2020 K League 1

Hana 1Q
K League 1
Season2020
Dates8 May – 1 November 2020
ChampionsJeonbuk Hyundai Motors
(8th title)
RelegatedSangju Sangmu
Busan IPark
Champions LeagueJeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Ulsan Hyundai
Pohang Steelers
Daegu FC
Matches played162
Goals scored425 (2.62 per match)
Best PlayerSon Jun-ho
Top goalscorerJúnior Negrão
(26 goals)
Biggest home winDaegu 6–0 Seoul
(14 June 2020)
Biggest away winSeongnam 0–6 Incheon
(27 September 2020)
Highest scoringDaegu 4–6 Gwangju
(30 August 2020)
Longest winning run5 matches
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Ulsan Hyundai
Longest unbeaten run11 matches
Ulsan Hyundai
Longest winless run15 matches
Incheon United
Longest losing run8 matches
Incheon United
← 2019
2021 →

The 2020 K League 1 was the 38th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the eighth season of the K League 1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won their eighth title, becoming the most successful K League club which had the most titles.[1]

The regular season was scheduled to begin on 29 February and to end on 4 October,[2] but was postponed until 8 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4][5]

On 24 April 2020, the K League Federation confirmed that they would adopt a modified plan for the season, reducing the number of matchdays to 27 including five matchdays of each divided final league.[6]

Sangju Sangmu and the lowest-placed team at the end of the season were relegated to the K League 2 for the 2021 season.[7]

In this season, one additional spot for players from ASEAN countries was added regardless of the "3+1" foreign players rule.[8][9]

Teams

Team changes

Relegated to K League 2

Promoted from K League 2

Locations

Locations of the 2020 K League 1 teams[10]

The following twelve teams competed in the 2020 K League 1.[11]

Team City/Province
Busan IPark Busan
Daegu FC Daegu
Gangwon FC Gangwon
Gwangju FC Gwangju
Incheon United Incheon
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk
Pohang Steelers Pohang
Sangju Sangmu Sangju
Seongnam FC Seongnam
FC Seoul Seoul
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Suwon
Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan

Stadiums

Busan IPark Daegu FC Incheon United
Busan Gudeok Stadium DGB Daegu Bank Park Incheon Football Stadium
Capacity: 12,349 Capacity: 12,415 Capacity: 20,891
Pohang Steelers Sangju Sangmu Seongnam FC
Pohang Steel Yard Sangju Civic Stadium Tancheon Stadium
Capacity: 17,443 Capacity: 15,042 Capacity: 16,146
FC Seoul Suwon Samsung Bluewings Ulsan Hyundai
Seoul World Cup Stadium Suwon World Cup Stadium Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 66,704 Capacity: 44,031 Capacity: 44,102
Gwangju FC Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Gwangju World Cup Stadium Gwangju Football Stadium Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 40,245 Capacity: 12,000 Capacity: 42,477
Gangwon FC
Chuncheon Songam Leports Town Gangneung Stadium
Capacity: 20,000 Capacity: 22,333

Personnel and sponsoring

Team Manager Main sponsor Kit manufacturer Other sponsor(s)
Busan IPark Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker) Hyundai Development Company Adidas
Daegu FC Lee Byung-keun (caretaker) Daegu Government Forward DGB Daegu Bank
AJIN Industrial Co., Ltd.
Gangwon FC Kim Byung-soo Gangwon Provincial Government Applerind Kangwon Land
Gwangju FC Park Jin-sub Gwangju Government Kelme
Incheon United Jo Sung-hwan Incheon Government Macron Shinhan Bank
Incheon International Airport
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors José Morais Hyundai Motor Company Hummel
Pohang Steelers Kim Gi-dong POSCO Astore Pohang Government
Sangju Sangmu Kim Tae-wan Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Kelme
Seongnam FC Kim Nam-il Seongnam Government Umbro
FC Seoul Park Hyuk-soon (caretaker) GS Group Le Coq Sportif
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Park Kun-ha Cheil Worldwide Puma Samsung Electronics
Ulsan Hyundai Kim Do-hoon Hyundai Heavy Industries Hummel Hyundai Oil Bank

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the Asian Football Confederation countries and a slot for a player from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC confederation.

Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Team Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player ASEAN player[a] Former player(s)
Busan IPark Vintecinco Rômulo Dostonbek Tursunov Reis
Daegu FC Césinha Edgar Dejan Damjanović Tsubasa Nishi
Gangwon FC Takahiro Nakazato
Gwangju FC Felipe Willyan Marco Ureña Rustam Ashurmatov
Incheon United Stefan Mugoša Elías Aguilar Gustavo Rashid Mahazi Lanre Kehinde
Gordan Bunoza
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Murilo Modou Barrow Gustavo Takahiro Kunimoto Lars Veldwijk
Pohang Steelers Manuel Palacios Stanislav Iljutcenko Aleksandar Paločević Brandon O’Neill
Seongnam FC Igor Jovanović Tomislav Kiš Jamshid Iskanderov
FC Seoul Adriano Michael Jackson Osmar Ikromjon Alibaev Aleksandar Pešić
Suwon Samsung Bluewings Doneil Henry Terry Antonis Adam Taggart Sulejman Krpić
Ulsan Hyundai Júnior Negrão Dave Bulthuis Bjørn Maars Johnsen Jason Davidson
  1. ^ Did not exist in the regulation of AFC.

League table

Pos Team 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:
  1. ^ Teams are split into two groups (Final A and Final B) after each have played 22 matches.
  2. ^ 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.

Positions by matchday

  Leaders
  Qualification for Champions League group stage
  Relegation to K League 2

Round 1–22

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors5211111111222222222222
Ulsan Hyundai1122222222111111111111
Pohang Steelers3364645555443544544443
Sangju Sangmu12746564333334433333334
Daegu FC6889856444555355455555
Gwangju FC11121212108777891010810101077786
Gangwon FC2575333667666678866968
Suwon Samsung Bluewings910108910881010899101111111111111111
FC Seoul8637791011991011111186689677
Seongnam FC4453479981111889679108899
Incheon United79911121212121212121212121212121212121212
Busan IPark10111110111111101167777997910101010
Source: K League

Round 23–27

The league was divided into two groups, the top six and the bottom six, after the 22nd matchday.

Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away BSI DGU GWN GJU ICU JHM PHS SJS SFC SEO SSB USH
Busan IPark — 2–2 1–2 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 0–0 1–2
Daegu FC 3–0 — 2–1 4–6 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 3–2 6–0 3–1 1–3
Gangwon FC 2–4 0–0 — 4–1 2–3 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–1 3–1 1–2 0–3
Gwangju FC 3–1 2–4 2–2 — 2–1 3–3 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–0 0–1 1–1
Incheon United 0–1 0–0 1–2 1–3 — 1–1 1–4 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–0 0–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 — 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 1–0 2–1
Pohang Steelers 2–0 3–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 — 4–3 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–4
Sangju Sangmu 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–4 — 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–5
Seongnam FC 1–1 1–2 0–0 0–2 0–0 2–0 0–4 0–1 — 1–2 0–2 1–2
FC Seoul 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–4 1–3 2–1 0–1 — 2–1 0–2
Suwon Samsung Bluewings 3–1 0–1 2–2 0–1 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 3–3 — 2–3
Ulsan Hyundai 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 4–1 0–2 2–0 4–0 1–0 3–0 0–0 —
Source: K League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–27

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank Player[12] Club Goals
1 Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai 26
2 Stanislav Iljutcenko Pohang Steelers 19
3 Cesinha Daegu FC 18
4 Aleksandar Paločević Pohang Steelers 14
5 Stefan Mugoša Incheon United 12
Felipe Gwangju FC
7 Han Kyo-won Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 11
8 Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers 10
9 Dejan Damjanović Daegu FC 9
Adam Taggart Suwon Samsung Bluewings
Ko Moo-yeol Gangwon FC

Top assist providers

Rank Player[12] Club Assists
1 Kang Sang-woo Sangju Sangmu
Pohang Steelers 		12
2 Jeong Seung-won Daegu FC 7
3 Kim Seung-dae Gangwon FC 6
Aleksandar Paločević Pohang Steelers
Kim In-sung Ulsan Hyundai
Manuel Palacios Pohang Steelers
Stanislav Iljutcenko Pohang Steelers
Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers
9 Son Jun-ho Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 5
10 12 players 4

