# 2023 Kawasaki Frontale season

The 2023 season was Kawasaki Frontale's 19th consecutive season in the J1 League. It was a reasonably successful season. While Frontale didn’t progress past the group stages in the J.League Cup, and finished in the middle of the pack in 8th place in the J1 league, they won the 2023 Emperor’s cup competition, and won their group stage in the AFC Champions League, before being knocked out by Shandong Taishan on aggregate goals in the round of 16 - a respectable result although a letdown after coming in second in the 2022 tournament.

## Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | KOR | Jung Sung-ryong |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Kyohei Noborizato (vice-captain) |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Takuma Ominami |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Jesiel (vice-captain) |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Asahi Sasaki |
| 6 | MF | BRA | João Schmidt |
| 7 | DF | JPN | Shintaro Kurumaya |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Kento Tachibanada (captain) |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Leandro Damião |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Ryota Oshima |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Yu Kobayashi |
| 13 | DF | JPN | Miki Yamane |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Yasuto Wakizaka (vice-captain) |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Shuto Tanabe |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Tatsuki Seko |
| 17 | FW | JPN | Daiya Tono |
| 18 | FW | FRA | Bafétimbi Gomis |
| 20 | FW | JPN | Shin Yamada |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Shunsuke Andō |
| 22 | GK | JPN | Yuki Hayasaka |
| 23 | FW | BRA | Marcinho |
| 24 | MF | JPN | Toya Myogan |
| 27 | DF | JPN | Yuto Matsunagane |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Yuto Ozeki |
| 29 | DF | JPN | Kota Takai |
| 30 | MF | JPN | Yusuke Segawa |
| 31 | DF | JPN | Kazuya Yamamura |
| 32 | MF | JPN | Hinata Yamauchi |
| 33 | FW | JPN | Taisei Miyashiro |
| 34 | MF | JPN | Kota Yui $^{Type2}$ |
| 36 | FW | JPN | Torataro Okazaki $^{Type2}$ |
| 37 | MF | JPN | Jo Ogawa $^{Type2}$ |
| 38 | DF | JPN | Eiji Ehara $^{Type2}$ |
| 39 | DF | JPN | Kaito Tsuchiya $^{Type2}$ |
| 41 | MF | JPN | Akihiro Ienaga |
| 99 | GK | JPN | Naoto Kamifukumoto |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Renji Matsui (On loan at Machida Zelvia) |
| 26 | MF | JPN | Takatora Einaga (On loan at Mito HollyHock) |
| — | DF | JPN | Kaito Kamiya (On loan at Ventforet Kofu) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | JPN | Koki Harada (On loan at Nagano Parceiro) |
| — | FW | JPN | Taiyo Igarashi (On loan at Renofa Yamaguchi) |
| — | FW | JPN | Ten Miyagi (On loan at Montedio Yamagata) |

## Transfers
### Arrivals

| Date of announcement | Position | Player | From | Type |
| 24 May 2022 | FW | Shin Yamada | Toin University of Yokohama | Full |
| 28 June 2022 | DF | Yuto Matsunagane | Kawasaki Frontale U-18 | Full |
| 28 June 2022 | MF | Yuto Ozeki | Kawasaki Frontale U-18 | Full |
| 7 September 2022 | MF | Toya Myogan | Riseisha High School | Full |
| 29 November 2022 | MF | Yusuke Segawa | Shonan Bellmare | Full |
| 7 December 2022 | GK | Naoto Kamifukumoto | Kyoto Sanga | Full |
| 9 December 2022 | DF | Takuma Ominami | Kashiwa Reysol | Full |
| 20 December 2022 | FW | Taisei Miyashiro | Sagan Tosu | Return from loan |
| 3 March 2023 | MF | Hinata Yamauchi | Toin University of Yokohama | DSP |
| 13 March 2023 | DF | Shuto Tanabe | JEF United Chiba | Return from loan |
| 8 August 2023 | FW | Bafétimbi Gomis | Galatasaray | Full |

