2021 J.League Cup

2021 JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ
Tournament details
Country	Japan
Dates	2 March – 30 October
Teams	16 (group stage) 20 (total)
Final positions
Champions	Nagoya Grampus (1st title)
Runner-up	Cerezo Osaka
Tournament statistics
Matches played	69
Goals scored	172 (2.49 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sho Inagaki Kasper Junker Teruhito Nakagawa Adaílton (4 goals each)
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 J.League Cup, known as the 2021 J.League YBC Levain Cup (Japanese: 2021 JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ) for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th edition of J.League Cup, a Japanese association football cup competition. It began on 2 March 2021 and ended on 30 October that year.^[1]

FC Tokyo were the cup holders, having won their third title. They failed to defend their title after being eliminated by eventual winners Nagoya Grampus in the semi-finals. Nagoya Grampus won their first ever J.League Cup title, defeating one-time winners Cerezo Osaka in the final.

Format

All 20 teams playing in the 2021 J1 League participated. Four clubs involved in the 2021 AFC Champions League received byes for the group and playoff stages: Kawasaki Frontale, Gamba Osaka, Nagoya Grampus, and Cerezo Osaka.

Sixteen teams played in the group stage. They were divided into four groups of four teams by their finish on the 2020 J1 and J2 Leagues (parenthesized below).

• Group A: Kashima Antlers (J1 5th), Consadole Sapporo (J1 12th), Sagan Tosu (J1 13th), Avispa Fukuoka (J2 2nd).
• Group B: FC Tokyo (J1 6th), Oita Trinita (J1 11th), Vissel Kobe (J1 14th), Tokushima Vortis (J2 1st).
• Group C: Kashiwa Reysol (J1 7th), Urawa Red Diamonds (J1 10th), Yokohama FC (J1 15th), Shonan Bellmare (J1 18th).
• Group D: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1 8th), Yokohama F. Marinos (J1 9th), Shimizu S-Pulse (J1 16th), Vegalta Sendai (J1 17th).

Schedule

Group stage

Each group were played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. Each match were played in 90 minutes.

All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Tiebreakers

In the group stage, teams in a group were ranked by points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If the points were tied, the following tiebreakers were applied accordingly:

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
5. If more than two teams are tied, and applying all head-to-head criteria above remains a part of teams still tied, reapply the criteria above only for the tied teams.
6. Goal difference in all group matches;
7. Goals scored in all group matches;
8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
9. Fewer disciplinary points;
10. Drawing of lots.

Group A

Sagan Tosu v Consadole Sapporo

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Sagan Tosu	1–5	Consadole Sapporo	Tosu
14:03	Tashiro 67'	Report	Yamashita 8' (o.g.) Matsumoto 9' (o.g.) Fukai 37' Anderson Lopes 56' Fernandes 86'	Stadium: Ekimae Real Estate Stadium Attendance: 4,399 Referee: Futoshi Nakamura

Avispa Fukuoka v Kashima Antlers

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Avispa Fukuoka	1–5	Kashima Antlers	Fukuoka
18:03	Carlos 75'	Report	Ueda 9', 35' Araki 28' Everaldo 61' Hirose 90+1'	Stadium: Best Denki Stadium Attendance: 3,964 Referee: Ryo Tanimoto

Sagan Tosu v Avispa Fukuoka

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Sagan Tosu	0–1	Avispa Fukuoka	Tosu
19:03		Report	Croux 82'	Stadium: Ekimae Real Estate Stadium Attendance: 4,227 Referee: Takuto Okabe

Consadole Sapporo v Avispa Fukuoka

28 April 2021 (2021-04-28)	Consadole Sapporo	1–1	Avispa Fukuoka	Sapporo
19:03	Anderson Lopes 84'	Report	Mary 90+4'	Stadium: Sapporo Dome Attendance: 4,446 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Consadole Sapporo v Sagan Tosu

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Consadole Sapporo	2–1	Sagan Tosu	Sapporo
14:03	Douglas 26' (pen.) Aoki 60'	Report	Yuzawa 90+1'	Stadium: Sapporo Dome Attendance: 7,507 Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami

