Shota Fujio scored twice, Yuki Soma added another, and the final whistle at Tokyo’s National Stadium confirmed what the past two years had hinted all along: Machida Zelvia are no longer Japanese football’s curiosity — they are its newest powerhouse.
Their 3-1 victory over reigning champions Vissel Kobe in the 105th Emperor’s Cup final on November 22 didn’t just deliver the first major trophy in Machida’s history. It sealed the transformation of a club once dismissed as overachievers punching above their weight into a side capable of bullying Japan’s elite on the biggest stage.
For years, Machida lived in the margins — a scrappy suburban club overshadowed by the region’s giants and remembered mostly for their relentless climb from the JFL to J1. But under Go Kuroda, they’ve torn up the script. First came the shock 2023 J2 title, won with stubbornness, speed, and a tactical identity sharper than clubs twice their budget. Then came their first season in J1, where instead of battling relegation, Machida stunned the league with their ferocious pressing and counterattacks, muscling their way into the upper half of the table.
Winning the Emperor’s Cup feels like the culmination of a rise that, until recently, seemed impossible.
“We wanted to bring an intensity Kobe wouldn’t expect,” said Kuroda, the 55-year-old architect of Machida’s modern identity. “The players never let up. I couldn’t be prouder.”
Machida’s performance reflected everything that has defined their ascent. They struck first after just six minutes — Fujio bravely beating Daiya Maekawa to a Yuta Nakayama cutback and heading in the opener. They struck again with swagger in the 32nd, as Soma delicately clipped home after a long diagonal ball from Mitchell Duke carved open Kobe’s back line.
And when Kobe tried to claw back control after the break, introducing Yuya Osako to shake the champions awake, Machida simply counterpunched harder. In the 56th minute, Kotaro Hayashi slipped in Fujio, who lashed home from distance to make it 3-0 — a goal that felt like both a declaration and a warning.
Kobe’s Taisei Miyashiro did pull one back, and the defending champions piled forward in desperation, but by then the momentum — and the narrative — belonged fully to Machida.
The win denied Kobe their chance at back-to-back Emperor’s Cup crowns and ensured they end 2025 without silverware. For Machida, it marked another step in a story that feels like it’s only beginning.
“Maybe we were too tense,” Kobe manager Takayuki Yoshida admitted afterward. “Conceding twice in the first half hurt us. The players kept fighting, but ultimately the result reflects my shortcomings.”
Machida will not care. They have spent years fighting for recognition, relevance, and space in a Tokyo football landscape crowded with giants. Now, with major silverware in hand and a tactical blueprint envied far beyond western Tokyo, their ascendance is no longer a surprise — it’s a reality the rest of Japan must adjust to.
Machida Zelvia, once the league’s plucky overachiever, have kicked down the door to Japan’s elite. And with a first major title secured, they don’t look ready to stop climbing anytime soon.