Today (1/22), the J.League announced the matchups for the 2024 J.League YBC Levain Cup 1st Round.
As for Kashima Antlers, they will play the winner of Vanraure Hachinohe vs. Zweigen Kanazawa in the 1st Round, 2nd Match (April 17th or April 24th).
The match dates and other details are scheduled to be announced on Tuesday, January 23rd at 17:00.
■1st Round, 2nd Match
Wednesday, April 17th or Wednesday, April 24th: Kashima Antlers vs. Winner of Vanraure Hachinohe and Zweigen Kanazawa
The 2024 J.League YBC Levain Cup will kick off on Wednesday, March 6th with a new tournament format. In the 1st Round, 57 teams – 18 J1 teams, 19 J2 teams, and 20 J3 teams – excluding the three teams participating in the ACL 2023/24 Knockout Stage (Kawasaki Frontale, Yokohama F. Marinos, and Ventforet Kofu) will be divided into 10 blocks to play single-match knockout tournaments (1st to 3rd Round).
As a general rule, the host stadium will be the home ground of the club from the lower league, or if they are in the same league, the club that finished lower in the 2023 season league standings (if the home club has difficulty securing a stadium, there is a possibility that the home and away teams may switch).
Following this, the Playoff Round will consist of two home-and-away matches between the 10 teams that advanced from the 1st Round, with the 5 winning teams progressing to the Prime Round. In the Prime Round, a total of 8 teams – the 5 teams that advanced from the Playoff Round and the 3 teams participating in the ACL 2023/24 Knockout Stage – will compete in home-and-away knockout matches (the final will be a single match).