Kashima Antlers v Avispa Fukuoka

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Kashima Antlers	1–1	Avispa Fukuoka	Kashima
15:03	Shirasaki 31'	Report	Mary 24'	Stadium: Kashima Soccer Stadium Attendance: 8,343 Referee: Futoshi Nakamura

Avispa Fukuoka v Sagan Tosu

19 May 2021 (2021-05-19)	Avispa Fukuoka	4–1	Sagan Tosu	Fukuoka
19:03	Jogo 8', 56' Ishizu 60' Juanma 72'	Report	Hayashi 74'	Stadium: Best Denki Stadium Attendance: 979 Referee: Akihiko Ikeuchi

Group B

Oita Trinita v Vissel Kobe

2 March 2021 (2021-03-02)	Oita Trinita	1–3	Vissel Kobe	Ōita
19:03	Fujimoto 20'	Report	Masuyama 44' Nakasaka 51' Tanaka 81'	Stadium: Showa Denko Dome Oita Attendance: 3,320 Referee: Hiroki Kasahara

FC Tokyo v Tokushima Vortis

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03)	FC Tokyo	1–0	Tokushima Vortis	Chōfu
18:03	Tagawa 59'	Report		Stadium: Ajinomoto Stadium Attendance: 3,788 Referee: Takuto Okabe

Tokushima Vortis v Oita Trinita

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Tokushima Vortis	0–1	Oita Trinita	Naruto
14:03		Report	Nagasawa 5'	Stadium: Pocarisweat Stadium Attendance: 2,322 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Vissel Kobe v Tokushima Vortis

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Vissel Kobe	0–1	Tokushima Vortis	Kobe
18:03		Report	Kawata 30'	Stadium: Noevir Stadium Kobe Attendance: 2,184 Referee: Dai Matsumoto

Oita Trinita v FC Tokyo

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Oita Trinita	0–1	FC Tokyo	Ōita
19:03		Report	Nagai 50'	Stadium: Showa Denko Dome Oita Attendance: 2,806 Referee: Akihiko Ikeuchi

Tokushima Vortis v FC Tokyo

28 April 2021 (2021-04-28)	Tokushima Vortis	1–1	FC Tokyo	Naruto
19:03	Hamashita 12'	Report	Uvini 47'	Stadium: Pocarisweat Stadium Attendance: 1,969 Referee: Yudai Yamamoto

Oita Trinita v Tokushima Vortis

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Oita Trinita	1–1	Tokushima Vortis	Ōita
14:03	Takazawa 14'	Report	Cacá 84'	Stadium: Showa Denko Dome Oita Attendance: 3,987 Referee: Masaaki Toma

FC Tokyo v Oita Trinita

19 May 2021 (2021-05-19)	FC Tokyo	1–1	Oita Trinita	Chōfu
19:03	Nagai 63'	Report	Yumiba 45+2'	Stadium: Ajinomoto Stadium Attendance: 2,842 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Group C

Kashiwa Reysol v Yokohama FC

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03)	Kashiwa Reysol	0–1	Yokohama FC	Kashiwa
18:03		Report	S. Ito 51' (pen.)	Stadium: Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium Attendance: 2,260 Referee: Ryo Tanimoto

Shonan Bellmare v Yokohama FC

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Shonan Bellmare	1–0	Yokohama FC	Hiratsuka
15:03	Nemoto 47'	Report		Stadium: Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka Attendance: 4,865 Referee: Ryosuke Yamaoka

Urawa Red Diamonds v Kashiwa Reysol

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Urawa Red Diamonds	0–1	Kashiwa Reysol	Saitama
15:03		Report	Cristiano 79'	Stadium: Saitama Stadium 2002 Attendance: 8,024 Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami

Kashiwa Reysol v Shonan Bellmare

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Kashiwa Reysol	1–1	Shonan Bellmare	Kashiwa
18:03	Goya 28'	Report	Kobayashi 90'	Stadium: Sankyo Frontier Kashiwa Stadium Attendance: 2,152 Referee: Yusuke Araki

Yokohama FC v Urawa Red Diamonds

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Yokohama FC	1–2	Urawa Red Diamonds	Yokohama
19:03	Kléber 14'	Report	Sugimoto 45', 57'	Stadium: NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium Attendance: 2,481 Referee: Masaya Ueda

