The 2023 J.League Cup final was an association football match between Avispa Fukuoka and Urawa Red Diamonds on 4 November 2023 at Japan National Stadium. It was the 31st edition J.League Cup, organised by the J.League. Avispa Fukuoka were appearing in their first J.League Cup final, after making it as far as the semi-final in 2022. Urawa Red Diamonds were playing in their seventh J.League Cup final, previously winning the competition in both 2003 and 2016.
Futoshi Nakamura was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 61,683 spectators. Avispa took an early lead after just five minutes, with Hiroyuki Mae turning in Kazuya Konno's cross from the right-hand side. Avispa doubled their lead just before half-time, with Daiki Miya scoring from a low across into the box. In the second half, Avispa earned a penalty but this was saved by Shusaku Nishikawa and kept Urawa in the match. The Reds finally made a breakthrough in the 67th minute through Takahiro Akimoto, but it was to be no more than consolation as Avispa hung on to the lead until the final whistle, claiming their first major title in the club's history.
Teams Team League Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) Avispa Fukuoka J1 League 0 Urawa Red Diamonds J1 League 6 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2011, 2013, 2016)
Route to the final The tournament consisted of all 18 J1 League teams as well as the top two relegated teams from the 2022 season, beginning with a home-and-away round-robin group stage consisting of five groups of four teams. Each group winners and the three best-placed runners-up qualified to the quarter-finals.
Avispa FukuokaRoundUrawa Red DiamondsOpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult Albirex Niigata1–0 (H)Matchday 1 Shonan Bellmare0–0 (A)Kashiwa Reysol3–3 (H)Matchday 2Shimizu S-Pulse1–1 (H)Kashima Antlers1–0 (A)Matchday 3Kawasaki Frontale0–0 (A)Kashima Antlers2–1 (H)Matchday 4Shonan Bellmare1–1 (H)Albirex Niigata1–2 (A)Matchday 5Kawasaki Frontale2–1 (H)Kashiwa Reysol0–1 (A)Matchday 6Shimizu S-Pulse1–1 (A)Group D winnersFinal standingsGroup B winnersOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legKnockout stageOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legFC Tokyo2–11–0 (A)2–0 (H)Quarter-finalsGamba Osaka4–00–1 (A)3–0 (H)Nagoya Grampus2–0 1–0 (H)0–1 (A)Semi-finalsYokohama F. Marinos2–11–0 (A)2–0 (H)
Pre-match Venue selection The final was hosted at National Stadium, the second consecutive year the final was played at the newly constructed stadium.
Analysis The final was Avispa's first, their previous best being the exit at the semi-final stage of the competition in the previous year. Urawa were also knocked out at the semi-final stage of the 2022 J.League Cup and last won it in 2016. In their only previous encounter in the 2023 season, the two teams played out a 0–0 draw in May. This match was Urawa's second final of the season, after winning the AFC Champions League in April.
Both teams would be relying on their defences, with Urawa only conceding 5 goals in their 10 J.League Cup games and Avispa conceding 7.
The last three meetings between the teams had ended in draws, and Avispa had only beaten Urawa once in their history.
Before the match, Urawa manager Maciej Skorża highlighted Fukuoka's counter-attacking ability as a reason the game will be difficult, calling them a "well-organised team".
Fukuoka captain Tatsuki Nara said it would be a special match for the club and that it will be important to not get caught up in the atmosphere.
Match Avispa Fukuoka lined up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, staying with Takumi Nagaishi in goal as they had done for all of their cup games this season. Top-scorer Yuya Yamagishi started up front, just in front of Kazuya Konno and the Avispa's player with the most minutes played this season, Hiroyuki Mae. Semi-final goalscorer Wellington could only make the bench. Tatsuki Nara captained the side.
Urawa Reds started with their AFC Champions League winning centre-back pairing of Alexander Scholz and Marius Høibråten. Scholz also scored two penalties in the semi-final against Yokohama F. Marinos. They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with newly crowned J.League Cup "New Hero" Jumpei Hayakawa starting just behind top-scorer José Kanté. Atsuki Ito returned to the starting XI, after he missed the semi-final games due to representing the Japan national football team.
First half Avispa started the game strongly and took the lead after five minutes. Kazuya Konno's cross across the box from the right-hand side found Hiroyuki Mae at the back post to score with a close-range finish. Taking the early lead, Avispa settled into a defensive block and didn't allow Urawa to create any chances, despite the Reds dominating possession. A long-range effort in the 35th minute by Ken Iwao was their first real attempt on goal. Towards the end of the half, Avispa began to create some chances, with Daiki Miya getting two strong headers on target. Right on the stroke of half-time, Avispa doubled their lead through Miya who turned in another Konno low cross – this time from the left – past a helpless Shusaku Nishikawa.
