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 as K League and the first season in its current name, the K League 1.[1]

KEB Hana Bank
K League 1 2018

Season	2018
Dates	2 March 2018 – 2 December 2018
Champions	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (6th title)
Relegated	Jeonnam Dragons
AFC Champions League	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Gyeongnam FC Ulsan Hyundai Daegu FC
Matches played	228
Goals scored	620 (2.72 per match)
Top goalscorer	Marcão (26 goals)
Biggest home win	Gangwon 7–0 Incheon (R24)
Biggest away win	Gyeongnam 0–4 Jeonbuk (R6) Seoul 0–4 Jeonbuk (R14)
Highest scoring	Jeonnam 6–4 Suwon (R24)
Longest winning run	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (9 games)
Longest unbeaten run	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (10 games)
Longest winless run	Incheon United (14 games)
Longest losing run	Daegu FC (6 games)
Highest attendance	30,122 – Seoul vs Suwon (R12)
Lowest attendance	290 – Sangju vs Gangwon (R37)
Average attendance	5,381
← 2017 2019 →

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors were the defending champions.

Promotion and relegation

Teams relegated to the 2018 K League 2

• Gwangju FC

Teams promoted from the 2017 K League 2

• Gyeongnam FC

Participating clubs by province

Seoul

Daegu

Gangwon

Gyeongnam

Incheon

Jeju

Jeonbuk

Jeonnam

Pohang

Sangju

Suwon

Ulsan

Locations of the 2018 K League 1 teams

The following twelve clubs competed in the K League 1 during the 2018 season.

• K League Official Club Profiles Page

Club	City / Area	Manager	Joined	Owner(s) / Sponsor(s)
0 Daegu FC	0 Daegu	Andre	2002–	Owner : Government of Daegu, Citizen Stockholder
0 Gangwon FC	0 Gangwon	Kim Byung-soo	2009–	Owner : Government of Gangwon, Citizen Stockholder
0 Gyeongnam FC	0 Gyeongsangnam-do	Kim Jong-boo	2008–	Owner : Government of Gyeongsangnam-do, Citizen Stockholder
0 Incheon United	0 Incheon	Jørn Andersen	2004–	Owners : Government of Incheon, Citizen Stockholder Sponsors: Shinhan Bank, Incheon International Airport
0 Jeju United	0 Jeju	Jo Sung-hwan	1983–	Owner : SK Energy in SK Group
0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0 Jeonbuk	Choi Kang-hee	1995–	Owner : Hyundai Motor Company in Hyundai Motor Group
0 Jeonnam Dragons	0 Jeonnam	Kim In-wan (caretaker)	1995–	Owner : POSCO
0 Pohang Steelers	0 Pohang, Gyeongbuk	Choi Soon-ho	1983–	Owner : POSCO
0 Sangju Sangmu	0 Sangju, Gyeongbuk	Kim Tae-wan	2011-	Owner : Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps
0 FC Seoul	0 Seoul	Choi Yong-soo	1984–	Owner : GS Group
0 Suwon Samsung Bluewings	0 Suwon, Gyeonggi	Seo Jung-won	1996–	Owner : Cheil Worldwide in Samsung Sponsors: Samsung Electronics, Maeil Dairies Industry
0 Ulsan Hyundai	0 Ulsan	Kim Do-hoon	1984–	Owner : Hyundai Heavy Industries in Hyundai Heavy Industries Group

Stadiums

• Primary venues used in the K League 1:

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.

As of 26 May 2018.[1]

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

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 the 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 the 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[lower-alpha 1]	38	14	8	16	47	56	−9	50	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
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 to relegation play-offs
12	Jeonnam Dragons (R)	38	8	8	22	43	69	−26	32	Relegation to 2019 K League 2

Source: K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. Daegu FC qualified for the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage as 2018 Korean FA Cup winners.

