The 2024 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament (第103回全国高等学校サッカー選手権大会; All Japan JFA 103rd High School Soccer Tournament) marked the 103rd edition of the referred annually contested cup for High Schools over Japan, being contested by the winning schools of the 48 prefectural qualifications.
The defending champions were Aomori Yamada, who won the previous tournament beating in the final underdogs Ohmi, from Shiga, in the final.
As the norm, from the first round to the quarterfinals, matches had a duration of 80 minutes, split into two halves of 40 minutes each. The semi-finals and the final, however, were the only ones to match the standard match length of professional football, with the duration of 90 minutes, split into two halves of 45 minutes each. During the tournament, should a match be tied, it directly required penalty shoot-outs, except for the final, where extra-time would be played if the match remains tied on regulation time.
The entire tournament, including the prefectural tournament finals, was streamed on SportsBull and TVer free of charge for Japanese IP only. On TV, the semi-finals and the final was aired nationally on NTV, while NNN, NNS and other non-network stations showed select matches from the first round to the quarterfinals. This tournament also first time ever the tournament was aired in overseas country, by Thai YouTube channel BG Sports in the final match.
Calendar The tournament takes place in a 17-day span, with the tournament split into a total of six stages, with each round's dates announced by the JFA on 21 October. Round Date Matches Clubs First round 28–29 December 2024 16 Second round 31 December 2024 16 32 (16+16) → 16 Third round 2 January 2025 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 4 January 2025 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 11 January 2025 2 4 → 2 Final 13 January 2025 1 2 → 1
Venues The tournament is held in the Kanto region, with the nine venues located on four prefectures.
+2024 All Japan High School Soccer Tournament venues Shinjuku, Tokyo Setagaya, Tokyo Kita, Tokyo Japan National Stadium Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka Capacity: 68,698 Capacity: 20,010 Capacity: 7,258 Kawasaki, Kanagawa Yokohama, Kanagawa Saitama, Saitama Uvance Todoroki Stadium by Fujitsu NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium Urawa Komaba Stadium Capacity: 26,232 Capacity: 15,454 Capacity: 21,500 Chiba, Chiba Kashiwa, Chiba Saitama, Saitama Fukuda Denshi Arena Kashiwanoha Stadium NACK5 Stadium Omiya Capacity: 19,781 Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 15,491
Qualifying rounds All the 47 prefectures holds knockout stage qualifiers for their respective high schools. Tokyo's qualifiers is the only to qualify two teams to the competition, as they have the largest amount of registered high schools affiliated with the All-Japan High School Soccer Federation. Teams playing at higher-level leagues earns a bye from the early stages of their respective qualifiers, getting automatically seeded in more advanced rounds, usually between the 3rd and 4th round of their qualifiers.
Most of the qualifiers starts on October. Prefectures with a large amount of registered high schools, like Chiba and Kanagawa, started their qualifiers earlier than the rest.
Information about the broadcasts of the semi-finals and finals of each of the prefectural qualifiers was published by NTV.
Participating schools On notable absences from this year's tournament (highlighted in bold for better visual comprehension): Three of the clubs that reached the 2024 Inter-High semi-finals (on 2024, all three were in the Premier League): Shohei, Inter-High champions, who were eliminated at Saitama's quarter-finals by Seibo Gakuen (Saitama League); Kamimura Gakuen, 2024 Inter-High runners-up, who was eliminated by Premier League West bottom-ranked team Kagoshima Josei, ending Kamimura's seven consecutive Kagoshima's tournament wins; and Teikyo Nagaoka, Inter-High semi-finalists, who was eliminated at Niigata's semi-finals by eventual prefectural winners Niigata Meikun. Two of the clubs that reached the 2023 tournament semi-finals: Ohmi, 2023 runners-up, who was Shiga runners-up this time, losing the final by 3–0; and Ichiritsu Funabashi, 2023 semi-finalists and Premier League East team, who got eliminated by eventual Chiba's runners-up NSSU Kashiwa at the semi-finals. Prince Leagues clubs who saw their spot lost to prefectural league teams: Sendai Ikuei, from Miyagi, who was its tournament's runners-up; Three from Kanto, including Kashima Gakuen, Ibaraki back-to-back runners-up to Meishu Hitachi and Kanagawa's Toin Gakuen and Toko Gakuen, losing by three consecutive seasons their spot to prefectural league teams; Four teams from Hokushin'etsu, including Matsumoto Kokusai, Toyama Daiichi, Seiryo and Otori Gakuen, who were all eliminated at their respective qualifiers' semi-finals; Yokkaichi Chuo Kogyo, semi-finalists on Mie's tournament, eliminated by eventual champions Tsu Kogyo; Four teams from Chugoku, including Shimane's Rissho Shonan and Taisha, eliminated at their respective qualifiers' semis and quarter-finals and Hiroshima's Setouchi and Hiroshima Minami, who both couldn't stop Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin's consecutive tournament win; and Shikoku's Teikyo Daigo, eliminated at Ehime's quarter-finals by eventual champions Matsuyama Kita.
