| Season | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 7 February – 7 June |
| Matches | 200 |
← 2025 2026–27 → | |
The 2026 J1 Centennial League, is a tournament organized by the Japan Professional Football League and is part of the J.League Centennial Vision League tournament, scheduled to be held from 7 February to 7 June 2026. [1] [2] All 20 clubs from the J1 League will participate.
As the Japan Professional Football League (J.League) transitions to an "autumn-spring system" in 2026, the J.League Centennial Vision League will be a special tournament held during the transitional period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., Ltd. [3] has signed a four-year contract from the 2023 season, to be the title partner of this tournament. [4]
Although this tournament is a league competition organized by the J.League, there will be no relegation to the J2 League based on the results of this tournament. The winning club will be given the right to participate as Japan's second representative in the 2026–27 AFC Champions League Elite. [5]
The 20 teams in the J1 League for the 2026/27 season will be divided into an East Region Group and a West Region Group (10 teams each); each group will play a round-robin league match (home and away format) with 18 games played. Clubs from the same prefecture will be grouped together as much as possible, which will also take into consideration the balance of snow-covered regions where home games cannot be played in February and March. If the winner is not decided within 90 minutes, a penalty shootout will be held to decide the match.
Teams with the same ranking in each group in the regional league round will play two home and away matches to determine the final rankings (for example, matches between first placed teams will decide first and second place overall, matches between second placed teams will decide third and fourth place overall).
If the winner on aggregate is not determined after the two legs, two 15-minute periods of extra time will be played; if the winner is still not decided after extra time, a penalty shootout will be played.
The top three final place winners will receive prize money of 150 million yen for the winner, 60 million yen for second place, and 30 million yen for third place). All teams will receive additional funds based on their competition ranking and popularity ranking.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in the table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gamba Osaka |  Dani Poyatos [6] | End of Contract | 8th | |||
| Sanfrecce Hiroshima |  Michael Skibbe [7] | Mutual Agreement | 10 December 2025 | 5th | ||
