2020 in South Korean football

Football in South Korea
Season	2020
Men's football
K League 1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
K League 2	Jeju United
K3 League	Gimhae FC
K4 League	Paju Citizen
Korean FA Cup	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Women's football
WK League	Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels

This article shows a summary of the 2020 football season in South Korea. It started in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. K League was scheduled to begin on February 29, but the season was suspended until the pandemic slowed. Players must be tested before each match, and are restricted from talking to other players.^[1]

National teams

AFC U-23 Championship

9 January Group C	South Korea	1–0	China	Songkhla, Thailand
20:15	Lee Dong-jun 90+3'	Report		Stadium: Tinsulanon Stadium Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Mohammed Abdulla Hassan Mohamed (United Arab Emirates)

12 January Group C	Iran	1–2	South Korea	Songkhla, Thailand
17:15	Shekari 54'	Report	Lee Dong-jun 22' Cho Gue-sung 35'	Stadium: Tinsulanon Stadium Attendance: 5,855 Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (Jordan)

15 January Group C	Uzbekistan	1–2	South Korea	Rangsit, Thailand
17:15	Abdixolikov 21'	Report	Oh Se-hun 5', 71'	Stadium: Thammasat Stadium Referee: Hiroyuki Kimura (Japan)

Group C table
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	South Korea	3	3	0	0	5	2	+3	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Uzbekistan	3	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4	Advance to knockout stage
3	Iran	3	1	1	1	3	3	0	4
4	China	3	0	0	3	0	4	−4	0

Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

19 January Quarter-finals	South Korea	2–1	Jordan	Rangsit, Thailand
17:15	Cho Gue-sung 15' Lee Dong-gyeong 90+5'	Report	Al-Naimat 75'	Stadium: Thammasat Stadium Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (Qatar)

22 January Semi-finals	Australia	0–2	South Korea	Rangsit, Thailand
20:15		Report	Kim Dae-won 56' Lee Dong-gyeong 76'	Stadium: Thammasat Stadium Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

26 January Final	South Korea	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Saudi Arabia	Bangkok, Thailand
19:30	Jeong Tae-wook 114'	Report		Stadium: Rajamangala Stadium Referee: Chris Beath (Australia)

Friendlies

Senior team

14 November	Mexico	3–2	South Korea	Wiener Neustadt, Austria
21:00 UTC+1	Jiménez 67' Antuna 69' Salcedo 70'	Report	Hwang Ui-jo 20' Kwon Kyung-won 87'	Stadium: Stadion Wiener Neustadt Attendance: 0 Referee: Harald Lechner (Austria)

17 November	South Korea	2–1	Qatar	Maria Enzersdorf, Austria
14:00 UTC+1	Hwang Hee-chan 1' Hwang Ui-jo 36'	Report	Ali 9'	Stadium: BSFZ-Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Julian Weinberger (Austria)

Under-23 team

12 November	Egypt	0–0	South Korea	Cairo, Egypt
20:00 UTC+2		Report		Stadium: Cairo International Stadium Referee: Mahmoud El Banna (Egypt)

14 November	Brazil	3–1	South Korea	Cairo, Egypt
15:00 UTC+2	Cunha 42' Rodrygo 61' Neres 73'	Report	Lee Dong-gyeong 7'	Stadium: Cairo International Stadium Referee: Ibrahim Nour El Din (Egypt)

Leagues

K League 1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation^[a]
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (C)	27	19	3	5	46	21	+25	60	Qualification for Champions League group stage
2	Ulsan Hyundai	27	17	6	4	54	23	+31	57
3	Pohang Steelers	27	15	5	7	56	35	+21	50
4	Sangju Sangmu^[b] (R)	27	13	5	9	34	36	−2	44	Relegation to K League 2
5	Daegu FC	27	10	8	9	43	39	+4	38	Qualification for Champions League group stage
6	Gwangju FC	27	6	7	14	32	46	−14	25

7	Gangwon FC	27	9	7	11	36	41	−5	34
8	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	27	8	7	12	27	30	−3	31
9	FC Seoul	27	8	5	14	23	44	−21	29
10	Seongnam FC	27	7	7	13	24	37	−13	28
11	Incheon United	27	7	6	14	25	35	−10	27
12	Busan IPark (R)	27	5	10	12	25	38	−13	25	Relegation to K League 2

Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Teams are split into two groups (Final A and Final B) after each have played 22 matches.
^ Sangju Sangmu were a military team and were not eligible to represent South Korea in the AFC club competitions. Additionally, they were relegated to K League 2 regardless of their final position by moving their stronghold the next season.

