Football at the Inter High School Sports Festival

Football at the Inter High School Sports Festival (全国高等学校サッカー選手権大会, Zenkoku kōtō gakkō sōgō taiiku taikai sakkā kyōgi taikai) is an annual event at the tournament, popularly referred to as Inter-High (インターハイ). It is also one of the main U-18 football tournaments for the Japanese high schools, alongside the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament and the Prince Takamado JFA U-18 Premier League.

It is organized by the All Japan High School Athletic Federation, in association with the Japan Football Association and other public organizations and educational institutes of the tournament's host prefecture.

Venue
Until 2023, the tournament's football competition was held in the same prefecture as the other events at the competition. However, in order to deal with the extreme heat, the men's competition will be held every year from 2024 onwards on Fukushima Prefecture. The women's competition will be held on Hokkaido on 2024 and 2025.

Men's tournament
The men's tournament was held for the first time on 1966, with Fujieda Higashi winning the first edition, held in the Aomori Prefecture.

To qualify for the tournament, high schools across the country plays prefectural qualifications, structured very similarly as the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament's prefectural qualifications. A total of 52 schools participate in the tournament, with two schools from Hokkaido, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka and the year's host prefecture (if the host are either of the mentioned prefectures, from there will three schools qualify), and just one school from each of the other prefectures.

The matches during the prefectural qualifiers and in the tournament itself lasts 70 minutes, with 35-minute halves. In case of a draw on full-time, penalty shoot-outs will be required, with no extra-time being played. The only exception is in the final, where a 20-minute extra time with 10-minute halves will take place, proceeded by penalty shoot-outs should the match remains tied.

Women's tournament
Differently from the men's tournament, the qualifications are held regionally. 16 schools qualifies for the tournament, with three from Kanto, two from Tohoku, Tokai, Kinki and Kyushu and one from Hokkaido, Hokushin'etsu, Chugoku, Shikoku and the year's host prefecture (its region wins an extra slot). The duration of the matches are the same of the men's tournament.

Held since 2012, Hinomoto Gakuen is the only school to win the tournament in consecutive occasions, winning it four times between 2012 and 2015. It's also the record-winner with five titles, having won its last on 2017. As of 2023, Hinomoto Gakuen and Fujieda Junshin are the only schools to participate in every tournament since its inception on 2012.

The winner of this tournament advances to the JFA U-18 Women's Football Finals, held in September, where they play against the winners of the Japan Club Youth U-18 Women's Football Championship.