Yokohama F. Marinos (横浜F・マリノス, Yokohama Efu Marinosu), stylised as Yokohama F·Marinos, is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country.
Having won the J-League title five times and finishing second twice, they are one of the most successful J-League clubs. The team is based in Yokohama and was founded as the company team of Nissan Motor. The club was formed by the merger of Yokohama Marinos and Yokohama Flügels in 1999, but has carried on the history and visual identity of Marinos. The current name is intended to reflect both of the original names. Yokohama F. Marinos is the longest serving team in the top flight of Japanese football, having played at the top level since 1982, also making them, along with Kashima Antlers, one of only two teams to have competed in Japan's top flight of football every year since the league was professionalized.
Contents
History
As Nissan Motors (1972–1991)
The team traces its origins to 1972 as the Nissan Motors Football Club, based in Yokohama. Nissan won promotion to Division 2 Football League in 1976. Under coach Shu Kamo, the team won the Japan Soccer League in 1988 and 1989, as well as the JSL Cup in 1988, 1989 and 1990 and the Emperor's Cup in 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1991. The 1989 team won the "Triple Crown" - all three major tournaments in Japan - with famous players such as Kazushi Kimura, Takashi Mizunuma and Brazilian Oscar. At the end of the 1991–92 season, the team won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup.
As Yokohama Marinos (1992–1998)
Nissan obtained registration in the newly formed J.League to acquire professional club status and changed the club's name to Yokohama Marinos, a reference to Yokohama's status as a major port city. In their first seasons as a professional team, Yokohama Marinos continued to win competitions: triumphant in the Emperor's Cup, a second consecutive Asian Cup Winners' Cup, and their first J.League title in 1995. Matches between Yokohama Marinos and Verdy Kawasaki were known as the National Derby.
As Yokohama F. Marinos (1999–present)
In 1999, the club was renamed Yokohama F. Marinos after the technical and financial merger with Yokohama Flügels, which had declared bankruptcy. An F was added to the name to represent the Flügels half of the club. However, many Flügels fans have rejected the new team, feeling that their team was dissolved into the F. Marinos rather than merged with it. As a result, they refused to follow F. Marinos and instead created Yokohama FC, the new city rival of F. Marinos, with the help of public donations and an affiliation with IMG, a talent agency.
In 2000, Marinos were runner-up in the 2000 J1 League, where Shunsuke Nakamura was named the best player of the season.
On 27 October 2001, Marinos won the J.League Cup, defeating Júbilo Iwata in a 0–0 match where Marinos won the penalty shootout 3–1.
In the 2002 season, Marinos were league runners-up behind Júbilo Iwata.
In 2003 and 2004, Marinos became back-to-back league champions for the second time, in the professional era, with the stars of the team being South Koreans Ahn Jung-hwan, Yoo sang-chul and Japanese players Daisuke Oku, Tatsuhiko Kubo and Yuji Nakazawa (who was the best player of the year in 2004). Their coach was the Japanese Takeshi Okada, who was named the 'Best Coach of the Year' in 2003 and 2004.
From 2005 to 2008, with notable players Hayuma Tanaka, Hideo Ōshima, Daisuke Sakata and Koji Yamase, Marinos didn't achieve any single honours. The highest they reached during this period was the 2008 Emperor's Cup semi-final where they were knockout by Gamba Osaka in extra time.
In 2010, club legend Shunsuke Nakamura returned to Yokohama F. Marinos after 8 years and stayed until the end of the 2017 J1 League season.
On August 4, 2011, a year after leaving the club, former Marinos player Naoki Matsuda collapsed during training with Matsumoto Yamaga due to cardiac arrest and died at the age of 34. As a result, his former number 3 has been retired.
Rivalries
Yokohama derby
The classic among the most representative teams in the city of Yokohama, Yokohama F. Marinos, Yokohama FC and YSCC Yokohama. Between 1993 and 1998, the Yokohama derby corresponded only to the departure between the late Yokohama Flügels and Yokohama F. Marinos.
Kanagawa derby
This is the derby played by the Kanagawa prefecture teams, currently the most important match is that of Yokohama F. Marinos and Kawasaki Frontale. Other Kanagawa derby rivals include Shonan Bellmare, Yokohama FC and YSCC Yokohama.
Previously, Verdy Kawasaki and the extinct Yokohama Flügels were Kanagawa derby rivals. With Verdy moving to Tokyo from Kawasaki, matches between the two clubs are no longer considered Kanagawa derbies.
Kits and crests
Yokohama F. Marinos utilizes a three colour system composed of blue, white and red.
In 2012, Yokohama F. Marinos have unveiled a special edition 20th Anniversary jersey
Stadiums
The team's home stadiums are Nissan Stadium, otherwise known as International Stadium Yokohama, and Mitsuzawa Stadium. The team trained at Marinos Town located in the area of Minato Mirai, but moved to Kozukue Field located next to the home ground in 2016.
Theme song
The club's official theme song is "We Are F. Marinos" by Japanese duo Yuzu. The song was first released in 2005, with the song being used at games up to today, sometimes having mascot Marinos-kun dance to the song on a pedestal on the running track of Nissan Stadium.
