Gamba Osaka

Gamba Osaka (ガンバ大阪, Ganba Ōsaka) is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's home stadium is Panasonic Stadium Suita. They form a local rivalry with Osaka city-based Cerezo Osaka.

Gamba is among the most accomplished Japanese clubs, having won 2 J1 League titles, 1 J2 League title, 2 J.League Cup and 2 Japanese Super Cup titles. Continentally, they have won the 2008 AFC Champions League. Internationally, the club has made a single appearance in the FIFA Club World Cup with their most recent appearance being in the 2008 edition finishing in third place.

The club's name Gamba comes from the Japanese ganbaru (頑張る), meaning "to do your best" or "to stand firm".

It was founded in 1980 as Matsushita Electric SC by the mononymous company, which is now known as Panasonic, in Nara Prefecture and became a member of the Japan Soccer League.^[1] It was mostly made of remaining players and staff of the defunct Yanmar Club, the former B-team of Yanmar Diesel SC, later to be known as Cerezo Osaka. Gamba Osaka was an original member ("Original Ten"^[a]) of the first J.League season.^[1] Due to participation in the J League, the club name was changed to Panasonic Gamba Osaka in 1992.

In 1996, the club dropped the name Panasonic from its front while its corporate name was changed from "Matsushita Soccer Club Co., Ltd." to "Gamba Osaka Co., Ltd."

In 2005, the club claimed its first J.League championship on a dramatic final day during which any of five clubs could have claimed the championship. Gamba needed to win, and have cross town rivals Cerezo Osaka draw or lose. Gamba defeated a valiant Kawasaki Frontale 4–2, while victory was snatched from Cerezo by a last-minute FC Tokyo equalizer.^[2] In an AFC Champions League match in 2006, Gamba defeated Vietnamese side Đà Nẵng in a record-equaling victory of 15–0.^[3] In the 2008 Pan-Pacific Championship final, Gamba beat MLS club Houston Dynamo 6–1 to win the tournament, in large part because of Bare who scored 4 goals in the final (5 in all at the tournament).^[4] After his brilliant display and having just scored 10 goals in 18 games for Gamba in the domestic league, he was sold to UAE club Al-Ahli for 1 billion yen.^[5]

In October 2008, Gamba for the first time in their history, reached the final of the AFC Champions League after defeating fellow Japanese league rivals Urawa Red Diamonds 4–2 on aggregate after a 1–1 draw at home in the first leg, Gamba registered one of the most historic comebacks in Champions League history when they came back from being behind 1–0 before half time to win 1–3 with all goals scored in the second half at Saitama. Gamba Osaka went on to win the 2008 AFC Champions League title after winning 5–0 on aggregate against the giant-killing Australian club Adelaide United in the Final. They became the fifth Japanese club to win the maximum Asian title, after Urawa, Júbilo Iwata, then-company-affiliated Yomiuri (now Tokyo Verdy), and Furukawa Electric (now JEF United Ichihara Chiba).^[6]

In December 2008, Gamba made it to the semi-finals of the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup after beating Australian club Adelaide United 1–0. They were beaten in the semi-finals by 2007–08 Premier League and 2007–08 UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. On 21 December 2008, they played for third place against Mexican side Pachuca with Gamba winning the match 1–0.^[7]

In December 2012, Gamba were relegated from Division 1 after losing 2–1 to Júbilo Iwata. Gamba finished 17th in the league despite scoring more goals than any other club, including Champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Ultimately, although Gamba had a positive goal difference at the end of the season, Gamba could not overcome their poor defense, which allowed the second most goals in Division 1 after Consadole Sapporo. This also made Gamba Osaka the fastest club to suffer relegation from the top division after winning the AFC Champion's League and playing in the FIFA Club World Cup, the relegation being only four years later.^[8] However, the club bounced back in the 2013 season, becoming the J2 Champion and directly promoting to Division 1 again after only one season.^[9]

In 2014, Gamba won the Division 1 title, a year after winning the second division, becoming the second club in the professional era to achieve this feat (after Kashiwa Reysol in 2011). That same year, Gamba also became the second club to win the domestic treble (after Kashima Antlers in 2000), by winning the J.League Cup and the Emperor's Cup as well.^[10]

In 2015 saw Gamba return to the AFC Champions League for the first time since 2012, where they advanced all the way to the semi-finals before being eliminated by eventual winner and 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Fourth Place, Guangzhou Evergrande 1–2 on aggregate. Domestically, Gamba Osaka advanced to the final of both the 2015 J.League Cup and the J1 League Championship, losing to Kashima Antlers 0–3 and Club World Cup Third Place Sanfrecce Hiroshima 3–4 respectively.^[11] Gamba Osaka successfully defended their status as the 2015 Emperor's Cup winners, defeating Urawa Red Diamonds 2–1.^[12]\

In 2020, Gamba finished as the 2020 J1 League runners up in which saw the club returned to the 2021 AFC Champions League once again since 2017. Gamba was than drawn in Group H alongside South Korean giants Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Thailand club Chiangrai United and Singaporean side Tampines Rovers. On 7 July 2021, Gamba managed to record their highest ever win in the AFC Champions League after thrashing Tampines Rovers 8–1 at the Bunyodkor Stadium where Shuhei Kawasaki scored a hat-trick in the match. However, the club failed to qualified to the Round of 16 even when they finished the group as runners up due to accumulating 9 points.

