# 2020 J1 League

The 2020 J1 League, also known as the 2020 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2020 明治安田生命J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2020 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was sixth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The league began on 21 February and eventually ended on 19 December 2020. The league was planned to have a season break to avoid clashing with the 2020 Summer Olympics, but the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
Yokohama F. Marinos were the defending champions while Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC entered the league as promoted teams from the 2019 J2 League, replacing Júbilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.

## Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

On 25 February, all J.League matches until 15 March were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. After that, it was announced that it would be postponed further until 29 March. On 19 March, the J.League announced no relegation would take place for the 2020 season, with the J1 League expanding to 20 clubs for the 2021 season. On 25 March, the league announced that it would be suspended again from 3 April to 6 May.
On 3 April, the Japan Professional Football League decided to resume the league, gradually resumed J3 from 25 April, J2 from 2 May, and J1 from 9 May. However, the league was postponed again.
On 29 May, the JPFL decided to resume the season on 27 June. The season is projected to resume on 4 July. On 9 June, the JPFL announced the new schedule of the 2020 season. On 15 June, it was announced that the first 2 matches in each league (J1, J2, and J3) would be held without spectators. After 10 July, as a general rule, the maximum number of people allowed is 5,000. The stadiums with less than 10,000 capacity would have up to 50% of the capacity. Away supporters are not allowed. After August, the maximum stadium capacity was 50%, and there would be "high alert spectator matches".
After the 11th J.League extraordinary executive committee meeting on 20 July, it was announced that the "super strict alert audience game" extended to 10 August in view of the spread of coronavirus infection.

## Clubs

* FC Tokyo
* Kawasaki Frontale
* Urawa Red Diamonds
* Shonan Bellmare
* Yokohama F. Marinos
* Yokohama FC
* Kashima Antlers
* Kashiwa Reysol
* Cerezo Osaka
* Gamba Osaka
* Vissel Kobe
For the 2020 season, there were only two changes in the league. Kashiwa Reysol returned as the 2019 J2 League champions and Yokohama FC as runners-up after 13 seasons absence from the top tier of Japanese football. They replaced Matsumoto Yamaga (one season in J1) and Júbilo Iwata (four seasons in J1), who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.
Meanwhile, Shonan Bellmare remained in the J1 League after defeating Tokushima Vortis in the 2019 J2 League play-off final.
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Last season |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | Hokkaido | Sapporo Dome Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium | 41,484 20,861 | J1 (10th) |
| Vegalta Sendai | Miyagi Prefecture | Yurtec Stadium Sendai | 19,694 | J1 (11th) |
| Kashima Antlers | Ibaraki Prefecture | Kashima Soccer Stadium | 40,728 | J1 (3rd) |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Saitama Prefecture | Saitama Stadium 2002 | 63,700 | J1 (14th) |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Chiba Prefecture | Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium | 15,900 | J2 (champions) |
| FC Tokyo | Tokyo | Ajinomoto Stadium | 49,970 | J1 (2nd) |
| Yokohama FC | Kanagawa Prefecture | Mitsuzawa Stadium | 15,046 | J2 (2nd) |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Kanagawa Prefecture | Nissan Stadium | 72,327 | J1 (champions) |
| Shonan Bellmare | Kanagawa Prefecture | BMW Stadium Hiratsuka | 18,500 | J1 (16th) |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Kanagawa Prefecture | Todoroki Stadium | 26,232 | J1 (4th) |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Shizuoka Prefecture | IAI Stadium Nihondaira | 20,339 | J1 (12th) |
| Nagoya Grampus | Aichi Prefecture | Paloma Mizuho Stadium Toyota Stadium | 27,001 45,000 | J1 (13th) |
| Gamba Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Panasonic Stadium Suita | 39,694 | J1 (7th) |
| Cerezo Osaka | Osaka Prefecture | Yanmar Stadium | 47,853 | J1 (5th) |
| Vissel Kobe | Hyōgo Prefecture | Noevir Stadium Kobe | 30,132 | J1 (8th) |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshima Prefecture | Edion Stadium | 36,894 | J1 (6th) |
| Oita Trinita | Ōita Prefecture | Showa Denko Dome Oita | 40,000 | J1 (9th) |
| Sagan Tosu | Saga Prefecture | Ekimae Stadium | 24,130 | J1 (15th) |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Front shirt sponsor |
| Cerezo Osaka | Miguel Ángel Lotina | Puma | Yanmar |
| FC Tokyo | Kenta Hasegawa | Umbro | XFLAG |
| Gamba Osaka | Tsuneyasu Miyamoto | Umbro | Panasonic |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | Mihailo Petrović | Kappa | Ishiya |
| Kashima Antlers | Antônio Carlos Zago | Nike | Lixil |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Nelsinho Baptista | Yonex | Hitachi |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Toru Oniki | Puma | Fujitsu |
| Nagoya Grampus | Massimo Ficcadenti | Mizuno | Toyota |
| Oita Trinita | Tomohiro Katanosaka | Puma | Daihatsu Kyushu |
| Sagan Tosu | Kim Myung-hwi | New Balance | Kimura Information Technology |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Hiroshi Jofuku | Nike | EDION |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Hiroaki Hiraoka | Puma | Suzuyo |
| Shonan Bellmare | Bin Ukishima | Penalty | Meldia |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Tsuyoshi Otsuki | Nike | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Vegalta Sendai | Takashi Kiyama | Adidas | Iris Ohyama |
| Vissel Kobe | Atsuhiro Miura | Asics | Rakuten |
| Yokohama FC | Takahiro Shimotaira | Soccer Junky | Onodera Group |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Ange Postecoglou | Adidas | Nissan |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Vissel Kobe | Thorsten Fink | Change of director | 21 September 2020 | Atsuhiro Miura | 25 September 2020 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Peter Cklamovski | Sacked | 1 November 2020 | Hiroaki Hiraoka | 1 November 2020 |

