2018 K League 1

The 2018 K League 1 was the 36th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea since its establishment in 1983, and the sixth season of the K League 1, former K League Classic. The K League Classic was changed its name to "K League 1" in this season. As the 2018 FIFA World Cup start on 14 June, the last round before stoppage will be held on 19–20 May. The league will resume games on 7 July.

KEB Hana Bank
K League 1

Season	2018
Dates	2 March – 2 December 2018
Champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (6th title)
Relegated	Jeonnam Dragons
Champions League	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Gyeongnam FC Ulsan Hyundai Daegu FC
Matches played	228
Goals scored	620 (2.72 per match)
Best Player	Marcão
Top goalscorer	Marcão (26 goals)
Biggest home win	Gangwon 7–0 Incheon (19 August 2018)
Biggest away win	Gyeongnam 0–4 Jeonbuk (11 April 2018) Seoul 0–4 Jeonbuk (20 May 2018)
Highest scoring	Jeonnam 6–4 Suwon (19 August 2018)
Longest winning run	9 matches Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Longest winless run	14 matches Incheon United
Longest losing run	6 matches Daegu FC
Highest attendance	30,122 Seoul 2–1 Suwon (5 May 2018)
Lowest attendance	290 Sangju 0–1 Gangwon (24 November 2018)
Average attendance	5,381
← 2017 2019 →

Teams

Jeonnam Dragons

Daegu FC

FC Seoul

Gyeongnam FC

Incheon United

Jeju United

Jeonbuk Hyundai
Motors

Pohang Steelers

Suwon Samsung Bluewings

Ulsan Hyundai

Gangwon FC

Sangju Sangmu

Locations of the 2018 K League 1 clubs

General information

Club	City/Province	Manager	Owner(s)	Other sponsor(s)
Daegu FC	Daegu	Andre	Daegu Government
Gangwon FC	Gangwon	Kim Byung-soo	Gangwon Provincial Government
Gyeongnam FC	Gyeongnam	Kim Jong-boo	Gyeongnam Provincial Government
Incheon United	Incheon	Jørn Andersen	Incheon Government	Shinhan Bank Incheon International Airport
Jeju United	Jeju	Jo Sung-hwan	SK Energy
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Jeonbuk	Choi Kang-hee	Hyundai Motor Company
Jeonnam Dragons	Jeonnam	Kim In-wan (caretaker)	POSCO
Pohang Steelers	Pohang, Gyeongbuk	Choi Soon-ho	POSCO
Sangju Sangmu	Sangju, Gyeongbuk	Kim Tae-wan	Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps
FC Seoul	Seoul	Choi Yong-soo	GS Group
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Suwon, Gyeonggi	Seo Jung-won	Cheil Worldwide	Samsung Electronics Maeil Dairies Industry
Ulsan Hyundai	Ulsan	Kim Do-hoon	Hyundai Heavy Industries

Stadiums

Daegu FC	Gangwon FC	Gyeongnam FC	Incheon United	Jeju United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Daegu Stadium	Chuncheon Songam Leports Town	Changwon Football Center	Incheon Football Stadium	Jeju World Cup Stadium	Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 66,422	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 20,245	Capacity: 20,891	Capacity: 35,657	Capacity: 42,477
Jeonnam Dragons	Pohang Steelers	Sangju Sangmu	FC Seoul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Ulsan Hyundai
Gwangyang Football Stadium	Pohang Steel Yard	Sangju Civic Stadium	Seoul World Cup Stadium	Suwon World Cup Stadium	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 13,496	Capacity: 17,443	Capacity: 15,042	Capacity: 66,704	Capacity: 44,031	Capacity: 44,102

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team could use four foreign players on the field each game including a least one player from the AFC confederation. Players name in bold are registered during the mid-season transfer window.

