Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions was originally going to be localized for just Latin America

When Bandai Namco started work on Captain Tsubasa: Rise of New Champions, they had plans to release it in two regions. The game would get a release in Japan, and then a localization for Latin America. The move for Latin America was due to soccer's immense popularity in the region. What made Bandai Namco decide to expand the game's reach to North America? Bandai Namco director of brand marketing Dennis Lee explained in an interview with USGamer.

"When we evaluated the game, we realized that it was a really fun game. So even if they don't know Tsubasa and the characters, soccer fans and fans of arcade-style sports games can have a really good time playing it. Because of that, we decided that we couldn't just release it in Latin America."