All statistics correct as of 22:24, 4 June 2024 (UTC).
The 2024 J3 League, also known as the 2024 Meiji YasudaJ3 League (Japanese: 2024 明治安田J3リーグ, Hepburn: 2024 Meiji Yasuda J3 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, is 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 will continue 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.
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(s) who do not hold a license cannot be promoted and no teams will be relegated from the J3 League.[3]
Schedule
The league and match format was announced on 19 December 2023. The league will begin on 23 February and end on 10 November in a round-robin format of 38 matches.[3]
The J3 promotion play-offs will be held in a similar manner to the J2 playoffs, with the semi-finals on 1 December with the final taking place on 7 December.[4]
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.
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.[22] Players from J.League partner nations (Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Qatar) 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.[23]
Updated to match(es) played on 23 June 2024. Source: Meiji Yasuda J3 League, J.League Data Site Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goal scored; 7) Fair-play points. Notes:
^The team does not hold either a J1 or J2 license, and so is ineligible for promotion to the J2 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(s) who do not hold a license cannot be promoted.
^"いわてグルージャ盛岡 オフィシャルサイト". いわてグルージャ盛岡 オフィシャルサイト (in Japanese). 8 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
^"「ホームグロウン制度」の導入と「外国籍選手枠」の変更について" [About the introduction of the "homegrown system" and the change of the "foreign player quota"]. JLeague.jp (in Japanese). Japan Professional Football League. 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018.
^"プロサッカー選手の契約、登録および移籍に関する規則" [Rules for contracting, registering and transferring professional soccer players] (PDF). JFA.jp (in Japanese). Japan Football Association. Retrieved 1 March 2022.