K League 2

Regular season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification
1	Jeju United (C, P)	27	18	6	3	50	23	+27	60	Promotion to K League 1
2	Suwon FC (O, P)	27	17	3	7	52	28	+24	54	Qualification for promotion play-offs final
3	Gyeongnam FC	27	10	9	8	40	37	+3	39	Qualification for promotion play-offs first round
4	Daejeon Hana Citizen	27	11	6	10	36	35	+1	39	Qualification for promotion play-offs first round
5	Seoul E-Land	27	11	6	10	33	30	+3	39
6	Jeonnam Dragons	27	8	14	5	31	25	+6	38
7	Ansan Greeners	27	7	7	13	18	34	−16	28
8	Bucheon FC 1995	27	7	5	15	19	36	−17	26
9	FC Anyang	27	6	7	14	27	38	−11	25
10	Chungnam Asan	27	5	7	15	20	40	−20	22

Source: K League Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted

Promotion play-offs

First round			Final

			2	Suwon FC	1
3	Gyeongnam FC	1	3	Gyeongnam FC	1
4	Daejeon Hana Citizen	1

K3 League

Regular season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Gimhae FC (C)	22	15	4	3	39	18	+21	49	Qualification for Championship final
2	Gyeongju KHNP	22	12	6	4	38	20	+18	42	Qualification for Championship semi-final
3	Gangneung City	22	13	3	6	30	15	+15	42	Qualification for Championship first round
4	Busan Transportation Corporation	22	12	5	5	36	17	+19	41	Qualification for Championship first round
5	Mokpo City	22	10	3	9	39	30	+9	33
6	Hwaseong FC	22	9	6	7	29	27	+2	33
7	Daejeon Korail	22	8	8	6	30	18	+12	32
8	Gimpo Citizen	22	6	8	8	27	27	0	26

9	Changwon City	22	9	7	6	33	25	+8	34
10	Cheongju FC	22	9	7	6	25	25	0	34
11	Cheonan City	22	9	6	7	27	25	+2	33
12	Pyeongtaek Citizen	22	6	5	11	24	40	−16	23
13	Yangju Citizen	22	6	2	14	17	45	−28	20
14	Gyeongju Citizen (O)	22	3	6	13	16	36	−20	15	Qualification for relegation play-off
15	Chuncheon Citizen (R)	22	2	8	12	21	43	−22	14	Relegation to K4 League
16	Jeonju Citizen (R)	22	3	4	15	19	39	−20	13	Relegation to K4 League

Source: Soccerway Flashscore
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Wins
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Championship play-offs

First round			Semi-final			Final

			2	Gyeongju KHNP	1

			3	Gangneung City	0
3	Gangneung City	0

4	Busan Transportation Corporation	0
						1	Gimhae FC	1	1	2

						2	Gyeongju KHNP	0	1	1

K4 League

Regular season

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Paju Citizen (C, P)	24	16	5	3	42	27	+15	53	Promotion to K3 League
2	Ulsan Citizen (P)	24	16	3	5	50	29	+21	51	Promotion to K3 League
3	Jinju Citizen	24	15	5	4	46	25	+21	50	Qualification for promotion play-offs
4	Pocheon Citizen	24	15	4	5	58	26	+32	49	Qualification for promotion play-offs
5	FC Namdong	24	13	2	9	46	27	+19	41
6	Yeoju Citizen	24	12	3	9	37	36	+1	39
7	Yangpyeong FC	24	11	3	10	28	28	0	36
8	Siheung Citizen	24	8	5	11	35	31	+4	29
9	Icheon Citizen	24	7	6	11	29	40	−11	27
10	Chungju Citizen	24	5	4	15	24	45	−21	19
11	Goyang Citizen	24	5	4	15	33	65	−32	19
12	Seoul Nowon United	24	4	5	15	32	46	−14	17
13	Seoul Jungnang	24	2	5	17	22	57	−35	11