Players and staff
Current squad
As of 1 August 2026.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
The official club website lists the club mascot as player #0 and the supporters as player #12.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Retired number
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
International players
This list includes players that were called up to their national teams while playing at Yokohama F. Marinos, either to participate in official or friendly competitions, friendly matches or in training camps.
Club captains
Shigetatsu Matsunaga 1993
Masami Ihara 1994–1998
Yoshiharu Ueno 1999–2000
Norio Omura 2001
Naoki Matsuda 2002–2003
Daisuke Oku 2004
Naoki Matsuda 2005–2006
Yuji Nakazawa 2007
Ryuji Kawai 2008–2009
Yuzo Kurihara 2010
Shunsuke Nakamura 2011–2016
Manabu Saito 2017
Yuji Nakazawa 2018
Takuya Kida 2019–present
Players who played in the FIFA World Cup
The list includes players who were called up to their national teams while playing at Yokohama F. Marinos, to represent their country in the FIFA World Cup .
1994 FIFA World Cup: Ramón Medina Bello
1998 FIFA World Cup: Masami Ihara, Shoji Jo, Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Norio Omura, César Sampaio
2002 FIFA World Cup: Naoki Matsuda
2006 FIFA World Cup: Yuji Nakazawa
2010 FIFA World Cup: Yuji Nakazawa, Shunsuke Nakamura
2014 FIFA World Cup: Manabu Saito
2018 FIFA World Cup: Milos Degenek
Record as J.League member
Key
Continental record
Performance in AFC competitions
AFC Champions League Elite: 10 appearances
1989–90: Runners-up
1990–91: Group stage
1996–97: Quarter-finals
2004: Group stage
2005: Group stage
2014: Group stage
2020: Round of 16
2022: Round of 16
2023–24: Runners-up
2024–25: Quarter-finals
Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 3 appearances
1991–92: Winners
1992–93: Winners
1993–94: Semi-finals
Awards
J.League MVP Award:
Shunsuke Nakamura (2000; 2013)
Yuji Nakazawa (2004)
Teruhito Nakagawa (2019)
Tomoki Iwata (2022)
J.League Top Scorer:
Ramón Díaz (1993)
Teruhito Nakagawa (2019)
Marcos Júnior (2019)
Daizen Maeda (2021)
Anderson Lopes (2023)
Anderson Lopes (2024)
J.League Rookie of the Year:
Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (1995)
Daisuke Nasu (2003)
Kazuma Watanabe (2009)
J.League Manager of the Year:
Takeshi Okada (2003; 2004)
Ange Postecoglou (2019)
Kevin Muscat (2022)
J.League Fair Play Award:
Daisuke Sakata (2007)
Yuji Nakazawa (2015; 2017)
J.League Monthly MVP :
Shunsuke Nakamura (March 2013)
Players who played in the national team
Rei Fahd cup 1995 Arabia Saudita: Shigetatsu Matsunaga, Masami Ihara
Confederations Cup 2001 Japão e Coréia do Sul: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Naoki Matsuda, Yasuhiro Hato
Confederations Cup 2003 França: Daisuke Oku
Confederations Cup 2013 Brasil: Yuzo Kurihara
Asian Cup 1988 Qatar: Satoru Noda
Asian Cup 1992 Japão: Shigetatsu Matsunaga, Toshinobu Katsuya, Masami Ihara, Takahiro Yamada, Takuya Jinno
Asian Cup 1996 Emirados Árabes: Masami Ihara, Norio Omura
Asian Cup 2000 Líbano: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Naoki Matsuda, Atsuhiro Miura, Shunsuke Nakamura
Asian Cup 2004 China: Naoki Matsuda, Yuji Nakazawa
Asian Cup 2007 Indonésia/Malásia/Tailândia/Vietnam: Yuji Nakazawa
olympic games 1996 Atlanta: Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Akihiro Endo, Naoki Matsuda
olympic games 2000 Sydney: Naoki Matsuda, Shunsuke Nakamura, Atsuhiro Miura
olympic games 2004 Athenas: Daisuke Nasu
olympic games 2012 Londres: Manabu Saito
olympic games 2020 Tóquio: Daizen Maeda
In popular culture
In the manga series – Captain Tsubasa, one of the characters was Yokohama Marinos midfielder Mamoru Izawa.
Base categories
The Yokohama F. Marinos youth academy started in 1986, before the opening of the J-League. The youth academy is divided into 3 categories U-12, U-15 and U-18, and has included many well known players, Shunsuke Nakamura, Manabu Saito, Jungo Fujimoto, Mike Havenaar, Hiroki Iikura, Takashi Amano, Hiroyuki Taniguchi, Tetsuya Enomoto, Yuzo Kurihara, Hayuma Tanaka, Yuki Kaneko, Daisuke Sakata, Naohiro Ishikawa, Rikizo Matsuhashi, Eitaro Matsuda, Kota Yamada, Keita Endo, Ryo Takano, Takuya Kida, Andrew Kumagai, Yuji Ono, Jun Amano, Sho Matsumoto, Jin Hanato, Kota Mizunuma, Takashi Kanai, Masakazu Tashiro, Yota Akimoto etc. ...
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All Japan Club Youth Soccer Tournament
JFA Prince League Kanto
Prince Takamado Trophy
J-Youth Cup
JFA Championship
Danone Nations Cup