The 2025 season was Kashima Antlers' 33rd consecutive season in the J1 League, the top flight of Japanese football since the introduction of professional football in 1993. As well as the domestic league, they competed in the Emperor's Cup and the J.League Cup. This was Kashima's first season under new manager Toru Oniki, who was appointed in December 2024.
On 6 December 2025, Kashima were crowned J1 League champions after a 2–1 home victory over Yokohama F.Marinos on the final day of the season. This was their first league title since 2016 and a record-extending ninth league title.
Squad Season squad Squad no. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age at start of season) Goalkeepers 1 Tomoki Hayakawa GK 21 Taiki Yamada GK 29 Yuji Kajikawa GK 38 Park Eui-jeong GK Defenders 2 Koki Anzai RB / LB 3 Kim Tae-hyeon CB 4 Kaito Chida CB 5 Ikuma Sekigawa CB 7 Ryoya Ogawa LB 22 Kimito Nono RB 23 Keisuke Tsukui CB 25 Ryuta Koike RB 28 Shuhei Mizoguchi LB 32 Haruto Matsumoto RB 36 Mihiro Sato LB 44 Yugo Okawa Type 2 DF 47 Anthony Udemba Motosuna Type 2 DF 55 Naomichi Ueda CB Midfielders 6 Kento Misao DM 10 Gaku Shibasaki (c) CM / DM 13 Kei Chinen CM / FW 14 Yuta Higuchi RM / CM 17 Talles LW / AM 20 Yu Funabashi DM 27 Yūta Matsumura RM / RW 33 Yoshiro Shimoda DM 37 Haruki Hayashi DSP MF 71 Ryōtarō Araki AM Forwards 9 Léo Ceará FW 11 Kyosuke Tagawa FW / LW 18 Élber FW 19 Shu Morooka FW / RW 34 Homare Tokuda FW 40 Yuma Suzuki FW 45 Minato Yoshida Type 2 FW 46 Hayate Cho Type 2 FW 77 Aleksandar Čavrić FW / RW
Transfers Arrivals DatePositionPlayerFromTypeSource18 December 2024 Yokohama F. MarinosFull27 December 2024 Iwaki FCLoan return30 December 2024 Tokyo Verdy Loan return3 January 2025 Slovan Bratislava Full 4 January 2025 Sagan Tosu Full 5 January 2025 FC Tokyo Loan return 6 January 2025 Cerezo Osaka Full9 May 2025 Meiji University DSP9 June 2025 Sint-Truiden Full9 June 2025 Tokyo Verdy Full12 August 2025 Yokohama F. Marinos Full
Departures DatePositionPlayerToTypeSource13 December 2024 Talleres Loan return18 December 2024 Avispa FukuokaFull24 December 2024 Shonan BellmareFull24 December 2024 Kashiwa ReysolFull25 December 2024 Tokyo VerdyFull25 December 2024 Tokyo VerdyFull27 December 2024 Kyoto Sanga FCFull27 December 2024 Montedio YamagataFull3 January 2025 Kochi United SCLoan12 January 2025 FK Radnički Niš Loan20 June 2025 FK Radnički Niš Full
Competitions
J1 League
Despite losing starting centre back Ikuma Sekigawa, left back Koki Anzai, and attacker Shu Morooka to season-ending injuries, the club demonstrated resilience throughout the campaign.
The season featured inconsistent periods, including three consecutive losses between matchdays 8–10 and a four-match winless streak. However, Kashima remained undefeated following a loss to Kawasaki Frontale on matchday 23, maintaining this streak through the season's conclusion.
Kashima conceded only four goals in their final ten matches and allowed no more than one goal per game after a 3–2 victory over Kashiwa Reysol in July. The team secured wins in both fixtures against Reysol, which proved decisive as the clubs finished separated by just one point in the final standings.
Results by matchday
Results summary
Matches All match start times are in JST.
J.League Cup
Emperor's Cup
Statistics Goalscorers The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal. Player Total 1 FW 9 Léo Ceará 21 0 0 21 2 FW 40 Yuma Suzuki 10 4 0 14 3 FW 77 Aleksandar Čavrić 3 2 0 5 MF 13 Kei Chinen 4 1 0 5 5 FW 11 Kyosuke Tagawa 3 0 0 3 FW 19 Shu Morooka 2 0 1 3 MF 27 Yūta Matsumura 3 0 0 3 – – Own goal 2 1 0 3 9 MF 20 Yu Funabashi 2 0 0 2 DF 22 Kimito Nono 1 0 1 2 FW 34 Homare Tokuda 2 0 0 2 DF 55 Naomichi Ueda 2 0 0 2 13 DF 7 Ryoya Ogawa 0 1 0 1 MF 17 Talles 1 0 0 1 FW 18 Élber 1 0 0 1 DF 25 Ryuta Koike 1 0 0 1 TOTAL589269
Clean sheets The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal. Player Total1 1 Tomoki Hayakawa 16 0 1 17TOTALS160117
References