Rugby team

Machida Zelvia

Club · Japan · J1 League

«Zelvia»

298 Matches

144 wins

73 draws

81 losses

441–298 Goals

+143 Difference

1.5 Scored per game

Form W W W D W W

In November 2025, at the Japan National Stadium, a club beat Vissel Kobe 3–1 to take the Emperor's Cup.

The name came out of a municipal filing cabinet. Machida City lists an official tree, the zelkova, and an official flower, the salvia; in 2009 the club fused the two into Zelvia. Promotion to J2 arrived in 2011 and lasted a single season — the club went straight back down.

What turned it was Go Kuroda, who came to the job from high school football rather than from the professional game. Under him Machida won the J2 League in 2023 and reached J1 for the first time, then finished third in the top flight in their debut season.

Erik, the Brazilian, scored 18 in that promotion season and finished as J2's leading marksman.

Latest results

All matches

6 Sep	J1 League	Nagoya Grampus A	3:1	W
2 Sep	J1 League	Kawasaki Frontale H	2:1	W
29 Aug	J1 League	Mito Hollyhock A	1:1	D
26 Aug	Emperor’s Cup	Grulla Morioka H	3:0	W
23 Aug	J1 League	Urawa H	3:1	W
15 Aug	J1 League	JEF United Chiba A	4:0	W

Standing

J1 League

#	Team	M	W	D	L	Goals	Pts
1	Machida Zelvia	6	5	1	0	18:5	16
2	Vissel Kobe	6	4	1	1	9:4	13
3	Kashima	6	4	0	2	13:11	12
4	Kashiwa Reysol	6	4	0	2	10:8	12
5	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	6	3	2	1	13:5	11

Full table

Team statistics

matches counted: 298

298 Matches

144 wins

73 draws

81 losses

441–298 Goals

+143 Difference

1.5 Scored per game

Season results matches counted: 298

144 73 81

wins draws losses

Scored and conceded last matches

scored — above the line conceded — below the line

Metric	Total	Home	Away
Matches	298	152	146
Scored	441	226	215
Conceded	298	152	146
Scored per game	1.5	1.5	1.5
Conceded per game	1.0	1.0	1.0
Difference	+143	+74	+69

Key players

by appearances over the last year

Ibrahim Drešević Defender 30 Matches

Tatsuya Morita Goalkeeper 30 Matches

Ryohei Shirasaki Midfielder 30 Matches

Kosei Tani Goalkeeper 30 Matches

Hotaka Nakamura Midfielder 29 Matches

Gen Shōji Defender 28 Matches

Daihachi Okamura Defender 28 Matches

Tete Yengi Forward 27 Matches

Squad of Machida Zelvia

by appearances over the last year

Number	Player	Position	Matches
5	Ibrahim Drešević	Defender	30
13	Tatsuya Morita	Goalkeeper	30
23	Ryohei Shirasaki	Midfielder	30
1	Kosei Tani	Goalkeeper	30
88	Hotaka Nakamura	Midfielder	29
3	Gen Shōji	Defender	28
50	Daihachi Okamura	Defender	28
99	Tete Yengi	Forward	27
16	Hiroyuki Mae	Midfielder	27
8	Keiya Sento	Midfielder	26
9	Shota Fujio	Forward	26
19	Yuta Nakayama	Defender	25
31	Neta Lavi	Midfielder	24
10	Sang-Ho Na	Forward	24
11	Asahi Masuyama	Midfielder	24
26	K. Hayashi	Midfielder	24
6	Henry Haruki Mochizuki	Defender	23
18	Hokuto Shimoda	Midfielder	22
34	Futa Tokumura	Forward	22
7	Yuki Soma	Midfielder	21
27	Erik Nascimento de Lima	Forward	20
49	Kanji Kuyama	Forward	19
20	Takuma Nishimura	Midfielder	13
24	Min-Tae Kim	Defender	6
15	Mitchell Thomas Duke	Forward	5
33	Takahiro Akimoto	Midfielder	5
44	Yoshiaki Arai	Goalkeeper	5
60	Chui Makaya	Midfielder	4
14	Yusuke Matsuo	Midfielder	3
2	Tomoki Imai	Defender	3
22	Takaya Numata	Forward	3
4	Ryuho Kikuchi	Defender	2
9	Koki Ogawa	Forward	2
39	Byron Vásquez	Midfielder	2
28	Che-hun Cha	Midfielder	2