2018 J1 League


The 2018 J1 League, also known as the '''2018 Meiji Yasuda Life for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending champions.

2018 season clubs

A total of 18 clubs contested the league. The 2017 J2 League champion Shonan Bellmare and the winner of the promotion play-offs Nagoya Grampus returned to the top flight a year after being relegated from J1 in the 2016 season. V-Varen Nagasaki, J2 runner-up in 2017, played in the J1 League for the first time.
ClubLocationStadiumLast season
Hokkaido Consadole SapporoHokkaidoSapporo DomeJ1
Vegalta SendaiMiyagi PrefectureYurtec Stadium SendaiJ1
Kashima AntlersIbaraki PrefectureKashima Soccer StadiumJ1
Urawa Red DiamondsSaitama PrefectureSaitama Stadium 2002J1
Kashiwa ReysolChiba PrefectureSankyo Frontier Kashiwa StadiumJ1
FC TokyoTokyoAjinomoto StadiumJ1
Kawasaki FrontaleKanagawa PrefectureTodoroki Athletics StadiumJ1
Yokohama F. MarinosKanagawa PrefectureNissan Stadium
Nippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium		J1
Shonan BellmareKanagawa PrefectureShonan BMW Stadium HiratsukaJ2
Shimizu S-PulseShizuoka PrefectureIAI Stadium NihondairaJ1
Júbilo IwataShizuoka PrefectureYamaha StadiumJ1
Nagoya GrampusAichi PrefecturePaloma Mizuho Stadium
Toyota Stadium		J2
Gamba OsakaOsaka PrefecturePanasonic Stadium SuitaJ1
Cerezo OsakaOsaka PrefectureYanmar Stadium Nagai
Kincho Stadium		J1
Vissel KobeHyōgo PrefectureNoevir Stadium KobeJ1
Sanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima Prefecture Stadium HiroshimaJ1
Sagan TosuSaga PrefectureBest Amenity StadiumJ1
V-Varen NagasakiNagasaki PrefectureTranscosmos Stadium NagasakiJ2

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of
appointment
Yokohama F. Marinos 1 January 2018 19 December 2017
Urawa Red Diamonds 2 April 2018 19 April 2018
Kashiwa Reysol 13 May 2018 13 May 2018
Gamba Osaka 23 July 2018 23 July 2018
Vissel Kobe 17 Sep 2018 4 Oct 2018
Sagan Tosu 17 Oct 2018 17 Oct 2018

Foreign players

The total number of foreign players is restricted to five per club. Clubs can register up to four foreign players for a single match-day squad, of which a maximum of three are allowed from nations outside the Asian Football Confederation. Players from J.League partner nations are exempt from these restrictions.
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5OtherFormer
Consadole Sapporo Jay Bothroyd Gu Sung-yun Kim Min-tae Chanathip Songkrasin Jonathan Reis
Julinho
Vegalta Sendai Rafaelson Ramon Lopes Kim Jung-ya Lee Yun-oh Ryang Yong-gi
Leandro Léo Silva Serginho Jung Seung-hyun Kwoun Sun-tae Pedro Júnior
Andrew Nabbout Fabrício Maurício Antônio Quenten Martinus Zlatan Ljubijankič
Cristiano Nathan Otávio Michael Olunga Kim Bo-kyung Park Jeong-su Ramon Lopes
Yun Suk-young
Diego Oliveira Lins Lipe Veloso Jang Hyun-soo Jakkit Wachpirom
Caio César Eduardo Elsinho Jung Sung-ryong Jefferson Tabinas Eduardo Neto
Thiago Martins Olivier Boumal Hugo Vieira Dušan Cvetinović Yun Il-lok Ippei Shinozuka Milos Degenek
David Babunski
Shonan Bellmare André Bahia Mihael Mikić Lee Jeong-hyeop Alen Stevanović
Shimizu S-Pulse Mitchell Duke Crislan Douglas Freire Hwang Seok-ho Jong Tae-se Wu Shaocong
Júbilo Iwata Adaílton Krzysztof Kaminski Eren Albayrak Fozil Musaev Guilherme Santos
Gabriel Morbeck
Nagoya Grampus Mitchell Langerak Eduardo Neto Gabriel Xavier Jô Willian Rocha Washington
Gamba Osaka Ademilson Fábio Aguiar Hwang Ui-jo Oh Jae-suk Matheus Jesus
Cerezo Osaka Souza Matej Jonjić Kim Jin-hyeon Yang Dong-hyun Osmar Barba Pierce Waring
Chaowat Veerachat
Vissel Kobe Wellington Lukas Podolski Kim Seung-gyu Andrés Iniesta Theerathon Bunmathan
Ahmed Yasser		 Leandro
Jung Woo-young
Sanfrecce Hiroshima Besart Berisha Felipe Silva Patric Teerasil Dangda
Sagan Tosu Joan Oumari Cho Dong-geon Kim Min-hyeok Fernando Torres Víctor Ibarbo
An Yong-woo
Jung Seung-hyun
V-Varen Nagasaki Jordy Buijs Choi Kyu-baek Jairo Morillas Juanma Ben Halloran

