The 2024 All Japan University Football Championship (第73å 堨æÂ¥æ¬大å¦ãµãÂÂã«ã¼é¸æÂÂ権大ä¼Â; All Japan 73rd University Football Championship) was the 73rd edition of the referred annually contested cup for universities across Japan, also known as Intercollegiate. For the first time, the tournament format was significantly changed. On 4 December 2023, it was announced beforehand that not only the number of teams would increase from 24 to 28 teams, but the tournament would also change from the previous single elimination tournament to a three-round, five-stage format.
Toyo eventually won the tournament, beating Niigata University of Health and Welfare in the final by 1âÂÂ0. It was Toyo's first time in their history not only to win the tournament, but to reach the final as well. Niigata HW ended up being runners-up for the second time in the tournament's history, having lost both of the two finals they played.
A total of 28 teams participates in the tournament. Six teams advanced directly to the final round, two advanced directly to the strengthening round (recommended by JUFA Board of Directors), and the other 20 teams were assigned to the qualifying round. The 10 winning teams advanced to the final round, while the other 10 losing teams advanced to the strengthening round.
In the strengthening round, then, participates 12 teams, which includes the 10 qualifying round losing teams and the two teams recommended by the JUFA. The 12 teams are split in three groups of four teams in each. All three group winners, along with the best second-placed team among the groups (who has their knockout stage qualification described as a "wildcard"), qualifies for the knockout stage of the round (starts at the semi-finals). The winning team of the strengthening round will be given a direct regional slot as "strengthening round winner" in the following year's tournament.
In the final round, 16 teams participates, being them the 10 winning teams of the preliminary round and six automatically allocated teams. They are divided into four groups with four teams in each. Each group winners qualifies for the knockout stage of the round (start at the quarter-finals). The winning team of the final round will be declared as the official tournament champion.
The participating universities were announced on 19 November 2024. However, as the university did not submitted the application documents within the predetermined deadline, Fukuoka University had their rights to participate in the tournament removed. They would qualify as Kyushu's best-ranked representative, as champions of the Kyushu University League.
The National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya participates in the tournament for the most consecutive times out of every other qualified university, having qualified for 15 straight times. Tokai University qualified for the first time in 23 years, being between the qualified the team with the current longest interval between its last participation. Niigata Sangyo University is the only debutant of the tournament.
This year's tournament did not use a draw to determine the pairings, but rather used "ranking points", assigned to each regional university football federation, previously used to determine seed slots for the Prime Minister's Cup and the Intercollegiate.
The higher-ranked teams by regional ranking points hosted each fixture, playing then, against lower-ranked teams. The sequence used to determine the match-ups started with the top-ranked home team facing the bottom-ranked away team, the second top-ranked home team facing the ninth-ranked away team, down to the lower-ranked home team facing the top-ranked away team.
To determine which group each team would qualify to, the total ranking points of the involved teams was utilized, with the groups having been set beforehand, although the identity of each team was only known after the round completion.
The winning teams of each match qualified to the Final Round, while the losing team advanced to the Strengthening Round.
Only taking in consideration the Final Round.