The tournament welcomed five debutants, with all winning their prefectural tournament having Prince League teams playing on them. Only four participating teams won the national tournament two or more times, with long-awaited returnee Teikyo (absent from the previous 14 tournaments) having won six. Qualifying by 28 consecutive seasons (no other qualified school boast similar streak) are current champions Aomori Yamada, also the most successful high school of the century, with four national wins, are joint fifth-placed on all-time ranking by national wins and second-placed among the 2024 participating teams by national wins, having won their national titles from 2016 to 2023.
Miyagi's Tohoku Gakuin qualified for the tournament by the fifth time, appearing from the first time in 37 seasons, having qualified for the last time on 1987. Between the 48 qualified teams, they were absent from the national tournament for the longest time, with Fukui's Fukui Shogyo being the next school below them on the list, making their first in 17 seasons ago, as they were absent from the competition since 2007.
PrefectureHigh SchoolLeagueApps.Hokkaido Sapporo Otani High School Hokkaido Prince League 2 4thAomori Aomori Yamada High School Premier League East 1 30thIwate Senshu Univ. Kitakami High School Tohoku Prince League 2 3rdMiyagi Tohoku Gakuin High School Miyagi Football League 4 5th Akita Nishime High School Akita Football League 4 14thYamagata Tokai Univ. Yamagata High School Yamagata Football League 4 2ndFukushima Shoshi High School Premier League East 1 15thIbaraki Meishu Gakuen Hitachi High School Ibaraki Football League 4 6thTochigi Yaita Chuo High School Kanto Prince League D1 2 14thGunma Maebashi Ikuei High School Premier League East 1 27thSaitama Shochi Fukaya High School Saitama Football League 4 4thChiba Ryutsu Keizai Univ. Kashiwa High School Premier League East 1 8thTokyo Teikyo High School Kanto Prince League D1 2 35thHorikoshi High SchoolTokyo T1 League 4 6thKanagawa Tokai Univ. Sagami High School Kanagawa Football League 4 1stYamanashi Yamanashi Gakuin High School Kanto Prince League D2 3 10thNagano Ueda Nishi High School Nagano Football League 4 3rdNiigata Niigata Meikun High SchoolHokushin'etsu Prince League D1 2 7thToyama Ryukoku Toyama High School Toyama Football League 4 1stIshikawa Kanazawa Gakuin Univ. High School Ishikawa Football League 4 1stFukui Fukui Shogyo High School Fukui Football League 4 2ndShizuoka Shizuoka Gakuen High School Premier League West 1 15thAichi Aichi Inst. of Technology Meiden High School Aichi Football League 4 2ndMie Tsu Kogyo High School Mie Football League 4 4thGifu Teikyo Univ. Kani High School Gifu Football League 4 11thShiga Kusatsu Higashi High School Shiga Football League 4 11thKyoto Kyoto Tachibana High SchoolKansai Prince League D1 2 11thOsaka Hannan University High School Kansai Prince League D1 2 3rdHyogo Takigawa Daini High School Kansai Prince League D2 3 22ndNara Nara Ikuei High School Nara Football League 4 17thWakayama Kindai Univ. Wakayama High School Wakayama Football League 4 10thTottori Yonago Kita High School Premier League West 1 20thShimane Meisei High School Shimane Football League 4 1stOkayama Okayama Gakugeikan High School Chugoku Prince League 2 7thHiroshima Hiroshima Kokusai Gakuin High School Hiroshima Football League 4 2ndYamaguchi Takagawa Gakuen High School Chugoku Prince League 2 30th Kagawa Sangawa High School Shikoku Prince League 2 1stTokushima Tokushima Ichiritsu High School Shikoku Prince League 2 21stEhime Matsuyama Kita High School Ehime Football League 4 6thKochi Kochi High School Kochi Football League 4 19thFukuoka Higashi Fukuoka High School Premier League West 1 23rdSaga Saga Higashi High School Kyushu Prince League D2 3 14thNagasaki Nagasaki Inst. of Applied Sciences High School Kyushu Prince League D2 3 10thKumamoto Ohzu High School Premier League West 1 21stOita Oita Tsurusaki High School Oita Football League 4 7thMiyazaki Nissho Gakuen High School Kyushu Prince League D12 18thKagoshima Kagoshima Josei High School Premier League West 1 8th Okinawa Naha Nishi High School Okinawa Football League 4 18th
Schedule The draw was conducted on 18 November 2024.