As of 26 May 2018

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	AFC player	Former players
Daegu FC	Césinha	Edgar Silva	Zé Roberto	Tsubasa Nishi	Caion Jean Carlos
Gangwon FC	Diego Maurício	Valentinos Sielis	Uroš Đerić	Dylan McGowan
Gyeongnam FC	Marcão	Negueba	Paulinho	Takahiro Kunimoto	Ivan Herceg
Incheon United	Gordan Bunoza	Elías Aguilar	Stefan Mugoša	Kwabena Appiah
Jeju United	Magno Cruz	Roberson	Tiago Marques	Aleksandar Jovanović
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Adriano Michael Jackson	Ricardo Lopes	Tiago Alves
Jeonnam Dragons	Wanderson Carvalho	Wanderson Macedo	Vedran Jugović	James Donachie	Tomislav Mrčela
Pohang Steelers	Alemão	Jucimar Teixeira	Léo Gamalho	Connor Chapman	Getterson
FC Seoul	Anderson Lopes	Evandro Paulista	Bojan Matić		Ivan Kovačec
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	Elvis Sarić	Waguininho	Dejan Damjanović		Matthew Jurman Cristovam
Ulsan Hyundai	Richard Windbichler	Júnior Negrão	Mix Diskerud	Sergio Escudero	Mislav Oršić Yohei Toyoda

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (C)	38	26	8	4	75	31	+44	86	Qualification for Champions League group stage
2	Gyeongnam FC	38	18	11	9	59	44	+15	65
3	Ulsan Hyundai	38	17	12	9	61	46	+15	63	Qualification for Champions League play-off round
4	Pohang Steelers	38	15	9	14	47	48	−1	54
5	Jeju United	38	14	12	12	41	41	0	54
6	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	38	13	11	14	53	54	−1	50
7	Daegu FC	38	14	8	16	47	56	−9	50	Qualification for Champions League group stage[a]
8	Gangwon FC	38	12	10	16	56	60	−4	46
9	Incheon United	38	10	12	16	55	69	−14	42
10	Sangju Sangmu	38	10	10	18	41	52	−11	40
11	FC Seoul (O)	38	9	13	16	40	48	−8	40	Qualification for relegation play-offs
12	Jeonnam Dragons (R)	38	8	8	22	43	69	−26	32	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; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Qualified as champions of FA Cup.

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for Champions League group stage
  Qualification for Champions League play-off round
  Qualification for relegation play-offs
  Relegation to K League 2

Round 1–33

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	3	4	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Gyeongnam FC	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	4	4	3	2	4	5	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Ulsan Hyundai	11	11	12	12	11	10	6	8	7	7	8	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	9	5	5	5	5	3	2	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	4
Pohang Steelers	1	1	3	2	3	4	4	4	6	6	7	8	7	8	8	9	9	8	7	7	6	6	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	5
Jeju United	7	10	7	8	8	6	5	6	3	3	4	4	3	3	2	3	4	4	4	4	5	5	8	8	8	8	7	7	8	7	7	6	6
Gangwon FC	5	3	2	4	4	5	7	5	8	8	5	7	8	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	8	7	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7
Daegu FC	12	12	11	11	12	12	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	12	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	7	7	8	8	8
FC Seoul	6	9	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	7	8	9	8	7	6	7	7	7	8	8	9	9	9	9	9
Sangju Sangmu	10	8	8	9	9	7	8	7	5	5	6	5	5	4	6	7	7	9	9	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	10	10	10	10	10
Jeonnam Dragons	4	7	9	7	7	11	12	12	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	12	12	12	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11
Incheon United	8	6	6	6	6	8	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	10	11	11	11	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12

Source: K League

Round 34–38

Team ╲ Round	34	35	36	37	38
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	1	1	1	1
Gyeongnam FC	3	3	2	2	2
Ulsan Hyundai	2	2	3	3	3
Pohang Steelers	5	4	4	4	4
Jeju United	6	6	6	5	5
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	4	5	5	6	6
Daegu FC	7	8	7	7	7
Gangwon FC	8	7	8	8	8
Incheon United	12	11	11	10	9
Sangju Sangmu	10	10	10	11	10
FC Seoul	9	9	9	9	11
Jeonnam Dragons	11	12	12	12	12

Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–22

Teams play each other twice, once at home, once away.

