2020 J1 League

J1 League
Season2020
Dates21 February – 19 December 2020
ChampionsKawasaki Frontale (3rd title)
RelegatedNone
Champions LeagueKawasaki Frontale
Gamba Osaka
Nagoya Grampus
Cerezo Osaka
Matches played306
Goals scored857 (2.8 per match)
Top goalscorerMichael Olunga
(28 goals)
Biggest home winUrawa Red Diamonds 6–0 Vegalta Sendai
(18 October 2020)
Biggest away winConsadole Sapporo 1–6 Kawasaki Frontale
(15 August 2020)
Highest scoringNagoya Grampus 6–2 Urawa Red Diamonds
(8 August 2020)
Yokohama F. Marinos 6–2 Urawa Red Diamonds
(14 November 2020)
Longest winning run12 matches
Kawasaki Frontale
Longest unbeaten run13 matches
Kawasaki Frontale
Longest winless run17 matches
Vegalta Sendai
Longest losing run7 matches
Shimizu S-Pulse
Highest attendance34,521[1]
Yokohama F. Marinos 1–2 Gamba Osaka
(23 February 2020)
Lowest attendance1,948[1]
Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4–1 Shimizu S-Pulse
(9 September 2020)
(excluding matches played behind closed doors)
Total attendance1,773,481[1]
Average attendance5,796[1]
(including matches played behind closed doors)
2019
2021

The 2020 J1 League, also known as the 2020 Meiji Yasuda J1 League (Japanese: 2020 明治安田生命J1リーグ, Hepburn: 2020 Meiji Yasuda Seimei J1 Rīgu) for sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992. This was sixth season of J1 League as renamed from J. League Division 1. The league began on 21 February and eventually ended on 19 December 2020. The league was planned to have a season break to avoid clashing with the 2020 Summer Olympics,[2] but the Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[3]

Yokohama F. Marinos were the defending champions while Kashiwa Reysol and Yokohama FC entered the league as promoted teams from the 2019 J2 League, replacing Júbilo Iwata and Matsumoto Yamaga who were relegated to the 2020 J2 League.

  1. ^ a b c d "2020 J1 league attendance". Japan Professional Football League. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. ^ Orlowitz, Dan (18 December 2019). "J. League season to include Olympic break". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  3. ^ "IOC, IPC, Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government Announce New Dates for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". olympic.org. International Olympic Committee. 2020-03-30. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-30.