Results

League table

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
Kawasaki Frontale1421325633345433333332222221111111
Sanfrecce Hiroshima4212111111111111111111111112222222
Kashima Antlers127968121381214151381011131079677778743355333
Consadole Sapporo161115111576444433355564456644574533444
Urawa Red Diamonds6131317171611109121411121314111297899999986666665
FC Tokyo6141713943522222222222223333335444556
Cerezo Osaka6910151264355554544456765565657878897
Shimizu S-Pulse12533458121311710119109810810111111121210109987778
Gamba Osaka1417181818181818171716151616161616161617171817171717171312109989
Vissel Kobe6151481310997688107666455444578910111211121110
Vegalta Sendai4354232267697878781012888864687910101011
Yokohama F. Marinos6161612101314161515131615151310131313151314151514141211101113111212
Shonan Bellmare36710141112151413101213141214111211111212121413131414131414141413
Sagan Tosu61069699141616171717171717171717161515161616151516171615151514
Nagoya Grampus214571516171818181818181818181818181816141311121315161516161615
Júbilo Iwata18181113101415118109666879111291010101010111112151312131316
Kashiwa Reysol168875877108117911912141515131413131115161617141717171717
V-Varen Nagasaki1511121616171713119121414121515151414141617181818181818181818181818
Leader and qualification to AFC Champions League Group stage
Qualification to AFC Champions League qualifying play-off
Qualification to [|Relegation play-off]
Relegation to J2 League
Source:

Results table


Home \ AwayANTBELCERCONFMAFROGAMGRAJUBREDREYSSPSAGSFRTOKVVNVEGVIS
Kashima Antlers—2–11–00–01–00–01–02–01–11–06–21–00–00–11–22–11–21–1
Shonan Bellmare2–1—1–12–20–10–01–00–01–02–11–20–01–10–20–02–11–30–2
Cerezo Osaka0–22–1—3–31–12–10–10–11–11–10–33–12–10–11–03–12–11–1
Consadole Sapporo0–21–01–1—2–11–22–03–00–01–21–21–32–12–23–22–11–03–1
Yokohama F. Marinos3–04–41–22–1—1–11–11–21–31–23–11–21–21–40–15–25–21–2
Kawasaki Frontale4–11–11–27–02–0—2–03–12–10–23–03–00–00–10–21–01–05–3
Gamba Osaka1–11–01–01–12–12–0—2–32–00–02–21–23–01–02–12–11–00–1
Nagoya Grampus4–22–20–01–21–10–13–2—1–04–12–31–33–00–01–23–42–31–2
Júbilo Iwata3–31–01–10–21–20–31–11–6—2–12–00–01–03–22–01–23–20–2
Urawa Red Diamonds3–10–11–20–00–12–01–33–14–0—3–22–10–01–23–20–01–04–0
Kashiwa Reysol2–30–21–11–22–01–24–20–11–21–0—2–31–10–10–15–10–22–1
Shimizu S-Pulse0–04–23–01–20–11–21–22–05–13–32–1—1–02–00–10–11–13–3
Sagan Tosu0–10–11–01–22–10–23–03–20–01–01–23–1—1–00–01–00–11–1
Sanfrecce Hiroshima3–12–20–21–03–11–24–01–20–01–40–32–01–0—1–12–00–12–0
FC Tokyo2–11–00–10–05–20–23–23–20–01–10–10–20–03–1—0–10–11–0
V-Varen Nagasaki1–21–30–22–31–21–23–03–00–01–11–01–22–20–22–5—1–00–1
Vegalta Sendai0–34–12–22–22–80–02–11–20–31–11–02–12–31–31–01–0—1–1
Vissel Kobe0–50–32–04–00–21–21–23–02–12–31–02–40–01–10–01–13–2—

Source:
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion–Relegation Playoff

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 JôNagoya Grampus
24
2 PatricSanfrecce Hiroshima
20
3 Hwang Ui-joGamba Osaka
16
4 Yū KobayashiKawasaki Frontale
15
4 Shinzo KorokiUrawa Red Diamonds
15
6 Diego OliveiraFC Tokyo
13
6 Hugo VieiraYokohama F. Marinos
13
6 Koya KitagawaShimizu S-Pulse
13
9 Ken TokuraConsadole Sapporo
12
10 Takuma NishimuraVegalta Sendai
11
10 Yuma SuzukiKashima Antlers
11
10 Kengo KawamataJúbilo Iwata
11
10 DouglasShimizu S-Pulse
11
10 Musashi SuzukiV-Varen Nagasaki
11

Top assists

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Diego OliveiraFC TokyoV-Varen Nagasaki2–5 08 04 2018
Hugo VieiraYokohama F. MarinosShonan Bellmare4–4 21 04 2018
Sho ItoYokohama F. MarinosVegalta Sendai2–8 18 07 2018
JôNagoya GrampusGamba Osaka4–1 05 08 2018
FabrícioUrawa Red DiamondsJúbilo Iwata4–0 15 08 2018
JôNagoya GrampusUrawa Red Diamonds4–1 26 08 2018
Musashi SuzukiV-Varen NagasakiNagoya Grampus4–3 15 09 2018

;Note
– Home ; – Away

Attendances

Awards

AwardWinnerClub
J.League Manager of the Year Mihailo PetrovićConsadole Sapporo
J.League Most Valuable Player Akihiro IenagaKawasaki Frontale
J.League Rookie of the Year Hiroki AbeKashima Antlers