The 2026–27 J.League Cup, known as the 2026/27 J.League Yamazaki Biscuits Levain Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is the 34th edition of J.League Cup, a Japanese association football cup competition. It is the third season all 60 J.League clubs participate in the League Cup.
Format All 60 clubs from the 2026–27 season's J1, J2, and J3 League are participating. The tournament is divided into two sections, each with a different format: the first round and the prime round.
Six clubs are participating in 2026–27 AFC club competitions: Kashima Antlers and Vissel Kobe in the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite, and Machida Zelvia, Kashiwa Reysol, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto Sanga in the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Two. These six clubs are seeded according to their combined ranking in the 2025 J1 League and J1 100 Year Vision League standings, which determines their entry point into the competition.
First round Kashima and Kobe, the two highest-ranked of the six AFC-competition clubs, are exempted from the first round entirely and advance directly to the prime round.
Machida, Kashiwa, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto, ranked third to sixth respectively among the AFC-competition clubs, are seeded into the fourth round of this bracket, where they face one another (third-ranked vs. sixth-ranked, and fourth-ranked vs. fifth-ranked) rather than entering from the first round proper.
The remaining 54 clubs – 14 from J1 and 20 each from J2 and J3 – are divided into four groups, each contested as a single-elimination tournament.
As a general rule, matches are hosted by the club from the lower division, or, where both clubs are in the same division, by the club that finished lower in the 2025 season. The fourth-round ties involving Machida, Kashiwa, Gamba Osaka and Kyoto are an exception: these are hosted by whichever of the two clubs held the higher combined 2025 ranking (Machida and Kashiwa, respectively).
Extra time and a penalty shootout will be used to decide the winner of any matches ending in a draw.
The six group winners advance to the prime round, joining Kashima and Kobe to make up a field of eight clubs.
The first round groups are as follows:
+First round groupingGroupTeams1Sanfrecce HiroshimaShimizu S-PulseYokohama F. MarinosShonan BellmareAlbirex NiigataMontedio YamagataFC ImabariTochigi CityVanraure HachinoheZweigen KanazawaTochigi SCThespa GunmaMatsumoto Yamaga2Urawa Red DiamondsFagiano OkayamaNagoya GrampusYokohama FCTokushima VortisIwaki FCConsadole SapporoKataller ToyamaTegevajaro MiyazakiKagoshima United FCGiravanz KitakyushuFC GifuFC Ryukyu3Kawasaki FrontaleAvispa FukuokaTokyo VerdyJEF United ChibaJúbilo IwataSagan TosuVentforet KofuOita TrinitaRoasso KumamotoFC OsakaNara ClubSC SagamiharaKamatamare SanukiReilac Shiga4Cerezo OsakaFC TokyoMito HollyHockV-Varen NagasakiOmiya ArdijaVegalta SendaiBlaublitz AkitaFujieda MYFCRenofa YamaguchiEhime FCFukushima UnitedGainare TottoriKochi UnitedNagano Parceiro
Prime round The prime round is a single-elimination tournament among the eight qualified clubs, generally hosted at each participating club's home ground, with the exception of the final, which is played at a neutral venue.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals are played over two legs. In the case of a tie, the winner will be determined firstly by goal difference, then extra time and a penalty shootout if necessary.
The final is a single match, also decided by extra time and then a penalty shootout if required.
Prize money The top three teams at the end of the tournament receive prize money of for the winners, for runners-up, and for third place.
Schedule The schedule was announced on 22 June 2026.
StageRoundDateFirst roundRound 12–9 SeptemberRound 229 SeptemberRound 314 OctoberRound 428 October3/4 OctoberPrime roundQuarter-finals11 November (First leg)15 November (Second leg)Semi-finals24 March (First leg)28 March (Second leg)FinalTBC
First round
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Prime round The prime round will begin with quarter-finals held in November 2026.
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Hiromu KamadaVegalta Sendai2 Hiroaki OkunoShonan Bellmare Hayato ManabeFujieda MYFC Sota YamamotoGainare Tottori
See also 2026–27 Japanese Super Cup 2026–27 Emperor's Cup 2026–27 J1 League 2026–27 J2 League 2026–27 J3 League 2026–27 Japan Football League 2026 Japanese Regional Leagues
References
External links Official website