	Saudi Arabia	The Asia Youth Cup begins here. Start Nitta and Hyuga and meet the conditions for a scripted new move and two guaranteed goals
5	China	Take on the Tsubasa and Hyuga challenges: you concede automatically in the first half, then take it back in the second

Winning the Asia Youth Cup is Gateway to the Globe.

Chapter 4 — World Youth Championship, group stages

#	Opponent	What happens
1	Mexico	First group; one challenge wants your player to score with the Beginning Drive Shot; clearing it pays a rank-A Skylab Hurricane card
2	Uruguay	Hyuga learns a new Tiger Shot mid-match and scores it for you
3	Cameroon	Last of the first group; the challenge is a two-goal first-half lead
4	Sweden	Second group; another scripted Hyuga goal if he starts
5	Argentina	Final group match; a three-goal first-half lead and three Tsubasa goals are the challenges; the reward is the Argentina Twin Shot card

Chapter 5 — Knockout rounds

Not yet documented by any walkthrough. Bandai Namco’s world-stage list still owes you the Netherlands and Brazil. Finishing the route is Spread Your Wings and Soar the Skies Above.

Episode challenges, missions and what they pay

Every match after Kunimi carries episode challenges, opened from the episode screen. They are optional — winning is the only condition to advance — and many are written for a specific position, with alternatives: score as a forward, or make a tackle as a defender, or keep a clean sheet in goal. Expect to replay matches; several have more challenges than one game can hold.

Rewards come in three kinds: move cards (some character-locked, like Tsubasa’s Flying Drive Shot), potential stars for a named player, and Link Scenarios. Separate from challenges, missions pay play points — 3,500 for driving the chain to level 7 with shot moves, 1,500 for 75,000 damage to a keeper — and play points buy characters, movies and music in the shop.

Side Stories unlock after their main episode and are cutscenes, not matches; each pays 100 play points. Link Scenarios unlock when their condition is met and are where most of the custom player’s moves and potential come from — the custom player guide covers how to spend them.

After the New Stars Route

Finishing the route unlocks the Legendary and Advanced Routes, which reviewers describe as “what if” scenarios against the powerhouse nations. Each has its own completion trophy — Fated Rivals and Unsung Powerhouses — and they are where the last teams unlock: Unlocked all teams sits at the same rarity as the routes themselves. Rivals Episodes open along the way as you meet requirements in earlier episodes.

Length and difficulty

Reviewers put the New Stars Route between ten and twenty hours; the spread comes from how many challenges and side stories you take on the way. Difficulty is adjustable — players name Easy, Normal and Hard — and reviewers who settled on Normal found it “just challenging enough”. It changes how hard the CPU keeper and shots are, not which matches you play.

Walkthrough FAQ

Can I lose a story match?

Most must be won to continue. The Stuttgart friendly in chapter 3 is the documented exception.

Do I play as Japan the whole time?

No. Chapter 1 is São Paulo, chapter 2 is Nankatsu High, and from chapter 3 it is Japan Youth. Playing as other nations comes with the Rivals Episodes and the two later routes.

When do I unlock the other national teams?

Through the story; the last of them come with the Legendary and Advanced Routes. The unlock guide has what is known.

Are the side stories playable matches?

No. They are cutscenes that pay play points; the playable side content is the Rivals Episodes.