### Foreign players

As of 2019 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs can only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia and Qatar) are exempt from these restrictions.
* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, or is exempt from being treated as a foreign player due to having been born in Japan and being enrolled in, or having graduated from school in the country.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Player 8 | Player 9 | Player 10 | Former players |
| Cerezo Osaka | Leandro Desábato | Pierce Waring | Bruno Mendes | Matej Jonjić | Ahn Joon-soo | Kim Jin-hyeon | Tawan Khotrsupho | | | | Lucas Mineiro |
| FC Tokyo | Adaílton | Arthur Silva | Diego Oliveira | Leandro | Joan Oumari | | | | | | |
| Gamba Osaka | Ademilson | Patric | Jefferson Tabinas | Kim Young-gwon | Lee Yun-oh | Shin Won-ho | | | | | |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | Anderson Lopes | Douglas Oliveira | Lucas Fernandes | Jay Bothroyd | Hugo Vieira | Kim Min-tae | Chanathip Songkrasin | Kawin Thamsatchanan | | | Gu Sung-yun |
| Kashima Antlers | Everaldo | Juan Alano | Léo Silva | Kwoun Sun-tae | | | | | | | |
| Kashiwa Reysol | Cristiano | Matheus Sávio | Richardson | Michael Olunga | Kim Seung-gyu | | | | | | Júnior Santos |
| Kawasaki Frontale | Diogo Mateus | Jesiel | Leandro Damião | Jung Sung-ryong | | | | | | | |
| Nagoya Grampus | Mitchell Langerak | Gabriel Xavier | João Schmidt | Mateus | Oh Jae-suk | | | | | | |
| Oita Trinita | Mun Kyung-gun | | | | | | | | | | |
| Sagan Tosu | Eduardo | Tiago Alves | Wang Jianan | Ryang Yong-gi | An Yong-woo | Cho Dong-geon | Kim Min-ho | Park Il-gyu | Park Jeong-su | Renzo López | |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | Douglas Vieira | Ezequiel | Leandro Pereira | Rhayner | | | | | | | |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | Carlinhos Júnior | Elsinho | Junior Dutra | Neto Volpi | Renato Augusto | Valdo | Hwang Seok-ho | Teerasil Dangda | | | |
| Shonan Bellmare | Riuler | Tarik Elyounoussi | | | | | | | | | |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | Thomas Deng | Ewerton | Leonardo | Quenten Martinus | | | | | | | Fabrício Maurício Antônio |
| Vegalta Sendai | Pará | Simão Mate Junior | Jakub Słowik | Alexandre Guedes | Kim Jung-ya | Isaac Cuenca | | | | | |
| Vissel Kobe | Thomas Vermaelen | Dankler | Douglas | Andrés Iniesta | Sergi Samper | | | | | | |
| Yokohama FC | Leandro Domingues | Maguinho | Calvin Jong-a-Pin | | | | | | | | |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | Erik | Júnior Santos | Marcos Júnior | Thiago Martins | Theerathon Bunmathan | | | | | | Edigar Junio Park Il-gyu |

