Battle for promotion to begin this week among 2nd division football clubs
Seongnam FC players celebrate their 2-1 win over Busan IPark to qualify for a K League 2 playoff match at Tancheon Stadium in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 23. Courtesy of Korea Professional Football League
The annual battle among second division football clubs for a chance to reach the top competition will begin this week with a one-and-done playoff match.
To open the playoff season in the K League 2, Seoul E-Land FC will play host to Seongnam FC at Mokdong Stadium in Seoul at 7 p.m. Wednesday. As No. 4 seed, Seoul E-Land have the home field over fifth-seeded Seongnam.
If the match is tied after 90 minutes, there will be no extra period and Seoul E-Land will be declared the winner as the higher seed.
Seoul E-Land finished the season with 65 points, one more than Seongnam. Seoul E-Land scored the third-most goals among the league's 14 clubs with 64, led by Euller's 12.
Seongnam, on the other hand, had the second-stingiest defense and conceded only 32 goals in 39 matches. Their goalkeeper Yang Han-been tied for third in the league with 13 clean sheets.
They only produced 46 goals to rank ninth and they do have one lethal weapon up front in Leonardo Ruiz, who ranked second overall with 17 goals.
Seoul E-Land beat Seongnam in three of their four meetings this season — winning 2-1 on April 26 and again on May 4, losing 1-0 on July 19 and then prevailing in their most recent head-to-head match by 2-0 on Oct. 3.
The winner of Thursday's showdown will advance to the next playoff match against No. 3 seed, Bucheon FC 1995, at 2 p.m. Sunday at Bucheon Stadium in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. There will be no extra session in this one, either.
The winner of this second playoff match will qualify for one of the two promotion-relegation playoff series in December. Both will be home-and-away battles.
One series will pit the K League 2 playoff winner against No. 10 seed from the K League 1. The other series will see Suwon Samsung Bluewings, the runners-up in the K League 2, go up against No. 11 seed from the K League 1. The two winning sides will play in the K League 1 in 2026.
Each year, the K League 2 champions earn direct promotion to the top division and trade places with the last-place team in the K League 1.
This season, Incheon United have already clinched the K League 2 title and will rejoin the K League 1 after spending just one year in the second division.
The bottom three spots in the K League 1 will all be determined on the final day of the season on Sunday.
Daegu FC are currently in last place with 33 points, three back of Jeju SK FC. If the two clubs end up tied in points, Daegu FC will most likely win the goals scored tiebreaker, since they currently hold a 45-39 edge.
Suwon FC are in 10th place with 42 points, but they only trail ninth-place Ulsan HD FC by two points. Suwon FC will avoid the promotion-relegation playoffs if they beat Gwangju FC and Ulsan lose to Jeju on Sunday.
After winning three consecutive K League 1 titles from 2022 to 2024, Ulsan now face the possibility of being relegated to the K League 2 for the first time.