### Departures

| Date of announcement | Position | Player | To | Type |
| 26 November 2022 | FW | Kei Chinen | Kashima Antlers | Full |
| 7 December 2022 | DF | Zain Issaka | Montedio Yamagata | Full |
| 13 December 2022 | FW | Taiyo Igarashi | Renofa Yamaguchi | Loan |
| 13 December 2022 | DF | Kaito Kamiya | Ventforet Kofu | Loan |
| 16 December 2022 | FW | Ten Miyagi | V-Varen Nagasaki | Loan |
| 29 December 2022 | DF | Shogo Taniguchi | Al-Rayyan SC | Full |
| 30 December 2022 | GK | Kenta Tanno | Iwate Grulla Morioka | Full |
| 23 May 2023 | MF | Renji Matsui | FC Machida Zelvia | Loan |
| 14 June 2023 | FW | Takatora Einaga | Mito HollyHock | Loan |
| 21 June 2023 | MF | Chanathip Songkrasin | BG Pathum United | Full |
| 6 July 2023 | MF | Kazuki Kozuka | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Full |
| 24 July 2023 | FW | Ten Miyagi | Montedio Yamagata | Loan |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J1 League | 17 February | -- | Matchday 1 | TBD | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 27 | 23 | +4 | 042.86 |
| Emperor's Cup | 7 June | -- | Second round | TBD | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 100.00 |
| J.League Cup | 8 March | 18 June | Group stage | Group stage | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 033.33 |
| AFC CL | -- | -- | Group stage | TBD | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 29 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 44 | 32 | +12 | 044.83 |
Source: Soccerway

### J1 League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 6 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 41 | 36 | +5 | 52 | |
| 7 | Avispa Fukuoka | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 51 | |
| 8 | Kawasaki Frontale | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 51 | 45 | +6 | 50 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage |
| 9 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 15 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 34 | +5 | 49 | |
| 10 | Albirex Niigata | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 40 | −4 | 45 | |
* ↑ Qualified as the 2023 Emperor's Cup winners.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 24 July. Source: Soccerway

#### Matches

The full league fixtures were released on 20 January 2023.

### Emperor's Cup

As Kawasaki is a J1 club, it starts the competition on the second round.

### J.League Cup

The club will start the competition at the group stage.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 8 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 15 | −7 | 8 | |
| 3 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 7 | +5 | 8 | |
| 4 | Shonan Bellmare | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 6 | |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head points: Urawa Red Diamonds 6, Shimizu S-Pulse 5, Kawasaki Frontale 4.

### AFC Champions League

Frontale qualified to play the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, after finishing the 2022 J1 League as runners-up. The club earned a direct spot into the competition's group stage. The group stage is planned by the AFC to start on 18 September 2023.

#### Group stage

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KWF | UHD | JDT | BGP |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 16 | Advance to round of 16 | — | 1–0 | 5–0 | 4–2 |
| 2 | Ulsan Hyundai | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 10 | Advance to round of 16 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| 3 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 9 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | — | 4–1 |
| 4 | BG Pathum United | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 0 | | 2–4 | 1–3 | 2–4 | — |

## Goalscorers

    As of 24 July 2023
| Rank | Pos. | No. | Player | J1 League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | AFC Champions | Total |
| 1 | FW | 33 | Taisei Miyashiro | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | MF | 14 | Yasuto Wakizaka | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | MF | 19 | Daiya Tono | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | FW | 30 | Yusuke Segawa | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | MF | 16 | Tatsuki Seko | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | FW | 20 | Shin Yamada | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | DF | 2 | Kyohei Noborizato | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | FW | 11 | Yu Kobayashi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | MF | 41 | Akihiro Ienaga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | DF | 7 | Shintaro Kurumaya | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | 8 | Kento Tachibanada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | DF | 13 | Miki Yamane | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | 18 | Chanathip Songkrasin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 24 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 41 |