## League table

It was decided on 19 March to change the format regarding the rules for promotion/relegation for the end of the season for the J1, J2 and J3 leagues, such that there would be no relegation this season, that two clubs from the J2 League would be promoted to the 2021 J1 League, and that two clubs from the J3 League would be promoted to the 2021 J2 League (subject to licensing regulations).
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale (C) | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 88 | 31 | +57 | 83 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 20 | 5 | 9 | 46 | 42 | +4 | 65 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 45 | 28 | +17 | 63 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 34 | 18 | 6 | 10 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 60 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 59 | |
| 6 | FC Tokyo | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 47 | 42 | +5 | 57 | |
| 7 | Kashiwa Reysol | 34 | 15 | 7 | 12 | 60 | 46 | +14 | 52 | |
| 8 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 48 | |
| 9 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 69 | 59 | +10 | 47 | |
| 10 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 56 | −13 | 46 | |
| 11 | Oita Trinita | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 43 | |
| 12 | Consadole Sapporo | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 39 | |
| 13 | Sagan Tosu | 34 | 7 | 15 | 12 | 37 | 43 | −6 | 36 | |
| 14 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 50 | 59 | −9 | 36 | |
| 15 | Yokohama FC | 34 | 9 | 6 | 19 | 38 | 60 | −22 | 33 | |
| 16 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 48 | 70 | −22 | 28 | |
| 17 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 6 | 10 | 18 | 36 | 61 | −25 | 28 | |
| 18 | Shonan Bellmare | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 29 | 48 | −19 | 27 | |
* 1 2 Since the winners of the 2020 Emperor's Cup, Kawasaki Frontale, qualified for the Champions League group stage, the spot given to the Emperor's Cup winners (Champions League group stage) was passed to the third-placed team and the spot given to the third-place team (Champions League play-off round) was passed to the fourth-placed team.