First round
Second round
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
GK 1 Yuki FujiwaraRB 3 Makito TakiguchiCB 20 Harumu KuboCB 2 Noboru SuzukiLB 22 Yuga TakenoyaRM 11 Yusei Kurosawa CM 14 Haru Ishii (c)CM 13 Hayato ShibanoLM 10 Takeru Hirabayashi ST 8 Kelly Ononoju ST 15 Kota Sato Substitutes:GK 12 Motoharu NishinoDF 4 Tomoki KanekoDF 5 Rui MisawaDF 29 Sho Makino MF 7 Seiya Shirai MF 18 Seiya TairaMF 30 Takeru KuwataFW 6 Taichi Nakamura FW 19 Komi Ooka Manager: Kosuke Yamada GK 1 Keita KatoRB 11 Yuki Horikawa CB 5 Ema Sato (c)CB 4 Ryusei NasuLB 21 Kotaro Miyazato DM 6 Toki InadaAM 10 So Yunoki CM 14 Tenka IihamaAM 8 Ayumu KamedaST 19 Yu KasuyaST 9 Shunta YamanoSubstitutes:GK 29 Hiroto FujitaDF 2 Kazuyuki WatanabeDF 3 Ryuki Togashi DF 13 Sora Koda DF 26 Toshiya YanagisawaDF 27 Byakuya IwasawaMF 7 Teppei Wada MF 22 Kishin ShimataniFW 18 Koki Ando Manager: Masahiro Enomoto
Assistant referees: Masaru Hasegawa Makoto Bozono Fourth official: Kazuyoshi Karashima Match rules 90 minutes. Extra-time of 10 minutes for each half if scores still level. Persisting a draw after extra-time, a penalty shoot-out would be held. Nine named substitutes. Maximum of five substitutions.
Top scorers RankPlayerHigh SchoolGoals1 Sota MikamoHorikoshi52 Ayumu KamedaRKU Kashiwa4 Kelly OnonojuMaebashi Ikuei Rento TakaokaNissho Gakuen Shunta YamanoRKU Kashiwa
Selected best players The following 36 players featured in the Tournament's Best Players Squad:
P. Player High School GKYuki Fujiwara Maebashi Ikuei 3rdToyo UniversityGKOtavio Hiroki Toma Yaita Chuo 3rdKomazawa UniversityGKKeita Kato RKU Kashiwa 3rdHeisei Int. UniversityDFItsuki Kanno Meishu Hitachi 3rdNiigata University HWDFMakito Takiguchi Maebashi Ikuei 2ndMaebashi IkueiDFYuga Takenoya Maebashi Ikuei 2ndMaebashi IkueiDFKaifu Sato Yaita Chuo 3rdKokushikan UniversityDFRyusei Nasu RKU Kashiwa 3rdRyutsu Keizai UniversityDFEma Sato RKU Kashiwa 3rdRyutsu Keizai UniversityDFKoo Shiota Tokai Sagami 2ndTokai SagamiDFAoi Sato Tokai Sagami 3rdOsaka University H&SSDFHiroto Noda Shizuoka Gakuen 3rdKawasaki FrontaleDFSena Otsubo Higashi Fukuoka 3rdTokyo Int. UniversityDFRyohei Sanroku Higashi Fukuoka 3rdHosei UniversityMFYusei Kurosawa Maebashi Ikuei 3rdNihon UniversityMFHaru Ishii Maebashi Ikuei 3rdMeiji UniversityMFAyumu Kameda RKU Kashiwa 3rdKataller ToyamaMFSo Yunoki RKU Kashiwa 3rdRyutsu Keizai University