Warning: Contains spoilers for Blue Lock chapter #298.With the conclusion of Blue Lock’s Neo-Egoist League arc, the manga’s next major arc should be the U-20 World Cup. Now that the Neo-Egoist League is finished, the top 23 players who will make up the team have been finalized, and whatever’s done to further their growth as world-class players will be great to watch.

Blue Lock’s U-20 World Cup will be great to watch play out, but it won’t go how most people probably expected it to. With only 23 players being drafted into the new U-20 team, many people got cut, some even being fan favorites, but in a surprise twist, one of Blue Lock’s biggest and all-around best characters officially won’t be making the cut for the U-20 World Cup. Calling it a shocking development would be an understatement, but even so, it’s exactly the direction the manga needed to go in.

Why Nagi Just Became Blue Lock's Biggest Loser

Nagi's Fall From Grace In Blue Lock Explained

Following the end of Bastard Munchen vs. PXG, the Neo-Egoist League arc concluded with a rundown of its final match: Manshine City vs. Barcha. With Nagi and Reo’s bids having fallen dangerously low, it was their last chance to leave a good impression and secure their spots on the U-20 team, so they focused on providing assists whenever possible while still looking for chances to score goals. Eventually, the score was tied 2-2 with Reo having scored one goal, and Nagi decided to stop relying on Reo so he could score the final goal on his own.

Nagi’s newfound ego quickly put him in goal range, but Eiya Otoya got in his way before he could take his shot. Nagi still had a slim chance of making the goal, but in his panic, he ed the ball to Reo and gave up on going alone, with his egoist aura even crumbling in the background. That was the wrong move, however, as Bachira intercepted Nagi’s and took the ball down the field to win the game for Barcha, resulting in Nagi ending the Neo-Egoist League in 24th place, just past the cutoff for the U-20 World Cup.

Blue Lock Needed To Make Nagi Lose For The Sake Of The Story

Why Nagi Failing In Blue Lock Is A Good Thing

Ultimately, Nagi not making the cut for the U-20 World Cup was the best decision for his character. Nagi has always been someone without a clear sense of ego outside of a few key moments, and after Manshine City’s loss to Bastard Munchen, he was showing poorer and poorer performances as he was gradually losing the leniency his natural talent provided for him. Nagi not making the cut for the U-20 is the natural result of his lack of ego in Blue Lock, and it finally puts him in a position where he’s forced to truly change.

That idea works especially well with how Nagi’s situation parallels Blue Lock’s protagonist, Isagi. Nagi failed because he took the safe option of ing to Reo instead of going for the goal, much like how Isagi’s high school team lost because Isagi ed to someone instead of taking the shot himself. That, of course, was the driving force behind Isagi’s growth, and as such, it can be assumed that Nagi’s failure in the Neo-Egoist League will push him forward because it was the same failure Isagi suffered before coming to Blue Lock.

Is Blue Lock Getting Rid Of One Of Its Main Characters?

Would Blue Lock Really Get Rid Of Nagi?

Despite his failure, the Blue Lock manga is unlikely to get rid of Nagi anytime soon, but that begs the question of how he’ll stick around the story. While Nagi didn’t make the cut for the U-20 team, he just barely missed it by placing 24th, so Blue Lock could keep Nagi around by having him the U-20 team when someone above him drops out of the competition. How or why that would happen is unknown, but it would be an easy way to keep Nagi involved in the story, ideally after some major growth on his part.

There’s also the possibility of Nagi abandoning Blue Lock, altogether. The Neo-Egoist League gave players the chance to any team that was bidding on them, with Isagi and Yukimiya being directly offered to certain teams at different points, so with that in mind, Nagi could leave Blue Lock to an international team, even though it would inevitably put him in conflict with Blue Lock for the U-20 World Cup. Whatever the case, there are plenty of opportunities for Nagi’s growth, despite his massive loss, and Blue Lock will be all the better for it.