2023 Emperor's Cup

2023 Emperor's Cup final atJapan National Stadium
Tournament details
Country	Japan
Dates	20 May – 9 December
Teams	88
Final positions
Champions	Kawasaki Frontale(2nd title)
Runners-up	Kashiwa Reysol
Champions League Elite	Kawasaki Frontale
Tournament statistics
Matches played	87
Goals scored	286 (3.29 per match)
Attendance	344,191 (3,956 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Hidetaka Maie Akito Suzuki (5 goals)
← 2022 2024 →

The2023Emperor's Cup (Emperor's Cup JFA 103rd Japan Football Championship (Japanese: 天皇杯 JFA 第103回全日本サッカー選手権大会)) was the 103rd edition of the annually contested cup, starting on 20 May. The format for 2023 did not present any changes from theprevious edition. It featured 88 teams representing theprefectural football associations,J1 League,J2 League andJapan Football League.JFL'sHonda FC was once again chosen to be the annually specially designated amateur club.^[1]

Ventforet Kofu were the defending champions, after acinderella story for the J2 club saw them qualify for the final, which they won onpenalties againstSanfrecce Hiroshima, after a 1–1 draw in regulation time, but were eliminated byVissel Kobe in the round of 16.^[2]

As only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify directly for the first round, teams from outside of it who want to qualify to the Emperor's Cup (exception being made to the JFA-seeded team), had to, as usual, undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulations and schedules varying from one association to another. In total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the winners of each prefectural cup having earned their right to play in the Emperor's Cup, with all of them assigned to start the competition in the first round.^[3]

All 18 teams playing in the2023 J1 League entered in the second round.

All 22 teams playing in the2023 J2 League entered in the second round.

One team selected from theJapan Football League. It entered in the first round.

All the 47 prefectural tournaments winners. They all entered in the first round.^[12]

• Note: In the sections below, club tiers (league levels) are presented as follows:
  • National:(1):J1 League;(2):J2 League;(3):J3 League;(4):Japan Football League
  • Regional (senior):(5):Regional Leagues 1st Divs.;(6): Regional Leagues 2nd Divs.
  • Prefectural (senior):(7): Prefectural Leagues 1st Divs.
  • Regional (university):(UL): University Regional Leagues
  • Others(?): Below the cited club tiers, unknown or not affiliated with any league.

The schedule from the first round to the quarter-finals was announced on 20 December 2022.^[13] The semi-finals and the final did not have its dates released by theJapan Football Association, as uncertainties around the schedule of the2023 AFC Asian Cup left doubts about possible reschedule of one or more rounds of the Emperor's Cup. The decision was also made to avoid schedule conflict for teams whose squads would have one or more players participating in the competition.^[14]

The match pairings was decided on 22 March 2023. Except forHonda FC, who was granted a bye from prefectural qualifications due to their "amateur designated team" status, no other club had yet qualified to the tournament when the draw was conducted.^[15]

All the 2023 J1 and J2 League clubs enter the competition in this round. Most of these professional clubs hosted their matches in their own prefecture. However, as the number of teams from these leagues combined does not match the amount of host teams required, some of these teams had to play their matches away from home. These specific away teams either finished between the 15th to 20th place onlast season's J2 or got promoted from the J3 League for the 2023 season, and played their ties against teams that finished between the 7th and 14th place on last season's J2.^[16]

Kochi United (4) v(1)Yokohama FC

12 JulyMatch 66	Kochi United (4)	1–0	(1)Yokohama FC	Kochi
19:00JST	Takano 56'	Report Report		Stadium:Kochi Haruno Athletic Stadium Attendance: 3,041 Referee: Koji Takasaki