In the 2024 season, Gamba finished in fourth in the league which sees the club qualified to the 2025–26 AFC Champions League Two group stage.

• Chonburi (2023–present) ^[13]

On 6 February 2023, Gamba Osaka sign partnership with Thai League 1 club, Chonburi. The alliance intends to strengthen the top team through player transfers, training-type loans and other mutual exchange of coaching staff and players. In conjunction with this new agreement, JFA-certified S-class coaches are currently undergoing overseas training at Chonburi (from 30 January 2023 to 12 February 2023) under the tutelage of Daisuke Machinaka. Under this agreement the teams will share and cooperate with player scouting information to mutually improve both teams.

• AFC Ajax (2024–present) ^[14]

On 4 March 2024, Gamba Osaka and 36-time Eredivisie champions announce a strategic partnership to advance talent identification and development initiatives in Japan. This exclusive collaboration is scheduled to extend over an initial three-year period. For Ajax, this partnership represents a significant opportunity to strengthen its global football network and identify and nurture young talents in the Japanese football landscape. Gamba Osaka, in turn, gains access to Ajax's renowned training methodologies for its youth development program while establishing connections within the global football community.

In the Captain Tsubasa manga series, two characters are from Gamba Osaka: the defender Makoto Soda and the forward Takashi Sugimoto.

Gamba Osaka used the Osaka Expo '70 Stadium in the Expo Commemoration Park as its home stadium from 1980 through 2015, which seats around 21,000.

The club began construction in December 2013 of a new soccer-specific stadium called Suita City Football Stadium in the same park, with a seating capacity of 39,694.^[15] The new stadium had its inaugural official match during the Panasonic Cup on 14 February 2016, an exhibition match during which Gamba Osaka hosted fellow J1 club Nagoya Grampus.^[16]

Gamba's fiercest rival are fellow locals Cerezo Osaka with whom they contest the Osaka derby.^[17] Also have a heavy rivalry with Saitama's Urawa Red Diamonds, which they make the "National Derby" of Japan.

As of 13 June 2025.^[18]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

As both Matsushita Electric (amateur era) and Gamba Osaka (professional era)

^[19][20]

The following players have won the awards while at Gamba Osaka:

Domestic

• J.League Player of the Year
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Yasuhito Endō (2014)
• J.League Top Scorer
  • Patrick M'Boma (1997)
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Magno Alves (2006)
• J.League Best Eleven
  • Patrick M'Boma (1997)
  • Junichi Inamoto (2000)
  • Yasuhito Endō (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015)
  • Masashi Oguro (2004)
  • Araújo (2005)
  • Fernandinho (2005)
  • Satoshi Yamaguchi (2006, 2007, 2008)
  • Ryōta Tsuzuki (2006)
  • Magno Alves (2006)
  • Baré (2007)
  • Patric (2014)
  • Takashi Usami (2014, 2015)
  • Yosuke Ideguchi (2017)
• J.League Rookie of the Year
  • Takashi Usami (2010)
• J.League Cup MVP
  • Michihiro Yasuda (2007)
  • Patric (2014)
• J.League Cup New Hero Award
  • Michihiro Yasuda (2007)
  • Takashi Usami (2014)

International

• Asian Footballer of the Year
  • Yasuhito Endō (2009)
• AFC Champions League Most Valuable Player
  • Yasuhito Endō (2008)
• AFC Champions League Top Scorer
  • Magno Alves (2006)

• Leandro (2009)

The following players have been selected by their country in the World Cup, while playing for Gamba Osaka:

• Patrick M'Boma (1998)
• Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (2002, 2006)
• Akira Kaji (2006)
• Yasuhito Endō (2006, 2010, 2014)
• Yasuyuki Konno (2010, 2014)
• Masaaki Higashiguchi (2018)

The following players have represented their country at the Summer Olympic Games whilst playing for Gamba Osaka:

• Shigeru Morioka (1996)
• Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (2000)
• Junichi Inamoto (2000)
• Ryōta Tsuzuki (2000)
• Michihiro Yasuda (2008)
• Yosuke Ideguchi (2016)
• Hiroki Fujiharu (2016)

In 2011, as part of the club's official celebration of their 20th anniversary, supporters cast votes to determine the greatest ever team.^[21]

• Goalkeeper

Yōsuke Fujigaya (2005–2013, 2015–2017)

• Defenders

Akira Kaji (2006–2014)

Sidiclei (2004–2007)

Tsuneyasu Miyamoto (1995–2006)

Satoshi Yamaguchi (2001–2011)

• Midfielders

Yasuhito Endō (2001–2021)

Tomokazu Myojin (2006–2015)

Hideo Hashimoto (1998–2011)

Takahiro Futagawa (1999–2016)

• Forwards

Patrick M'Boma (1997–1998)

Araújo (2005)

List of clubs that Gamba Osaka has faced outside of Japan in an official match.

• Official website (in Japanese and English)
• Schedule on ESPN (archived 22 October 2007)