2018 Emperor's Cup


The 98th Emperor's Cup was the 2018 edition of the annual Japanese national football cup tournament, which began on 26 May 2018 and ended with the final on 9 December 2018 at the Saitama Stadium 2002. The final was held earlier than the usual date of 1 January due to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.
The draw for the first four rounds was held on 29 March 2018.
As a result of its win, Urawa Red Diamonds automatically qualified to the group stage of the 2019 AFC Champions League.

Calendar

Participating clubs

88 clubs competed in the tournament. Clubs playing in the 2018 J1 League and 2018 J2 League received a bye to the second round of the tournament. The remaining teams entered in the first round.

Schedule and results

First Round

The first round matches were held on 26 and 27 May 2018.

Second Round

The second round matches were held on 6 June 2018.
* In this match, the original penalty shoot-out ended 4 – 5 as a win for Nara Club; however, on 11 June the JFA ruled that due to a mis-application of rules during the fourth shot taken by Nara Club, the penalty shoot-out would be replayed from the beginning. The replayed penalty shoot-out was held on 28 June 2018.

Third Round

The third round matches were held on 11 July and 22 August 2018.
* Postponed to 22 August due to floods

Fourth Round

The fourth round were held on 22 August and 26 September 2018.

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals and beyond was held on 12 September 2018.
The quarter-finals will be held on 24 October 2018 and 21 November 2018.

Semi-finals

The semi-finals were originally scheduled to be held on 16 December 2018. However, the semi-finals were rescheduled to be held on 5 December after Kashima Antlers won 2018 AFC Champions League and advanced to the Emperor's Cup semi-finals, due to the schedule conflict with 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.

Final

The final was originally scheduled to be held on 24 December 2018. However, the final was rescheduled to be held on 9 December 2018 after Kashima Antlers won 2018 AFC Champions League and advanced to the Emperor's Cup semi-finals, due to the schedule conflict with 2018 FIFA Club World Cup.