Yokohama FC v Shonan Bellmare

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Yokohama FC	1–1	Shonan Bellmare	Yokohama
14:03	Kléber 78'	Report	Hiraoka 42'	Stadium: NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium Attendance: 4,004 Referee: Takuto Okabe

Shonan Bellmare v Kashiwa Reysol

19 May 2021 (2021-05-19)	Shonan Bellmare	1–1	Kashiwa Reysol	Hiratsuka
19:03	Ikeda 50'	Report	Takahashi 90+2'	Stadium: Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka Attendance: 3,521 Referee: Hiroyoshi Takayama

Group D

Yokohama F. Marinos v Vegalta Sendai

3 March 2021 (2021-03-03)	Yokohama F. Marinos	1–0	Vegalta Sendai	Yokohama
18:03	Onaiwu 16'	Report		Stadium: Nissan Stadium Attendance: 3,851 Referee: Yuki Noda

Vegalta Sendai v Shimizu S-Pulse

27 March 2021 (2021-03-27)	Vegalta Sendai	0–1	Shimizu S-Pulse	Sendai
14:03		Report	Yu. Suzuki 70'	Stadium: Yurtec Stadium Sendai Attendance: 3,196 Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Sanfrecce Hiroshima v Vegalta Sendai

21 April 2021 (2021-04-21)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	0–1	Vegalta Sendai	Hiroshima
19:03		Report	C. Kato 75'	Stadium: Edion Stadium Hiroshima Attendance: 1,739 Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Shimizu S-Pulse v Sanfrecce Hiroshima

28 April 2021 (2021-04-28)	Shimizu S-Pulse	1–2	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Shizuoka
19:03	Ibusuki 69'	Report	Naganuma 37' Valdo 48' (o.g.)	Stadium: IAI Stadium Nihondaira Attendance: 3,511 Referee: Futoshi Nakamura

Shimizu S-Pulse v Vegalta Sendai

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Shimizu S-Pulse	4–1	Vegalta Sendai	Shizuoka
14:03	Fukumori 41' Kaneko 45+1' (pen.) Disaró 48' Nakayama 89'	Report	Sasaki 36'	Stadium: IAI Stadium Nihondaira Attendance: 5,376 Referee: Kazuyoshi Enomoto

Sanfrecce Hiroshima v Yokohama F. Marinos

5 May 2021 (2021-05-05)	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	1–1	Yokohama F. Marinos	Hiroshima
14:03	Ayukawa 90+6'	Report	Ceará 28'	Stadium: Edion Stadium Hiroshima Attendance: 4,491 Referee: Akihiko Ikeuchi

Yokohama F. Marinos v Shimizu S-Pulse

19 May 2021 (2021-05-19)	Yokohama F. Marinos	5–1	Shimizu S-Pulse	Yokohama
19:03	Kabayama 40', 51' Wada 48' Nakagawa 79' Ceará 89'	Report	Katayama 2'	Stadium: Nissan Stadium Attendance: 4,363 Referee: Masaaki Toma

Play-off stage

Summary

The play-off stage was played as two-legged ties of two teams each. The away goals rule, an extra time (away goals rule not applied for the scores in the extra time), and a penalty shoot-out would have been used if needed.

The play-off stage was held over two legs; on 2, 5, and 6 June 2021 (first), and 6 and 13 June 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Matches

2 June 2021 (2021-06-02)

19:03

Shimizu S-Pulse	0–1	Kashima Antlers
	Report	Hayashi 8'

IAI Stadium Nihondaira, Shizuoka

Attendance: 3,626

Referee: Futoshi Nakamura

6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)

15:03

Kashima Antlers	2–1	Shimizu S-Pulse
Juan Alano 45' Everaldo 71'	Report	Thiago Santana 21'

Kashima Soccer Stadium, Kashima

Attendance: 7,274

Referee: Yoshiro Imamura

Kashima Antlers won 3–1 on aggregate.

5 June 2021 (2021-06-05)

14:03

FC Tokyo	0–1	Shonan Bellmare
	Report	Wellington 71'

Komazawa Olympic Park Stadium, Setagaya

Attendance: 4,284

Referee: Hayato Shimizu

13 June 2021 (2021-06-13)

17:03

Shonan Bellmare	1–4	FC Tokyo
Nakamura 44'	Report	Leandro 11' Diego Oliveira 35' Adaílton 41', 90+2'

Lemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka, Hiratsuka

Attendance: 4,690

Referee: Nobutsugu Murakami

FC Tokyo won 4–2 on aggregate.

