HIROSHIMA, Japan — Sanfrecce Hiroshima are one of Japanese football’s most-successful clubs.
Including the Japan Soccer League era, which preceded the current J.League, their eight top-flight championships is second only to Kashima Antlers — who surged ahead with their title triumph last season.
But it has now been over a decade since they last lifted the J1 League trophy in 2015.
They have consistently been challenging, having never finished outside the top four in the past four campaigns.
The 2024 season was a particularly bitter pill to swallow for them. Having trailed by 12 points at one stage, Sanfrecce surged to even top the table a month before the end of the season — only to falter late and lose out to Vissel Kobe on the final day of the campaign.
Sanfrecce will once again be aiming high in 2026, with the current season — the J1 100 Year Vision League — made all the more intriguing by the fact that it is a condensed half-year campaign as Japanese football transitions to a August-to-May calendar in line with the majority of prominent leagues around the world.
With the J1 100 Year Vision League divided into East and West, the ten teams in each region will play each other home-and-away — with the teams then facing off against the same-ranked counterpart over two legs to determine their final standing.
It means that only the teams that finish top of the respective regions will contest for the title.
Sanfrecce are currently second in the West with 11 points from their first five games, behind Vissel but ahead of Gamba Osaka on goal difference. There is still a long way to go there is every chance they will be thereabouts.
On Saturday, they issued a real statement with a convincing 2-0 win over Gamba at Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima. They always looked in control of proceedings, even before taking the lead through Naoto Arai‘s long-range screamer shortly before the break, which was followed by a clinical finish from Sōta Nakamura in the second half.
It prompted Gamba coach Jens Wissing to label them “one of the best teams in the whole J.League”.
Perhaps what makes Sanfrecce’s bright start to the season even more impressive is the fact that they have a new coach at the helm this year in Bartosch Gaul, who took over after Michael Skibbe’s move to Vissel after a four-year reign in Hiroshima.
“I really appreciate that someone talks like this about our team,” said Gaul, when informed by ESPN about Wissing’s praise for his side. “I’m really happy about it.
“I think today was maybe one of the best matches from us – first half, second half.
“But I know that football is always about repetition. And, in sports, you will also have situations where you maybe don’t perform in some matches.
“I think [our] way is good. I have a feeling the players believe in this way, that we developed from every match step by step, and I think the progress is very important for me.”
Gaul has decided against changing much for now.
In fact, the way Sanfrecce continue to set out — and excel — in their preferred 3-4-3 formation suggests it may be less of a coaching preference and more the fact that it is almost part of the club’s DNA now.
The players, many of whom have been at the club for years, understand their roles to perfection. Even the newer faces seem to have been signed because their individual attributes are likely to see them succeed in the Sanfrecce system.
The back three are always solid. The wing-backs bomb forward at every available opportunity. The central midfield duo know they have to contribute both offensively and defensively. And the front three are always fluid, whether it is two No. 10s flanking a spearhead, or a playmaker-in-chief operating behind a striking duo.
“I said a few months ago I don’t want to come and change everything directly,” added Gaul.
“We want to implement things step by step, and I think we are [in] a very good way.
“Sometimes, as you’ve seen in the last two weeks, it [will be] different. You’ll have difficult circumstances and maybe you won’t win the match or you won’t qualify for the next round [like in the AFC Champions League Elite round of 16]. It is how it is.
“We have to believe in the way for the next months. That’s very important.”
Only time will tell how far Sanfrecce get in the 2026 J1 100 Year Vision League.
Still, they look every bit a chance as they have in recent times, even under a new coach.
Evolution, not revolution, is the way forward for Sanfrecce.