## Results table

| Home \ Away | ANT | BEL | CER | CON | FMA | FRO | GAM | GRA | REY | RED | SAG | SFR | SSP | TOK | TRI | VEG | VIS | YFC |
| Kashima Antlers | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| Shonan Bellmare | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Cerezo Osaka | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | — | 3–1 | 1–6 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–3 | 3–0 |
| Yokohama F. Marinos | 2–3 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 6–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 |
| Kawasaki Frontale | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | — | 5–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
| Gamba Osaka | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Nagoya Grampus | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | 6–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 |
| Kashiwa Reysol | 2–3 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 |
| Urawa Red Diamonds | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Sagan Tosu | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 4–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Shimizu S-Pulse | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | — | 1–3 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–3 |
| FC Tokyo | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | — | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Oita Trinita | 1–4 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Vegalta Sendai | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–3 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Vissel Kobe | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 |
| Yokohama FC | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–5 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Michael Olunga | Kashiwa Reysol | 28 |
| 2 | Everaldo | Kashima Antlers | 18 |
| 3 | Leandro Pereira | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 15 |
| 4 | Yu Kobayashi | Kawasaki Frontale | 14 |
| 5 | Erik | Yokohama F. Marinos | 13 |
| 5 | Júnior Santos | Yokohama F. Marinos | 13 |
| 5 | Leandro Damião | Kawasaki Frontale | 13 |
| 5 | Kaoru Mitoma | Kawasaki Frontale | 13 |
| 9 | Kyogo Furuhashi | Vissel Kobe | 12 |
| 10 | Leonardo | Urawa Red Diamonds | 11 |
| 10 | Marcos Júnior | Yokohama F. Marinos | 11 |
| 10 | Akihiro Ienaga | Kawasaki Frontale | 11 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Michael Olunga | Kashiwa Reysol | Vegalta Sendai | 5–1 (H) | 26 July 2020 |
| Everaldo | Kashima Antlers | Oita Trinita | 4–1 (A) | 1 August 2020 |
| Naoki Maeda$^4$ | Nagoya Grampus | Urawa Red Diamonds | 6–2 (H) | 8 August 2020 |
| Shun Nagasawa | Vegalta Sendai | Gamba Osaka | 4–0 (A) | 14 November 2020 |
| Júnior Santos | Yokohama F. Marinos | Urawa Red Diamonds | 6–2 (H) | 14 November 2020 |
| Akihiro Ienaga | Kawasaki Frontale | Gamba Osaka | 5–0 (H) | 25 November 2020 |
* $^4$ Player scored 4 goals

## Attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 77,587 | 21,117 | 0 | 6,466 | −72.2%$^†$ |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 90,196 | 34,521 | 0 | 6,443 | −76.1%$^†$ |
| 3 | Nagoya Grampus | 67,997 | 11,854 | 0 | 6,182 | −77.6%$^†$ |
| 4 | Cerezo Osaka | 72,310 | 15,535 | 0 | 6,026 | −72.0%$^†$ |
| 5 | Vissel Kobe | 69,243 | 25,059 | 0 | 5,476 | −74.5%$^†$ |
| 6 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 66,463 | 9,831 | 0 | 5,113 | −85.0%$^†$ |
| 7 | Gamba Osaka | 47,042 | 9,313 | 0 | 4,863 | −82.4%$^†$ |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 55,698 | 17,549 | 0 | 4,642 | −69.1%$^†$ |
| 9 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 50,669 | 18,713 | 0 | 4,606 | −66.8%$^†$ |
| 10 | Oita Trinita | 54,196 | 8,570 | 0 | 4,516 | −70.6%$^†$ |
| 11 | FC Tokyo | 53,887 | 8,166 | 0 | 4,491 | −85.8%$^†$ |
| 12 | Shonan Bellmare | 48,734 | 13,071 | 0 | 4,430 | −63.4%$^†$ |
| 13 | Kashima Antlers | 33,760 | 6,982 | 0 | 3,943 | −80.8%$^†$ |
| 14 | Sagan Tosu | 40,780 | 8,574 | 0 | 3,722 | −75.3%$^†$ |
| 15 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 47,111 | 5,359 | 2,039 | 3,624 | −80.7%$^†$ |
| 16 | Vegalta Sendai | 36,113 | 13,968 | 0 | 3,611 | −75.9%$^†$ |
| 17 | Kashiwa Reysol | 36,144 | 12,468 | 0 | 3,012 | −68.2%$^†$ |
| 18 | Yokohama FC | 32,184 | 5,163 | 0 | 2,926 | −58.6%$^†$ |
| | League total | 1,003,539 | 34,521 | 0 | 4,711 | −77.3%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 18 October 2020 Source: J. League Data Notes: $^†$ Promoted from J2