2024 J3 League


The 2024 J3 League, also known as the '''2024 Meiji Yasuda Life for sponsorship reasons, was the 11th season of the J3 League, the third-tier Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 2013.

Overview

The league continued with 20 teams for the 2024 season.
The top two teams in the league will be automatically promoted to the J2 League, provided they have the necessary license. The 2024 season introduces a promotion play-offs, where one of the teams ranked 3rd to 6th will also be promoted. As of September 2024, all clubs in the league now hold a valid J2 license, following FC Osaka being the final club to be granted one.
There is the possibility that as many as two clubs will be relegated to the Japan Football League. Promotion from the JFL is conditional on holding a valid J3 license. If the JFL champions hold a license, the club will be automatically promoted and the J3's 20th-placed team will be automatically relegated. If the JFL runners-up hold a license, the club will need to play promotion/relegation play-offs against J3's 19th or 20th-placed team for the season, depending on whether the JFL champions hold the J3 license. The club who do not hold a license cannot be promoted and no teams will be relegated from the J3 League.

Schedule

The league and match format was announced on 19 December 2023. The league began on 23 February and ended on 10 November in a round-robin format of 38 matches.
The J3 promotion play-offs were held in a similar manner to the J2 playoffs, with the semi-finals on 1 December with the final taking place on 7 December.

Changes from the previous season

Zweigen Kanazawa and Omiya Ardija were relegated to the J3 League, finishing the previous J2 League season as 21st and 22nd-placed teams, respectively. Zweigen Kanazawa are returning to the J3 League after nine seasons in the second-tier. Omiya Ardija will be competing in the third-tier for the first time as a J.League member.
No teams were relegated from the 2023 J3 League. This is only the second time in J3 history that there will be no new clubs promoted from the JFL.
J3 winners Ehime FC and runners-up Kagoshima United were both promoted from the 2023 season.

Clubs

Club nameHome townStadiumCapacityLast seasonLicence
Azul Claro NumazuNumazuAshitaka Stadium5,104J3 J2
Fukushima UnitedFukushimaToho Stadium5,710J3 J1
Gainare TottoriAll cities/towns in TottoriAxis Bird Stadium11,999J3 J2
All cities/towns in GifuGifu Nagaragawa Stadium16,310J3 J1
Giravanz KitakyushuKitakyushu, FukuokaMikuni World Stadium Kitakyushu15,066J3 J1
FC ImabariImabariASICS Satoyama Stadium5,316J3 J2
Iwate Grulla MoriokaAll cities/towns in IwateIwagin Stadium & Kitakami Stadium5,046J3 J1
Kamatamare SanukiAll cities/towns in KagawaPikara Stadium22,338J3 J1
Kataller ToyamaAll cities/towns in ToyamaToyama Athletic Stadium18,588J3 J1
Matsumoto YamagaCities/towns in NaganoSunpro Alwin20,336J3 J1
Nagano ParceiroNaganoNagano U Stadium15,491J3 J2
Nara ClubAll cities/towns on NaraRohto Field Nara5,369J3 J2
Omiya ArdijaSaitama, SaitamaNACK5 Stadium Omiya15,491 J2 J1
FC OsakaHigashiōsaka, OsakaHanazono Rugby Stadium26,443J3 J3
FC RyukyuAll cities/towns in OkinawaTapic Kenso Hiyagon Stadium10,189J3 J1
SC SagamiharaSagamiharaGion Stadium11,808J3 J2
Tegevajaro MiyazakiMiyazaki & Shintomi, MiyazakiUnilever Stadium Shintomi5,357J3 J2
Vanraure HachinohePrifoods Stadium5,124J3 J2
YSCC YokohamaYokohamaNippatsu Mitsuzawa Stadium15,442J3 J2
Zweigen KanazawaAll cities/towns in IshikawaIshikawa Kanazawa Stadium10,728 J2 J1

Foreign players

From the 2021 season onwards, there is no limitations on signing foreign players, but clubs could only register up to five of them for a single matchday squad. Players from J.League partner nations were exempted from these restrictions.
  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the summer transfer window.
  • Player's name in italics indicates the player has Japanese nationality in addition to their FIFA nationality, holds the nationality of a J.League partner nation, 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 8Player 9Former players
Azul Claro Numazu

Play-offs

Promotion play-offs

The usual format will be applied in the 2024 season. Promotion play-offs, officially called the 2024 J.League Road To J2 Play-offs, was held from the semi-finals, where the match-ups were previously semi-determined. Based on the J3 placements at the end of the regular season, the third-placed team played against the sixth-placed, while the fourth-placed team played against the fifth-placed. The winners of the semi-finals played the final, with the winners promoted to the J2.
If a match was tied in the play-offs, the team with the highest league position are declared the winner. The rank order was: J3's third, fourth, fifth, and sixth-placed teams.

Semi-finals

In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position goes through to the play-off final.
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''In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position goes through to the play-off final.''

Final

''In case of a tie, the team with the higher league position got promoted to J2 League.''

Relegation play-offs

The relegation play-offs, officially called the 2024 J3/JFL Play-Offs, take place on 1 and 7 December 2024.
If two teams are equal on the scoreboard, the match will going to extra time and penalty shoot-out. Away goals rule will not applied.

Overview


Matches

''Kochi United SC won the J3/JFL play-offs on aggregate 3-1 and got promoted to J3, while YSCC Yokohama lost the play-offs and got relegated to JFL.''

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1