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GNM	ICU	JJU	JHM	JND	PHS	SJS	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	2–1	0–2	2–1	1–4	1–3	1–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	0–2	0–2
Gangwon FC	0–3	—	1–3	2–1	3–1	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–3	3–3
Gyeongnam FC	1–1	0–1	—	3–0	2–0	0–4	3–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	2–2	0–0
Incheon United	0–0	3–3	2–3	—	1–2	3–2	2–2	1–2	0–1	2–1	2–3	1–1
Jeju United	1–2	3–5	0–0	4–2	—	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–1	3–1	0–1	3–3	1–0	—	3–0	0–3	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–0
Jeonnam Dragons	1–1	1–4	1–3	1–3	0–3	0–0	—	2–3	2–0	2–1	0–2	1–2
Pohang Steelers	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	3–1	—	0–2	0–3	1–1	2–1
Sangju Sangmu	0–1	3–0	0–1	3–2	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–1	—	1–2	1–1	2–3
FC Seoul	3–0	1–2	2–3	1–1	3–0	0–4	2–1	2–1	0–0	—	2–1	1–1
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2–0	2–0	3–1	5–2	2–3	0–3	1–2	1–1	2–1	0–0	—	0–0
Ulsan Hyundai	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams play every other team once (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	DGU	GWN	GNM	ICU	JJU	JHM	JND	PHS	SJS	SEO	SSB	USH
Daegu FC	—	2–0	2–2	1–2	—	—	2–1	—	—	—	4–2	0–2
Gangwon FC	—	—	—	7–0	—	—	—	1–1	2–3	0–0	1–0	—
Gyeongnam FC	—	2–1	—	—	0–1	0–2	—	—	2–1	2–1	—	3–3
Incheon United	—	—	2–2	—	—	—	3–1	—	0–0	—	0–0	3–2
Jeju United	2–3	2–2	—	0–0	—	—	1–0	—	—	1–0	0–0	—
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	2–1	3–2	—	3–2	4–0	—	1–0	—	—	—	—	—
Jeonnam Dragons	—	0–1	3–3	—	—	—	—	3–2	—	1–0	6–4	1–0
Pohang Steelers	2–1	—	0–3	1–0	2–2	5–2	—	—	—	—	—	—
Sangju Sangmu	2–5	—	—	—	1–1	2–2	1–2	1–2	—	—	1–2	—
FC Seoul	0–2	—	—	1–1	—	1–2	—	0–1	2–2	—	—	—
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	—	—	1–0	—	—	0–0	—	2–0	—	1–2	—	2–2
Ulsan Hyundai	—	2–0	—	—	3–2	2–2	—	2–0	4–1	4–1	—	—

Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

After 33 matches, the league splits into two sections of six teams each, with teams playing every other team in their section once (either at home or away). The exact matches are determined upon the league table at the time of the split.

Group A Home \ Away GNM JHM JJU PHS SSB USH Gyeongnam FC — — — 1–2 2–1 — Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–1 — — — 2–0 3–1 Jeju United 0–1 0–0 — — — — Pohang Steelers — 1–1 1–2 — — 1–3 Suwon Samsung Bluewings — — 0–2 1–3 — 3–3 Ulsan Hyundai 1–0 — 0–1 — — — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B Home \ Away DGU GWN ICU JND SJS SEO Daegu FC — — — — 0–0 1–1 Gangwon FC 0–1 — 2–3 1–0 — — Incheon United 0–1 — — 3–1 2–1 — Jeonnam Dragons 1–2 — — — 0–1 — Sangju Sangmu — 0–1 — — — 1–0 FC Seoul — 1–1 0–1 3–2 — — Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation play-offs

The promotion-relegation play-offs were held between the winners of the 2018 K League 2 play-offs and the 11th-placed club of the 2018 K League 1. The winners on aggregate score after both matches earned entry into the 2019 K League 1.

Busan IPark	1–3	FC Seoul
Rômulo 24'	Report	Cho Young-wook 58' Go Yo-han 78' Jung Hyun-cheol 89'

6 December 2018

19:00 KST

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 10,127

Referee: Kim Woo-sung

---

FC Seoul	1–1	Busan IPark
Park Chu-young 90+3'	Report	Kim Jin-kyu 32'

9 December 2018

14:10 KST

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 8,554

Referee: Kim Dae-yong

FC Seoul won 4–2 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.

Player statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Marcão	Gyeongnam FC	26
2	Uroš Đerić	Gangwon FC	24
3	Júnior Negrão	Ulsan Hyundai	22
4	Stefan Mugoša	Incheon United	19
5	Moon Seon-min	Incheon United	14
6	Ricardo Lopes	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	13
	Dejan Damjanović	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Lee Dong-gook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
9	Kim Shin-wook	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	11
10	Heo Yong-joon	Jeonnam Dragons	9

Source:^[1]

Top assist providers

Rank	Player	Club	Assists
1	Cesinha	Daegu FC	11
2	Elías Aguilar	Incheon United	10
3	Lee Yong	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	9
4	Hong Chul	Sangju Sangmu Suwon Samsung Bluewings	8
5	Han Seung-gyu	Ulsan Hyundai	7
	Negueba	Gyeongnam FC

Source:^[1]

Awards

Main awards

The 2018 K League Awards was held on 3 December 2018.

