The , was a one-off tournament organised by the JFA and Japan Football League and was part of the J.League's transition to an "autumn-spring system". All 16 clubs from the JFL (the fourth tier in the Japanese football pyramid) will participate.
Overview As the Japan Football League transitioned to an "autumn-spring system" in 2026, the JFL Cup was a special tournament held during the transitional period. There was no promotion or relegation based on the results of the tournament.
Format Regional round (20 March – 16 May) The 16 teams competing in the 2026–27 Japan Football League were divided geographically into two divisions (East and West), consisting of 8 teams each. Each division played a round-robin, for 7 matches (3 or 4 home and 4 away matches) each, for a total of 56 games. A win is worth 4 points, a penalty shoot-out win is worth 2 points and a penalty shoot-out defeat is worth 1 point.
Rules If the winners can not be decided within 90 minutes, a penalty shoot-out will be played to decide the winners. For this tournament, the usual points system is retained, but the winners of the shoot-out will receive an extra point.
Depending on the results, the following points will be awarded: Wins after 90 minutes: 3 points Penalty shootout wins: 2 points Losses in penalty shootout: 1 point Losses after 90 minutes: 0 points
Playoff round (30 May – 7 June) Teams with the same placement in each group in the regional round competed over two legs on a home-and-away basis, consisting of four matches. The winners of each division contest the championship match, while the runners-up contest the third-place match to determine the top 4 teams. The first leg was held at the home ground of the East division club, and the second leg at the home ground of the West division club.
Points are awarded across both legs: three for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. If the first leg ends level after 90 minutes, no extra time or penalty shoot-out is taken. After the second leg, the winner is determined by total points, then by goal difference if level on points. If the tie remains undecided, a penalty shoot-out is held, again without extra time.
Prize money The top four teams at the end of the tournament received prize money of for the winners, for runners-up, for third place and for fourth place. There is also prize money awarded for individuals throughout the tournament:
MVP (Most Valuable Player): One player from the winning team will receive . Outstanding Player Awards: One player each from the runners-up, third-placed and fourth-placed teams will receive , and respectively.
Participating clubs The 16 clubs participating in the Japan Football League in the 2026–27 season will participate.
Team Location Stadium Capacity 2025 season Region Numazu 10,000 20th in J3 East Urayasu 2,100 3rd in JFL East Shinjuku 7,258 12th in JFL East Hamamatsu 2,506 1st in JFL West Morioka 9,892 9th in JFL East Ōita 15,943 1st in JRFCL West Okazaki 5,000 11th in JFL West Miyazaki 20,000 10th in JFL West Okinawa 12,270 8th in JFL West Aomori 20,809 5th in JFL East Hirakata 2,500 4th in JFL West Tōin 5,077 7th in JFL West Ōita 4,700 6th in JFL West Ichihara 14,051 2nd in JRFCL East Musashino 5,188 14th in JFL East Yokohama 15,454 13th in JFL East
Notes Also based at Tomigusuku and Uruma. Mainly based at Kuwana and Yokkaichi. Mainly based at Beppu and Yufu.
Regional round League table
East Region
West Region
Results
East Region
West Region
Play-off round Final
Matches
3rd place play-off
Matches
Final standings Okinawa SV were crowned champions, with ReinMeer Aomori finishing runners-up.
Pos. Team 1 Okinawa SV 2 ReinMeer Aomori 3 Iwate Grulla Morioka 4 J-Lease
Awards Four individual awards were presented at the end of the tournament.
Award Player Club MVP (Most Valuable Player) Kenshi Irigaki Okinawa SVOutstanding Players Genichi Endo ReinMeer Aomori Jukiya Fujishima Iwate Grulla Morioka Takayuki Takayasu J-Lease
Season statistics Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals1Jukiya FujishimaIwate Grulla Morioka52Kenshi IrigakiOkinawa SV4Ryuki YamaguchiFC Tiamo HirakataMu KanazakiVerspah OitaKenta OkaReinMeer Aomori6Shota FujisakiVerspah Oita3Sasuga KiyokawaFC Tiamo HirakataYuma MoriAzul Claro NumazuYosuke SuzukiMinebea Mitsumi FCReoto KodamaReinMeer AomoriYuto TsumuraJ-Lease FCYu MachidaIwate Grulla Morioka
See also J1 100 Year Vision League J2/J3 100 Year Vision League
References