Two fifth round fixtures of the Emperor's Cup JFA 100th Japan Football Championship will take place on Sunday 20 December.

Due to the effects of COVID-19, this year’s Emperor's Cup has been held under a unique format. With J.League clubs entering the tournament from the quarterfinals, the fifth round will determine the challengers advancing to the quarterfinals.

Fukui United (Fukui) and Fukuyama City FC (Hiroshima) will compete for their ticket to challenge Blaublitz Akita (Winner of J3). Following their overtime victory against ReinMeer Aomori (Aomori), Fukui United has now reached the fifth round for the first time in club’s history. ISHIZUKA Koshi has now scored in back-to-back matches, including the winning goal at the fourth round. The Fukui side will seek to showcase a total team effort in both offence and defence to advance through the fifth round with their solid defence and counterattacks.

Fukuyama City FC will be entering the fifth round carrying great momentum. Despite seeing their goal of getting promoted into the Chugoku League disappear due to the effects of COVID-19, the Hiroshima side has shown strong performances to achieve their second goal of the season, which is to win against a J.Club at the Emperor's Cup. In the first three rounds, Fukuyama City outperformed opponents from higher categories and scored goals in the first half. Fukuyama City will seek to showcase their attacking football against Fukui who will be anticipating for their chances to counterattack.

University of Tsukuba (Ibaraki) has returned to the round of 16 since 2017, and they are seeking to make history by advancing to the quarterfinals this year. Despite their struggles at the Kanto University League, where they currently rank 10th, they have showcased a strong performance at the Emperor's Cup, defeating two JFL sides to make their way into the top 16.

Honda FC (Amateur seed) will be facing University of Tsukuba at the fifth round. After making their first quarterfinal appearance in 12 years last year, the team has won against this season’s JFL champion Verspah Oita (Oita) at the fourth round, seeking to reach the top eight in back to back years.

【1st Round】Wed. 16 September
【2nd Round】Wed. 23, Wed. 30 September
【3rd Round】Wed. 28 October, Wed. 11 November
【4th Round】Sat. 12, Sun. 13 December
【Round of 16】Sun. 20 December
【Quarterfinals】Wed. 23 December
【Semi-final】Sun. 27 December
【Final】Fri. 1 January 2021

Tournament Information