Tokyo Verdy advances to Levain Cup second round

The first round of the 2026/27 J.League YBC Levain Cup took place on September 9, featuring seven matches across Japan.

In one of the scheduled fixtures, J1 side Tokyo Verdy secured a narrow 1-0 victory against J3 club Reilac Shiga FC at Peace Hato Stadium. Despite rotating much of their squad, Tokyo Verdy controlled much of the pace, though they struggled to break through Shiga's defense for much of the match. The deadlock was finally broken in the fifth minute of stoppage time when Kim Hyun-woo converted a cross from Hayato Hirao following a pass from Soma Shokuno. This late goal allowed Tokyo Verdy to advance to the second round.

Other matches scheduled for the day included Matsumoto Yamaga FC vs. Shonan Bellmare, Tochigi SC vs. Montedio Yamagata, Kamatamare Sanuki vs. JEF United Chiba, Kochi United SC vs. V-Varen Nagasaki, AC Nagano Parceiro vs. Mito HollyHock, and Fukushima United FC vs. Vegalta Sendai.