The 2022 season was
Kashima Antlers' 30th consecutive season in the
J1 League, the top flight of Japanese football since the introduction of professional football in 1993. The club finished the
2022 J1 League
The 2022 J1 League, also known as the for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th season of the J1 League, the top Japanese professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1993.
Kawasaki Frontale were the defending cham ...
in fourth place, exactly the same position as the previous season. They also competed in the
Emperor's Cup where they reached the semi-finals and the
J.League Cup
The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of Y ...
where they were knocked out at the play-off stage.
Kashima started the league season strongly winning six of their first seven games and were in first position for a number of weeks before the end of May. Forward
Ayase Ueda
is a Japanese footballer who plays as a striker for Jupiler Pro League club Cercle Brugge and the Japan national football team.
Youth career
Born in the city of Mito, located in the Ibaraki Prefecture, he began playing football at age 6 and ...
was in fine form and won the first
J.League Monthly MVP award of the season. From May onwards, the performances started to detioriate and wins became hard to come by. Following the departure of top-scorer Ueda to
Cercle Brugge
Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisi ...
at the start of July, scoring goals also became difficult and by August following two consecutive defeats, Kashima decided to part ways with manager
René Weiler
René Weiler (born 13 September 1973) is a Swiss football coach and former player.
Playing career
Weiler started his career 1990 with FC Winterthur, the club of his hometown, playing in the Challenge League. In 1992, he moved to FC Aarau who at ...
after only a few months in the post.
Daiki Iwamasa
is a Japanese professional football manager and former player, who manages J1 League club Kashima Antlers. He also played for the Japan national team.
Club career
Iwamasa was born in Suo-Oshima, Yamaguchi on 30 January 1982. He was educated ...
took over as manager and in spite of only winning two of his ten league games in charge, led Kashima to a fourth-place finish.
Kashima had a good run in the Emperor's Cup, but would have hoped to have been finalists following defeat at the semi-final stage by
J2 League club and eventual winners
Ventforet Kofu
is a Japanese football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League and play their home games in JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōfu.
The word "Ventforet" is a compound formed from two French ...
.
Yuma Suzuki
is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Kashima Antlers.
Club career Kashima Antlers
Suzuki joined the Kashima Antlers youth system at the age of 7 in 2003.
After scoring two goals and leading Kashima Antlers t ...
was their top scorer in the competition with two goals.
Squad
All players ages displayed below shows their age at the first match of the J1 League season, on 19 February 2022.
Season squad
Transfers
Arrivals
Departures
Pre-season and friendlies
Kashima played one pre-season friendly as part of the Ibaraki Soccer Festival against their
Ibaraki neighbours Mito Hollyhock.
Competitions
Overview
J1 League
Results by matchday
Results
J.League Cup
Kashima were drawn into Group A as the team that finished in the highest position in the league in the previous season (4th) without qualifying for the
2022 AFC Champions League
The 2022 AFC Champions League is the 41st edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 20th under the current AFC Champions League title.
This season is officially the last seas ...
– the four that did qualify received byes from the group stage of the cup.
Group stage
Play-off stage
''2–2 on aggregate. Avispa Fukuoka won on away goals.''
Emperor's Cup
Statistics
Appearances
Goalscorers
''The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.''
Assists
''The list is sorted by shirt number when total assists are equal.''
Clean sheets
''The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.''
References
{{2022 in Japanese football
Kashima Antlers
Kashima Antlers seasons