- Address: 26-2 Jinkoji, Kashima
- Country: Japan
- Capacity: 40,000
- Opened: May 1993
- Main use: Football
- Tenants: Kashima Antlers (football)
Extra stadium info – Kashima Football Stadium
The construction of the Kashima Football Stadium started in 1992. It hosted 2002 FIFA World Cup matches of the national football teams of the Argentine Republic, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, the Italian Republic and Nigeria. On 2 June 2002, 34,000 people showed up for the first-ever FIFA World Cup match at the venue. The national football team of the Argentine Republic won the match against Nigeria 1-0. Gabriel Omar Batistuta scored the only goal of the game. The former Argentine striker played for the Newell’s Old Boys, River Plate, the Boca Juniors, Fiorentina, AS Roma and Internazionale before he ended his professional football career in Qatar.
The Antlers
The Kashima Antlers, one of the first Japanese sports clubs with 100,000 followers on its main social media page, moved to the Kashima Football Stadium in 1993. The Antlers won the Japanese top-flight league in 1996 for the first time in their history. They gathered 66 points in 30 league games. The Antlers won 21 of the 30 games. Three games ended in a draw and six games ended in a loss.
Jorginho
Jorge de Amorim Campos, commonly known as Jorginho, played for the Kashima Antlers in 1996. He won the 1994 FIFA World Cup final with the national football team of Brazil after defeating the Italian Republic in the United States. Jorginho ended his professional football career in 2002 with Fluminense Football Club, one of the major sports clubs from Brazil.
The FIFA Club World Cup
In 2016, the Kashima Antlers became the first Japanese club in a FIFA Club World Cup final. They reached the final of the world championship for football clubs after defeating Atlético Nacional from Colombia in the semi-finals of the tournament. In the quarter-finals, the Antlers defeated the Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa. The Kashima Antlers scored twice in the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup final, but they lost the match against the world famous Spanish football side Real Madrid. The Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo scored three times in the final in Yokohama.
Kashima Antlers players in a world championship final
The Antlers started the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup final with 11 Japanese players. The Kashima Antlers began the game with Daigo Nishi, Gaku Shibasaki, Gen Shōji, Hitoshi Sogahata, Mitsuo Ogasawara, Mu Kanazaki, Naomichi Ueda, Ryota Nagaki, Shoma Doi, Shuto Yamamoto and Yasushi Endo. In the 67th minute of the match, Mitsuo Ogasawara was substituted for Fabrício dos Santos Messias from Brazil. He was the only player who played for the Kashima Antlers in the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup final who was not born in Japan.
The Asian championship for football clubs
In 2018, the Kashima Antlers won the Asian championship for football clubs for the first time in their history after defeating the Iranian side Persepolis. The Antlers won the first final of the tournament, which was played in front of 35,000 fans in Japan, 2-0. The second final, which was played in Iran, ended in a 0-0 draw. The Antlers drew an average home attendance of 19,000 during that domestic league season.