Source: Soccerway Official Instagram
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Goals scored; 5) Wins
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Promotion play-offs

First round			Final

			K3	Gyeongju Citizen	2
3	Jinju Citizen	w/o	K4	Jinju Citizen	2
4	Pocheon Citizen	—

WK League

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels (C)	21	18	1	2	60	11	+49	55	Qualification for play-offs final
2	Gyeongju KHNP	21	17	3	1	43	13	+30	54	Qualification for play-offs semi-final
3	Suwon UDC	21	11	0	10	34	24	+10	33	Qualification for play-offs semi-final
4	Hwacheon KSPO	21	9	5	7	24	31	−7	32
5	Changnyeong WFC	21	7	5	9	33	41	−8	26
6	Sejong Sportstoto	21	6	3	12	27	41	−14	21
7	Seoul WFC	21	3	4	14	20	49	−29	13
8	Boeun Sangmu	21	2	1	18	21	52	−31	7

Source: Soccerway
(C) Champions

Championship play-offs

Semi-final			Final

			1	Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels	0	2	2
2	Gyeongju KHNP	1		Gyeongju KHNP	0	0	0
3	Suwon UDC	0

Domestic cups

Korean FA Cup

Round of 16 (Fourth round)		Quarter-finals (Fifth round)		Semi-finals (Sixth round)		Final (Seventh round)



Ulsan Hyundai	2

Gyeongju KHNP	0
		Ulsan Hyundai	3

		Gangwon FC	0
Gangwon FC	4

Gwangju FC	2
				Ulsan Hyundai (p)	1 (4)

				Pohang Steelers	1 (3)
Pohang Steelers (a.e.t.)	3

Sangju Sangmu	2
		Pohang Steelers	5

		FC Seoul	1
FC Seoul (p)	1 (4)

Daejeon Hana Citizen	1 (2)
						Ulsan Hyundai	1	1	2

						Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	2	3
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (a.e.t.)	3

Jeonnam Dragons	2
		Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	5

		Busan IPark	1
Busan IPark	1

Suwon FC	0
				Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1

				Seongnam FC	0
Seongnam FC (p)	1 (4)

Daegu FC	1 (2)
		Seongnam FC	1

		Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (a.e.t.)	1

Jeju United	0

International cups

AFC Champions League

Team	Result	Round	Aggregate	Score	Opponent
FC Seoul	Group stage	Qualifying play-offs	4–1	4–1	Kedah
		Group E	Third place	1–0	Melbourne Victory
				1–2	Melbourne Victory
				1–2	Beijing Guoan
				1–3	Beijing Guoan
				5–0	Chiangrai United
				1–2	Chiangrai United
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Group stage	Group H	Third place	1–2	Yokohama F. Marinos
				1–4	Yokohama F. Marinos
				1–2	Shanghai SIPG
				2–0	Shanghai SIPG
				1–0	Sydney FC
				2–2	Sydney FC
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Quarter-finals	Group G	Runners-up	0–1	Vissel Kobe
				2–0	Vissel Kobe
				0–0	Guangzhou Evergrande
				1–1	Guangzhou Evergrande
		Round of 16	3–2	3–2	Yokohama F. Marinos
		Quarter-finals	1–1 (6–7 p)	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Vissel Kobe
Ulsan Hyundai	Champions	Group F	Winners	1–1	FC Tokyo
				2–1	FC Tokyo
				3–1	Shanghai Shenhua
				4–1	Shanghai Shenhua
				2–1	Perth Glory
				2–0	Perth Glory
		Round of 16	3–0	3–0	Melbourne Victory
		Quarter-finals	2–0	2–0	Beijing Guoan
		Semi-finals	2–1	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Vissel Kobe
		Final	2–1	2–1	Persepolis