Awards

Weekly awards

Monthly awards

Month Player of the Month Manager of the Month Goal of the Month
Player Club Manager Club Division Player Club
May Júnior Negrão Ulsan Kim Nam-il Seongnam 1 Cho Jae-wan Gangwon
June Cesinha Daegu José Morais Jeonbuk 1 Cesinha Daegu
July Júnior Negrão Ulsan Kim Do-hoon Ulsan 1 Lee Dong-gyeong Ulsan
August Moon Seon-min Sangju Nam Ki-il Jeju 2 Moon Seon-min Sangju
September Stefan Mugoša Incheon Kim Gi-dong Pohang 1 Adam Taggart Suwon
October Stanislav Iljutcenko Pohang Nam Ki-il Jeju 2 Hong Si-hoo Seongnam

Annual awards

The 2020 K League Awards was held on 5 November 2020.

Award Winner Club
Most Valuable Player Son Jun-ho Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Young Player of the Year Song Min-kyu Pohang Steelers
Top goalscorer Júnior Negrão Ulsan Hyundai
Top assist provider Kang Sang-woo Sangju Sangmu
Pohang Steelers
Manager of the Year Kim Gi-dong Pohang Steelers
Position Best XI
Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan)
Defenders Kim Tae-hwan
(Ulsan) 		Kwon Kyung-won
(Sangju) 		Hong Jeong-ho
(Jeonbuk) 		Kang Sang-woo
(Sangju, Pohang)
Midfielders Aleksandar Paločević
(Pohang) 		Cesinha
(Daegu) 		Son Jun-ho
(Jeonbuk) 		Han Kyo-won
(Jeonbuk)
Forwards Stanislav Iljutcenko (Pohang) Júnior Negrão (Ulsan)

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.

Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 16,808 10,535 0 1,200 −91.4%†
2 Ulsan Hyundai 16,352 6,973 0 1,168 −87.9%†
3 FC Seoul 13,047 5,485 0 931 −91.9%†
4 Daegu FC 7,265 3,030 0 558 −94.8%†
5 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 7,072 2,912 0 544 −93.8%†
6 Incheon United 6,849 3,428 0 526 −93.8%†
7 Pohang Steelers 6,996 3,280 0 499 −94.1%†
8 Seongnam FC 5,066 1,655 0 361 −93.5%†
9 Gangwon FC 2,978 1,967 0 212 −92.6%†
10 Gwangju FC 1,711 860 0 131 −95.8%†
11 Busan IPark 1,416 830 0 108 −97.4%†
12 Sangju Sangmu 1,080 666 0 83 −96.5%†
League total 86,640 10,535 0 534 −93.3%†

Updated to games played on 1 December 2020
Source: K League
Notes:
† Teams that played previous season in K League 2.

See also

References

  1. ^ Yoo, Jee-ho (1 November 2020). "Jeonbuk show championship mettle in taking record-breaking K League title". Yonhap News Agency. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  2. ^ K리그1 2020 시즌 2월 29일 개막 (in Korean). K League. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  3. ^ K리그 개막 무기한 연기..스포츠계 '코로나19 비상' (in Korean). Korean Broadcasting System. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  4. ^ King, Tom (27 April 2020). "K-League to return on May 8". Sport Business. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  5. ^ Jackson, Ed (26 April 2020). "Socceroos star Adam Taggart is back playing for his club — and he's already scoring goals". Fox Sports Australia. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  6. ^ 노주환 (24 April 2020). "[오피셜]K리그 개막전, 5월8일 '불금' 전북-수원전 '전주성'서 무관중으로 열린다". v.daum.net (in Korean). Retrieved 3 April 2025.
  7. ^ K리그 개막전, 5월8일 '불금' 전북-수원전 '전주성'서 무관중으로 열린다 (in Korean). Sports Chosun. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  8. ^ "S. Korean pro football to add Southeast Asian player quota in 2020". Yonhap News Agency. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  9. ^ "News: K League to Introduce ASEAN Quota in 2020". K League United. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  10. ^ "K League club profiles" (in Korean). K League.
  11. ^ "K League Official Club Profiles Page".
  12. ^ a b "K League / Record". Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
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