2023 Emperor's Cup final

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.

2023 Emperor's Cup Final

2023年天皇杯決勝 (in Japanese)
2023 Emperor's Cup final at Japan National Stadium
Event	2023 Emperor's Cup
Kawasaki Frontale Kashiwa Reysol J1 League J1 League 0 0
After extra time Kawasaki Frontale won 8–7 on penalties
Date	9 December 2023
Venue	Japan National Stadium, Tokyo
Referee	Hiroyuki Kimura
Attendance	62,637
Weather	Sunny, 17 °C (63 °F)
← 2022 2024 →

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.^[1]

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).^[2] 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.

Further information: 2023 Emperor's Cup

Kawasaki Frontale		Round	Kashiwa Reysol
Opponent	Result	2023 Emperor's Cup	Opponent	Result
Bye		First round	Bye
Tochigi City FC (KSL)	3–1	Second round	Yamanashi Gakuin Pegasus	7–1
Mito HollyHock (J2)	2–1	Third round	Tokushima Vortis (J2)	2–0
Kochi United SC (JFL)	1–0	Round 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)	4–2	Semi-finals	Roasso Kumamoto (J2)	4–0

Match

Details

9 December 2023

14:03 JST

Kawasaki Frontale	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Kashiwa Reysol
	Report
Penalties
Ienaga Segawa Yamamura Tachibanada Gomis Noborizato Tono Yamane João Schmidt Jung Sung-ryong	8–7	Matheus Sávio Hosoya Toshima Sento Muto Katayama Yamamoto Kawaguchi Tatsuta Matsumoto

Japan National Stadium, Tokyo

Attendance: 62,637

Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura

GK 1 Jung Sung-ryong DF 13 Miki Yamane DF 3 Takuma Ominami  87' DF 31 Kazuya Yamamura DF 2 Kyohei Noborizato MF 8 Kento Tachibanada (c) MF 14 Yasuto Wakizaka  55'  87' MF 16 Tatsuki Seko  64' FW 41 Akihiro Ienaga FW 33 Taisei Miyashiro  64' FW 9 Leandro Damião  77' Substitutes: GK 99 Naoto Kamifukumoto DF 4 Jesiel  87' MF 6 João Schmidt  87' MF 30 Yusuke Segawa  64' FW 17 Daiya Tono  64' FW 18 Bafétimbi Gomis  106' FW 11 Yu Kobayashi  106'  77' Manager: Toru Oniki

GK 46 Kenta Matsumoto DF 16 Eiichi Katayama DF 50 Yugo Tatsuta DF 4 Taiyo Koga (c) DF 34 Takumi Tsuchiya  90+3' MF 5 Tomoki Takamine  53'  90+3' MF 6 Keiya Shiihashi  104' MF 14 Tomoya Koyamatsu  77' FW 10 Matheus Sávio FW 11 Kota Yamada  77' FW 19 Mao Hosoya Substitutes: GK 21 Masato Sasaki DF 2 Hiromu Mitsumaru DF 24 Naoki Kawaguchi  90+3' MF 41 Keiya Sento  90+3' MF 28 Sachiro Toshima  77' FW 45 Ota Yamamoto  77' FW 9 Yuki Muto  104' Manager: Masami Ihara

Assistant referees: Jun Mihara Kota Watanabe Fourth official: Akihiko Ikeuchi Video assistant referee: Jumpei Iida Assistant video assistant referee: Takumi Takagi

Match 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^[3]

Statistic	Kawasaki Frontale	Kashiwa Reysol
Goals scored	0	0
Total shots	7	22
Shots on target	4	13
Saves	13	4
Corner kicks	2	8
Possession	53%	47%
Yellow cards	1	1
Red cards	0	0