6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)

13:03

Consadole Sapporo	1–1	Yokohama F. Marinos
Aoki 26'	Report	Nakagawa 45+2'

Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium, Sapporo

Attendance: 3,814

Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

13 June 2021 (2021-06-13)

17:03

Yokohama F. Marinos	1–3	Consadole Sapporo
Mizunuma 61'	Report	Hatanaka 7' (o.g.) Suga 51' Yanagi 87'

NHK Spring Mitsuzawa Football Stadium, Yokohama

Attendance: 4,909

Referee: Masaaki Toma

Consadole Sapporo won 4–2 on aggregate.

6 June 2021 (2021-06-06)

18:03

Vissel Kobe	1–2	Urawa Red Diamonds
Douglas 3'	Report	A. Ito 45+1' Koroki 71'

Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe

Attendance: 4,720

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Urawa Red Diamonds won 4–3 on aggregate.

Prime stage (Knockout stage)

The prime stage (knockout stage) was played between four teams which won at the play-off stage and the four 2021 AFC Champions League participants entering the tournament at this stage. The prime stage was played as two-legged ties of two teams each. The away goals rule, an extra time (away goals rule not applied for the scores in the extra time), and a penalty shoot-out were used if needed.

The quarter-finals and the semi-finals were played as two-legged ties (same as the play-off stage). The final was played as a single game.

Quarter-finals

Summary

The quarter-finals were held over two legs; on 1 (first) and 5 September 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Matches

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

19:03

Consadole Sapporo	2–1	FC Tokyo
Tanaka 21' Arano 80'	Report	Watanabe 14'

Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium, Sapporo

Attendance: 3,204

Referee: Yoshiro Imamura

FC Tokyo won 3–2 on aggregate.

Nagoya Grampus won 4–0 on aggregate.

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

19:03

Cerezo Osaka	0–1	Gamba Osaka
	Report	Yamami 89'

Yodoko Sakura Stadium, Osaka

Attendance: 4,205

Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Cerezo Osaka won 4–1 on aggregate.

1 September 2021 (2021-09-01)

19:03

Urawa Red Diamonds	1–1	Kawasaki Frontale
Sekine 35'	Report	Ienaga 72' (pen.)

Urawa Komaba Stadium, Saitama

Attendance: 4,629

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

4–4 on aggregate. Urawa Red Diamonds won on away goals.

Semi-finals

Summary

The semi-finals were held over two legs; on 6 (first) and 10 October 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Matches

6 October 2021 (2021-10-06)

19:03

Nagoya Grampus	3–1	FC Tokyo
Kakitani 17' Kimoto 69' Mateus 90+4'	Report	Adaílton 90+3'

Toyota Stadium, Toyota

Attendance: 7,778

Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura

10 October 2021 (2021-10-10)

14:03

FC Tokyo	2–1	Nagoya Grampus
Adaílton 15' Takahagi 55'	Report	Inagaki 79'

Ajinomoto Stadium, Chōfu

Attendance: 9,910

Referee: Hajime Matsuo

Nagoya Grampus won 4–3 on aggregate.

6 October 2021 (2021-10-06)

19:03

Urawa Red Diamonds	1–1	Cerezo Osaka
Junker 12'	Report	Yamada 66'

Saitama Stadium 2002, Saitama

Attendance: 8,734

Referee: Ryuji Sato

10 October 2021 (2021-10-10)

15:03

Cerezo Osaka	1–0	Urawa Red Diamonds
M. Kato 53'	Report

Yodoko Sakura Stadium, Osaka

Attendance: 8,654

Referee: Koichiro Fukushima

Cerezo Osaka won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[2]
1	Sho Inagaki	Nagoya Grampus	4
	Kasper Junker	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Teruhito Nakagawa	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Adaílton	FC Tokyo
5	Hisashi Jogo	Avispa Fukuoka	3
	Ryonosuke Kabayama	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Kota Mizunuma	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Douglas Oliveira	Consadole Sapporo
	Ado Onaiwu	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Takahiro Sekine	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Everaldo Stum	Kashima Antlers