2022 Emperor's Cup
The 2022 Emperor's Cup (Emperor's Cup JFA 102th Japan Football Championship (Japanese: 天皇杯 JFA 第102回全日本サッカー選手権大会)) is the 102nd edition of the annually Japanese national football cup tournament, which will take place from 21 May 2021 to 16 October. The final will be played at the Nissan Stadium, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. It will be the first time that this stadium host a Emperor's Cup final since the 2014 edition of the Emperor's Cup. The 2022 Emperor's Cup will follow a different pattern when compared with the 3 previous editions of the  tournament, being restored to its old, but usual format, that was applied for the last time in the 2018 edition of the Cup. It will feature 88 teams, representing prefectural football associations, the J1, and J2 Leagues. Honda FC was awarded a seeded entry as the JFA's annually designated amateur club, to make an even number of teams in the First Round. Urawa Red Diamonds are the defending champions, after beating Oita Trinita by 2−1, in the 2021 Emperor's Cup Final. The winner of the current edition will be able to play the 2023−24 AFC Champions League, winning  instantly a group stage spot, if the winner couldn't qualify to the Champions League via the J1 League. Calendar. The schedule was announced on 21 December 2021. The first round of the tournament will be played during Saturdays and Mondays, and during Wednesdays starting from the second round and ending in the semi-finals. The 2022 Emperor's Cup will have its final being rushed to mid-October. The 2022 FIFA World Cup, in which the Japan National Team is participating, will be held during November and December, making difficult for the 2022 Emperor's Cup Final be held  as the end of the year, as it's usual of the tournament. It will be the earliest date for the Final to be played since the 1968 Emperor's Cup. Participating clubs. "In parenthesis the amount of times each teams qualified to the Emperor's Cup (Appearance in the 2022 Emperor's Cup included)" Qualifying rounds. As only J1 and J2 League clubs qualify for the First Round, the other Emperor's Cup candidate teams (exception being made to the JFA-seeded teams), have to undergo a prefectural qualification, with regulaments and schedules varying from association to association. In  total, there are 47 prefectural cup qualifications, with the 47 winners of each prefectural cup earning their right to play in the First Round of the Emperor's Cup. The following shows the results of each prefectural final of the 2022 Emperor's Cup Prefectural Qualification Cup. First round. It will be played from 21 to 22 May, with 23 May being the alternative match-playing date. Second round. The matches on this round will be played from 1 June to 8 June; Provisionally, 29 matches in 1st June and 3 matches in 8th June. Despite being a professional league , the J3 League teams aren't awarded a direct spot in this round. The direct spots are reserved to J1 League, and J2 League teams. Quarter-finals. A draw will be made to determine the matchups of the quarter-final stage and onwards. Final. Source: Tournament table (Official website in Japanese)