Positions by matchday

  Leader & 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
  Qualification to 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
  Qualification to 2019 AFC Champions League qualification play-offs
  Relegation playoffs
  Relegation to the 2019 K League 2

Round 1–22

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
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
Gyeongnam FC	2	2	1	1	1	2	3	3	4	4	3	2	4	5	4	4	2	2	2	2	2	2
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
Ulsan Hyundai	11	11	12	12	11	10	6	8	7	7	8	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	4
Jeju United	7	10	7	8	8	6	5	6	3	3	4	4	3	3	2	3	4	4	4	4	5	5
Pohang Steelers	1	1	3	2	3	4	4	4	6	6	7	8	7	8	8	9	9	8	7	7	6	6
FC Seoul	6	9	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	8	8	7	8	9	8	7
Gangwon FC	5	3	2	4	4	5	7	5	8	8	5	7	8	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	7	8
Sangju Sangmu	10	8	8	9	9	7	8	7	5	5	6	5	5	4	6	7	7	9	9	8	9	9
Daegu FC	12	12	11	11	12	12	11	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	11	11	12	10	10
Incheon United	8	6	6	6	6	8	10	10	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12	10	11	11
Jeonnam Dragons	4	7	9	7	7	11	12	12	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	12	12

Updated to match(es) played on 12 August 2018. Source: K League

Round 23–38

Split rounds are from round 34 to round 38

Team ╲ Round	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Gyeongnam FC	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	3	2	2	2
Ulsan Hyundai	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3
Pohang Steelers	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	5	5	4	4	4	4
Jeju United	8	8	8	8	7	7	8	7	7	6	6	6	6	6	5	5
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	5	5	6	6
Daegu FC	10	10	10	10	9	10	7	7	8	8	8	7	8	7	7	7
Gangwon FC	7	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7	8	7	8	8	8
Incheon United	11	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	11	11	10	9
Sangju Sangmu	9	9	9	9	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	11	10
FC Seoul	6	7	7	7	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	11
Jeonnam Dragons	12	11	12	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	12

Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2018. Source: K League
Notes:

1. The match "Jeju United vs Suwon Samsung Bluewings" of the 25th round on 22 August, 2018 has been called off due to typhoon "Souleek". The new date is 8 September 2018.

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	—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 August 2018. 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	—	—

Updated to match(es) played on 20 October 2018. 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.

Top six 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 — — — Updated to match(es) played on 2 December 2018. Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six 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 — — Updated to match(es) played on 1 December 2018. Source: K League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion-relegation playoffs

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

First leg

6 December 2018

19:00 KST

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

Busan Gudeok Stadium, Busan

Attendance: 10,127

Referee: Kim Woo-sung

Second leg

9 December 2018

14:10 KST

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

Seoul World Cup Stadium, Seoul

Attendance: 8,554

Referee: Kim Dae-yong

FC Seoul retained its 2019 K League 1 spot, 4–2 on aggregate.

Season statistics

Top scorers [2] 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

Top assists [3] 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 7 9 players 6

Attendance

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:
Notes:
Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
^† Teams that played previous season in K League Challenge.

Awards

Most Valuable Player of The Round

R MVP 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

R MVP 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 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

Season Awards

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

K League Most Valuable Player

• The K League Most Valuable Player award was won by Marcão (Gyeongnam FC).

K League Young Player

• The K League Young Player award was won by Han Seung-gyu (Ulsan Hyundai).

K League Top Scorer

• The K League Top Scorer award was won by Marcão (Gyeongnam FC).

K League Top Assistor

• The K League Top Assistor award was won by Cesinha (Daegu FC).

K League Best XI

Hyeon-woo Chul Min-jae Richard Yong Negueba Young-jun Aguilar Lopes Marcão Júnior 2018 K League 1 Best XI

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

K League Manager of the Year

• The K League Manager of the Year award was won by Choi Kang-hee (Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors).

References

1. "K LEAGUE / K리그".
2. "K LEAGUE / K리그".
3. "K LEAGUE / K리그".