Second half Avispa again started the half sharply and should have increased their lead further after Douglas Grolli was brought down by Urawa defender Marius Høibråten inside the box. However, Yuya Yamagishi's 58th-minute penalty was a poor effort and it was easily saved by Nishikawa. Urawa could have then had a penalty of their own, after Atsuki Ito was brought down in the box by Yota Maejima, but the referee waved play on. Avispa were content to try and defend tightly for the rest of the match, but after Urawa made some substitutions at the hour mark they began to create more chances. Only six minutes after coming off the bench, Takahiro Akimoto pulled one back for the Reds. Captain Hiroki Sakai launched a deep cross field pass from the right-hand side which Akimoto expertly controlled with his chest whilst holding off Masato Yuzawa and drilled a low, left-footed finish past Nagaishi. After Konno was stretched off in the 72nd minute, Urawa continued to pile pressure onto Avispa, with José Kanté's shot from outside the box drawing a diving save from Nagaishi and Douglas Grolli blocking Bryan Linssen from point-blank range. There were to be eight minutes of added time and Urawa were almost able to equalise through Kanté, whose 95th-minute shot from 20 yards beat the keeper but clipped the left post and went out, as Avsipa hung on to secure a historic win.
Details
GK 1 Takumi Nagaishi CB 33 Douglas Grolli CB 3 Tatsuki Nara (c)CB 5 Daiki Miya RM 2 Masato Yuzawa CM 99 Yosuke IdeguchiCM 44 Kimiya Moriyama LM 29 Yota MaejimaAM 8 Kazuya Konno AM 6 Hiroyuki MaeCF 11 Yuya Yamagishi Substitutes:GK 31 Masaaki MurakamiDF 16 Itsuki Oda DF 37 Masaya Tashiro MF 7 Takeshi Kanamori MF 17 Shun Nakamura FW 18 Wellington FW 28 Reiju TsurunoManager: Shigetoshi Hasebe GK 1 Shūsaku NishikawaRB 2 Hiroki Sakai (c)CB 28 Alexander Scholz CB 5 Marius HøibråtenLB 26 Takuya Ogiwara CM 3 Atsuki Ito CM 19 Ken Iwao RW 18 Toshiki Takahashi AM 35 Junpei Hayakawa LM 8 Yoshio Koizumi CF 11 José KantéSubstitutes:GK 16 Ayumi NiekawaDF 4 Takuya IwanamiMF 15 Takahiro Akimoto MF 21 Tomoaki Ōkubo MF 25 Kaito Yasui MF 27 Ekanit Panya FW 9 Bryan Linssen Manager: Maciej Skorża Assistant referees: Isao Nishihashi Osamu Nomura Fourth official: Koichiro Fukushima Video assistant referee: Hiroki Kasahara Assistant video assistant referee: Yosuke TakebeMatch rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions.
Statistics StatisticAvispa FukuokaUrawa Red DiamondsGoals scored 2 1Total shots 8 8Corner kicks 5 4Freekicks 12 13Yellow cards 3 2Red cards 0 0
Post-match By winning the match, Avispa Fukuoka won their first piece of silverware in the club's history, in their first finals appearance. They became the third consecutive new winners of the tournament, following Nagoya Grampus in 2021 and Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 2022. Shigetoshi Hasebe, the winning coach, said "I think we were on the cusp of becoming a team that wouldn't win a title for many years, but today we won. Because of that, history has changed. I think the club has changed in direction and is aiming for the top". His opposite number, Maciej Skorża called the start of the game for his team "terrible". He said "The fact that we conceded a goal in the first five minutes of the final match means that something went wrong in our mental preparation before the match. After conceding a goal, we tried to keep the ball better and change the momentum, but we became nervous."
Avispa captain Tatsuki Nara said "We weren't good or brilliant. However, everyone put their hearts into it and fought like an Avispa until the very end. I'm happy to have won." Urawa captain Hiroki Sakai said "I feel nothing but frustration."
The monetary reward to Avispa Fukuoka for winning the trophy was ¥150,000,000, with runners-up Urawa Red Diamonds awarded ¥50,000,000.
For his performance and goal in the final, Hiroyuki Mae was awarded the MVP award and received a prize of ¥1,000,000.
References
External links 2023JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