The 2023 Emperor's Cup final was an association football match between Kawasaki Frontale and Kashiwa Reysol on 9 December 2023 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo. It was the 103rd edition of the Emperor's Cup, organised by the Japan Football Association (JFA). Kawasaki Frontale were playing in their third Emperor's Cup final, following being champions in 2020 and runners-up in 2016. Kashiwa Reysol were also playing in their third Emperor's Cup final since they lifted the trophy in 2012 and were runners-up in 2008.
Hiroyuki Kimura was the referee for the match, which was played in front of 62,637 spectators. In an evenly fought contest where resolute defending prevailed, the match ended 0–0 in normal time and the deadlock was still not broken in 30 minutes of extra time. Kawasaki Frontale ended-up winning the subsequent penalty shoot-out 8–7, with Kawasaki goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong scoring his teams final spot-kick and going on to save the penalty of Kashiwa goalkeeper Kenta Matsumoto.
As winners, Kawasaki Frontale automatically qualified for the group stage of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League.
Teams Team League Previous finals appearances (bold indicates winners) Kawasaki Frontale J1 League 2 (2016, 2020) Kashiwa Reysol J1 League 6 (1963, 1972, 1973, 1975, 2008, 2012)
Route to the final The tournament consisted of 88 teams in a knockout format. The first round contained 48 teams made up of 47 prefectural cup winners and one amateur team (Honda FC). The second round then introduced the 18 J1 League clubs and the 22 J2 League clubs. At this round, both of the finalists entered the tournament.
Kawasaki Frontale RoundKashiwa Reysol Opponent Result 2023 Emperor's Cup Opponent ResultByeFirst roundBye Tochigi City FC (KSL)3–1Second round Yamanashi Gakuin Pegasus7–1 Mito HollyHock (J2)2–1Third round Tokushima Vortis (J2)2–0 Kochi United SC (JFL)1–0Round of 16 Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (J1)1–0 Albirex Niigata (J1)2–2 (4–3p)Quarter-finals Nagoya Grampus (J1)2–0 Avispa Fukuoka (J1)4–2Semi-finals Roasso Kumamoto (J2)4–0
Match Details
GK 1 Jung Sung-ryongDF 13 Miki YamaneDF 3 Takuma Ominami DF 31 Kazuya YamamuraDF 2 Kyohei NoborizatoMF 8 Kento Tachibanada (c)MF 14 Yasuto Wakizaka MF 16 Tatsuki Seko FW 41 Akihiro IenagaFW 33 Taisei Miyashiro FW 9 Leandro Damião Substitutes:GK 99 Naoto KamifukumotoDF 4 Jesiel MF 6 João Schmidt MF 30 Yusuke Segawa FW 17 Daiya Tono FW 18 Bafétimbi Gomis FW 11 Yu Kobayashi Manager: Toru Oniki GK 46 Kenta MatsumotoDF 16 Eiichi KatayamaDF 50 Yugo TatsutaDF 4 Taiyo Koga (c)DF 34 Takumi Tsuchiya MF 5 Tomoki Takamine MF 6 Keiya Shiihashi MF 14 Tomoya Koyamatsu FW 10 Matheus SávioFW 11 Kota Yamada FW 19 Mao HosoyaSubstitutes:GK 21 Masato SasakiDF 2 Hiromu MitsumaruDF 24 Naoki Kawaguchi MF 41 Keiya Sento MF 28 Sachiro Toshima FW 45 Ota Yamamoto FW 9 Yuki Muto Manager: Masami Ihara Assistant referees: Jun Mihara Kota Watanabe Fourth official: Akihiko Ikeuchi Video assistant referee: Jumpei Iida Assistant video assistant referee: Takumi TakagiMatch 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 +Overall Statistic Kawasaki Frontale Kashiwa ReysolGoals scored 0 0Total shots 7 22Shots on target 4 13Saves 13 4Corner kicks 2 8Possession 53% 47%Yellow cards 1 1Red cards 0 0
References
External links Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd Japan Football Championship 天皇杯 JFA 第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会