Award	Winner	Club
Most Valuable Player	Marcão	Gyeongnam FC
Top goalscorer	Marcão	Gyeongnam FC
Top assist provider	Cesinha	Daegu FC
Young Player of the Year	Han Seung-gyu	Ulsan Hyundai
Manager of the Year	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Source:^[2]

Best XI

Position	Winner	Club
Goalkeeper	Jo Hyeon-woo	Daegu FC
Defenders	Hong Chul	Suwon Samsung Bluewings
	Kim Min-jae	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
	Richard Windbichler	Ulsan Hyundai
	Lee Yong	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Midfielders	Negueba	Gyeongnam FC
	Choi Young-jun	Gyeongnam FC
	Elías Aguilar	Incheon United
	Ricardo Lopes	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Forwards	Marcão	Gyeongnam FC
	Júnior Negrão	Ulsan Hyundai

Source:^[2]

Player of the Round

Round Winner Club 1 Lee Dong-gook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2 Moon Seon-min Incheon United 3 Kim Min-jae Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 4 Marcão Gyeongnam FC 5 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 6 Kim Shin-wook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 7 Lee Dong-gook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 8 Uroš Đerić Gangwon FC 9 Lee Ki-je Suwon Samsung Bluewings 10 Kwon Soon-hyung Jeju United 11 Uroš Đerić Gangwon FC 12 Anderson Lopes FC Seoul 13 Kim Seung-dae Pohang Steelers 14 Lim Sun-young Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 15 Ricardo Lopes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 16 Hong Jeong-woon Daegu FC 17 Ricardo Lopes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 18 Yeom Ki-hun Suwon Samsung Bluewings 19 Uroš Đerić Gangwon FC

Round Winner Club 20 Marcão Gyeongnam FC 21 Kim Dae-won Daegu FC 22 Tiago Alves Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 23 Lee Seok-hyun Pohang Steelers 24 Uroš Đerić Gangwon FC 25 Moon Seon-min Incheon United 26 Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai 27 Cesinha Daegu FC 28 Han Kyo-won Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 29 Edgar Silva Daegu FC 30 Kim Do-hyeong Pohang Steelers 31 Lee Jin-hyun Pohang Steelers 32 Kim In-sung Ulsan Hyundai 33 Lee Dong-gook Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 34 Ricardo Lopes Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 35 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 36 Dejan Damjanović Suwon Samsung Bluewings 37 Lee Chang-keun Jeju United 38 Yoon Bit-garam Sangju Sangmu

Manager of the Month

Month	Manager	Club	Division
March	Jung Gab-suk	Bucheon FC 1995	K League 2
April	Choi Kang-hee	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	K League 1
May	Nam Ki-il	Seongnam FC	K League 2
July	Kim Jong-boo	Gyeongnam FC	K League 1
August	Ko Jong-soo	Daejeon Citizen	K League 2
September	Ko Jong-soo	Daejeon Citizen	K League 2
October	Jo Sung-hwan	Jeju United	K League 1

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	226,224	19,108	5,005	11,907	+1.9%†
2	FC Seoul	219,665	30,122	4,714	11,561	−29.1%†
3	Ulsan Hyundai	142,944	14,228	1,059	7,523	−11.1%†
4	Pohang Steelers	140,668	15,393	3,073	7,404	−11.6%†
5	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	114,943	13,853	2,940	6,709	−23.6%†
6	Incheon United	84,151	7,282	1,402	4,429	−25.3%†
7	Daegu FC	66,837	13,351	477	3,518	+5.3%†
8	Jeonnam Dragons	62,615	11,036	1,830	3,296	−19.8%†
9	Gyeongnam FC	62,615	13,082	932	3,170	+32.3%†
10	Jeju United	60,033	8,354	1,215	3,160	−22.1%†
11	Gangwon FC	25,765	4,530	569	1,356	−41.2%†
12	Sangju Sangmu	25,050	2,317	290	1,318	−19.9%†
	League total	1,241,667	30,122	290	5,445	−16.3%†

Updated to games played on 7 December 2018
Source: K League
Notes:
^† Teams that played previous season in K League Challenge.

See also

• 2018 in South Korean football
• 2018 K League 2
• 2018 Korean FA Cup