2021 J1 League


The 2021 J1 League, also known as the '''2021 Meiji Yasuda Life for sponsorship reasons, was the 29th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was seventh season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The league began on 26 February and ended on 4 December 2021.
Kawasaki Frontale were the reigning champions, having won their third title in 2020 with four rounds to play. They successfully retained the title, again with four rounds to play.
On 20 November 2021, Oita Trinita, Vegalta Sendai, and Yokohama FC were relegated to J2 League with two games to play. On the final matchday, Tokushima Vortis was relegated back to J2 League after just one season.

Changes from the previous season

There were no teams relegated the previous season due to impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, four relegation places were applied for the current season to reduce the total number of teams from 20 back to 18.
Two teams were promoted from the 2020 J2 League: Tokushima Vortis won the title and clinched a second promotion to J1, while Avispa Fukuoka came second, returning to J1 after five seasons.

Clubs

ClubLocationStadiumCapacityPrevious season rank
Hokkaido Consadole SapporoHokkaidoSapporo Dome
Sapporo Atsubetsu Stadium		41,484
20,861		J1
Vegalta SendaiMiyagi PrefectureYurtec Stadium Sendai19,694J1
Kashima AntlersIbaraki PrefectureKashima Soccer Stadium40,728J1
Urawa Red DiamondsSaitama PrefectureSaitama Stadium 200263,700J1
Kashiwa ReysolChiba PrefectureHitachi Kashiwa Stadium15,900J1
FC TokyoTokyoAjinomoto Stadium49,970J1
Yokohama FCKanagawa PrefectureMitsuzawa Stadium15,046J1
Yokohama F. MarinosKanagawa PrefectureNissan Stadium72,327J1
Kawasaki FrontaleKanagawa PrefectureTodoroki Stadium26,232J1
Shonan BellmareKanagawa PrefectureLemon Gas Stadium Hiratsuka18,500J1
Shimizu S-PulseShizuoka PrefectureIAI Stadium Nihondaira20,339J1
Nagoya GrampusAichi PrefectureToyota Stadium45,000J1
Gamba OsakaOsaka PrefecturePanasonic Stadium Suita39,694J1
Cerezo OsakaOsaka PrefectureYanmar Stadium47,853J1
Vissel KobeHyōgo PrefectureNoevir Stadium Kobe30,132J1
Sanfrecce HiroshimaHiroshima PrefectureEdion Stadium36,894J1
Tokushima VortisTokushima PrefecturePocarisweat Stadium20,441 J2
Avispa FukuokaFukuoka PrefectureBest Denki Stadium21,562 J2
Sagan TosuSaga PrefectureEkimae Real Estate Stadium24,130J1
Oita TrinitaŌita PrefectureShowa Denko Dome Oita40,000J1

Foreign players

As of 2019 season, there are no more restrictions on a number of signed foreign players, but clubs could only register up to five foreign players for a single match-day squad. Players from J.League partner nations were exempted 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 an approved type of school in the country.
ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Player 4Player 5Player 6Player 7Player 8Former players
Avispa Fukuoka

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Leandro DamiãoKawasaki Frontale23
1 Daizen MaedaYokohama F. Marinos23
3 Kyogo FuruhashiVissel Kobe15
4 Ayase UedaKashima Antlers14
5 Diego OliveiraFC Tokyo13
5 PatricGamba Osaka13
5 Thiago SantanaShimizu S-Pulse13
8 Anderson LopesHokkaido Consadole Sapporo12
8 Ado OnaiwuYokohama F. Marinos12
10 Léo CearáYokohama F. Marinos10
10 Ryotaro ArakiKashima Antlers10
10 Yu KobayashiKawasaki Frontale10

Discipline

Player

Club

  • Most yellow cards: 49
  • *Avispa Fukuoka
  • *Kashima Antlers
  • Most red cards: 3
  • *FC Tokyo
  • *Kashima Antlers
  • *Sagan Tosu
  • *Yokohama F. Marinos