United Koreans in Japan official football team

The United Koreans in Japan official football team represents the Korean population living in Japan. The team includes players holding passports from North Korea, South Korea and Japan. The team, run by the United Korean Football Association in Japan (UKFAJ), joined ConIFA in 2015, and played its first matches at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup.[1]

United Koreans in Japan

Association	United Korean Football Association in Japan
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	An Yong-hak
Most caps	Shin Yong-ki (11)
Top scorer	Tae An-sung (4)
Home stadium	Akabane Park Stadium
First colours
First international
Zainichi Korea 1–0 Székely Land (Sukhumi, Abkhazia; 30 May 2016)
Biggest win
Ryūkyū 0–9 Zainichi Korea (Nakagusuku, Japan; 26 November 2016)
Biggest defeat
Zainichi Korea 0–3 Kurdistan Region  (Sukhumi, Abkhazia; 31 May 2016)
ConIFA World Football Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 2016)
Best result	Quarter-finals (7th), 2016

History

The national team grew out of the local football club for Koreans in Japan, FC Korea, which formed in 1961 and currently plays in the Kanto Soccer League, and is still the base of the national team. Upon its formation, it joined ConIFA, and became one of the Asian teams invited to play at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup on 9 January 2016. The team progressed to the quarter finals after beating Székely Land 1-0 in the group stages, but lost on penalties to Northern Cyprus, thus putting them in the placement rounds, where they eventually finished 7th in the overall competition.

In 2018 they were confirmed as participating in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup. For the tournament, they appointed former North Korean international An Yong-hak as player-manager.

Matches

30 May 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Group B	United Koreans in Japan	1–0	Székely Land	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	Lee Son-Chon  60'

31 May 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Group B	United Koreans of Japan	0–3	Kurdistan Region	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET		Report	Diyar Rahman  27' Miran Khesro  45' (pen) Hunar Ahmad  73'

1 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Quarter-Final	United Koreans in Japan	1–1 (2–4 p)	Northern Cyprus	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	On Song-Tae  54'		Ünal Kaya  31'
	Penalties
	Kim Kwang-Woo On Song-Tae Kim Su-Yong An Suug-Tae		Esin Sonay Halil Turan Ünal Kaya Ibrahim Çıdamlı

3 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Placement R1	United Koreans in Japan	1–2	Sápmi	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	Kim Su-Yong  2'		9' (pen)  61'

4 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Placement R2	United Koreans in Japan	1–1 (4–2 p)	Kurdistan Region	Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra
11:00 GET	An Suug-Tae  90+5'		80'
	Penalties
	Kim Su-Yong An Suug-Tae Kim Kwang-Woo Huo Yang Shin Yong-Ki

26 November 2016 International Friendly	Ryūkyū	0–9	United Koreans in Japan	Gosamaru Field, Nakagusuku, Japan
12:00 JST			(3) Anne-Sung Tae  (2) Yuuki Gomi Lee Seong-Cheol Kang Awe Akimoto Kaijin Lee Yoshiaki

31 May 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	United Koreans in Japan	0–0	Western Armenia	Colston Avenue, Carshalton
12:00 BST				Referee: Fehim Dayı

2 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	United Koreans in Japan	0–0	Kabylie	Larges Lane, Bracknell
14:00 BST				Referee: Leon Dastych

3 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	Panjab	1–1	United Koreans in Japan	Arbour Park, Slough
18:00 BST	Purewal  77' (pen)		Mun  90+4'	Referee: David Murphy

5 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 1	United Koreans in Japan	5–0	Tuvalu	Larges Lane, Bracknell
18:00 BST	Taniyama  18' Lee  20', 58' Shin  23' Mun  83'

7 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 2	Abkhazia	2–0	United Koreans in Japan	Hayes Lane, Bromley
12:00 BST

9 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 3	Tibet	1–1 (1–4 p)	United Koreans in Japan	St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe
BST

Current squad

The following players were called up to the squad to face Panjab, Western Armenia and Kabylie at the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup in London from 31 May to 10 June.[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 1 May 2018, when the squad was announced.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
96	GK	Lim Hyo-geum	3 May 1996	0	0	Kwansei Gakuin University
1	GK	Shim Woo-dae	24 January 1985	0	0	Unattached
17	DF	Shin Yong-ki	14 April 1993	11	0	FC Korea
13	DF	Kim Sun-ji	5 December 1994	5	0	FC Korea
5	DF	Hong Yun-guk	11 February 1995	0	0	FC Tokushima
6	DF	Son Min-chol	27 October 1986	0	0	Lee Man FC
2	DF	An Yong-hak	25 October 1978	0	0	Unattached
98	DF	Kang Yoo-jun	8 May 1998	0	0	Monroe Mustangs
28	MF	Ken Tamiyama	29 December 1995	10	0	FC Tokushima
4	MF	Ko Ji-hwang	2 March 1995	0	0	FC Tokushima
7	MF	Lee Tong-jun	25 June 1993	0	0	Arawore Hachikita
8	MF	Choi Gwang-yeon	23 December 1987	0	0	FC Korea
10	MF	Yun Song-i	29 January 1980	0	0	Unattached
14	MF	Byun Yeong-jang	1 November 1988	0	0	Tokyo United
89	MF	Lee Tong-soung	1 March 1999	0	0	Staines Town
21	MF	Hong Te-il	24 May 1988	0	0	Unattached
26	MF	Mun Su-hyeon	6 August 1995	0	0	FC Korea
51	FW	Shin Yong-ju	1 January 1996	0	0	FC Korea

Managers

Manager	Period	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Chan Ho Seong	2016	6	2	2	2	033.3
An Yong-hak	2018	6	1	4	1	016.7
Totals		12	3	6	3	25

References

1. UKJ Profile ConIFA
2. United Koreans in Japan squad ConIFA