2026 K League 1

Hana Bank
K League 1

Season	2026
Country	South Korea
Teams	12
← 2025 2027 →

The 2026 K League 1, also known as the Hana Bank K League 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the ongoing 44th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the thirteen season of the K League 1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors is the defending champion. ^[1] Gangwon FC will play all their own home matches at Gangneung Stadium, Gangneung only.

Rule changes

The following rules were newly introduced for the 2026 season. ^[2]

1. Abolish the quota on the number of foreign players a club may register but maximum of five foreign players will be permitted on the pitch or in the matchday squad.
2. Foreign goalkeepers can be registered as ban lifted after 26 years.
3. Clubs will now have five substitutions and the U22 mandatory appearance rule is lifted. However, the 20-man matchday squad still requires a minimum of two U22 players. Missing this threshold results in a reduced squad size (19 players for one U22, 18 for none).
4. The affiliation agreement between the K League, the Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (Sangmu), and Gimcheon City expires at the end of 2026. As a result, if either Gimcheon establishes a new citizen-owned club or the Armed Forces Athletic Corps moves and forms a new K League club in a different city, both new clubs will enter the K League 2 competition starting in 2027.
5. Starting with the 2027 season, K League 1 will feature 14 clubs. As a result, 2026 K League 2's top two teams and the winner of the final of promotion play-offs of K League 2 will be automatically promoted to 2027 K League 1. The losing finalists of promotion play-offs of K League 2 may also be promoted if they win the K League 1 relegation play-offs, which can only be held if Gimcheon Sangmu doesn't finish the season last at the table.

Teams

Team changes

Bucheon FC 1995 were promoted from the K League 2 for the first time in the club's history, ^{[3] [4]} while Incheon United was promoted immediately after relegation in 2024. Suwon FC and Daegu FC were relegated to the K League 2 ^{[5] [6]}

Promoted from K League 2	Relegated to K League 2
Incheon United & Bucheon FC 1995	Suwon FC & Daegu FC

Locations

The following twelve clubs are competing in the 2025 K League 1. ^[7]

Team	City/Province	Abbreviation
FC Anyang	Anyang	Anyang
Bucheon FC 1995	Bucheon	Bucheon
Daejeon Hana Citizen	Daejeon	Daejeon
Gangwon FC	Gangwon	Gangwon
Gimcheon Sangmu	Gimcheon	Gimcheon
Gwangju FC	Gwangju	Gwangju
Incheon United	Incheon	Incheon
Jeju SK	Jeju	Jeju
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Jeonbuk	Jeonbuk
Pohang Steelers	Pohang	Pohang
FC Seoul	Seoul	Seoul
Ulsan HD	Ulsan	Ulsan

Anyang Bucheon Seoul Incheon Gangwon (Gangneung) Jeonbuk Daejeon Gimcheon Pohang Gwangju Ulsan Jeju class=notpageimage| Locations of the 2026 K League 1 teams

7km 4.3miles Incheon Bucheon Seoul Anyang     Locations of the 2026 K League 1 teams in the Seoul Capital Area

Stadiums

FC Anyang	Bucheon FC 1995	Daejeon Hana Citizen	Gangwon FC
Anyang Stadium	Bucheon Stadium	Daejeon World Cup Stadium	Gangneung Stadium
Capacity: 17,143	Capacity: 34,456	Capacity: 40,903	Capacity: 22,333
Gimcheon Sangmu	Gwangju FC	Incheon United	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors
Gimcheon Stadium	Gwangju World Cup Stadium	Incheon Football Stadium	Jeonju World Cup Stadium
Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 40,245	Capacity: 20,891	Capacity: 42,477
Jeju SK	Pohang Steelers	FC Seoul	Ulsan HD
Jeju World Cup Stadium	Pohang Steel Yard	Seoul World Cup Stadium	Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium
Capacity: 29,791	Capacity: 17,443	Capacity: 66,704	Capacity: 44,102

Personnel and sponsoring

Team	Manager	Kit manufacturer	Main sponsor	Other sponsor(s)
FC Anyang	Ryu Byeong-hoon	V-EXX	Osang Healthcare	List Front:None Back:None Sleeves:None Shorts:None
Bucheon FC 1995	Lee Young-min	Kelme	Bucheon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine	List Front: Bastem Back: Wawabuza Sleeves: Bucheon City Shorts:None
Daejeon Hana Citizen	Hwang Sun-hong	Goal Studio	Hana Bank	List Front: Hana Capital Back: Hana Securities, Hana Card, Hana Life Sleeves: Hana Savings Bank, CNCITY Energy, Gyeryong Construction, Hana Insurance, Daejeon First-Class Economic City Shorts:None
Gangwon FC	Chung Kyung-ho	Fila	High1 Resort	List Front:None Back: Gangwon Hanwoo Sleeves: Kangwon Land, Gangwon State Shorts:None
Gimcheon Sangmu		Kelme	Happy Gimcheon	List Front: Nonghyup Bank Back: Neo Tech, DGB Financial Group, North Gyeongsang Province Sleeves: Aju Steel, Shine Muscat, Gimcheon Shorts:None
Gwangju FC	Lee Jung-kyu	Goal Studio	Kwangju Bank	List Front:None Back:None Sleeves: Parangsae Eye Clinic, Gwangju City Shorts: Namhai Honnête
Incheon United	Yoon Jong-hwan	Macron	IFEZ	List Front: All Ways Incheon, Ddangyo, Shinhan Bank Back:None Sleeves: 2025 APEC Incheon, Incheon Shorts:None
Jeju SK	Sergio Costa	V-EXX	SK Energy	List Front: Jeju, SK Muffin Back: Jeju Samdasoo Sleeves: EnClean Solux Plus+, Only Jeju Shorts:None
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Chung Jung-yong	Adidas	Hyundai N	List Front: Hyundai Motors Back: Hyundai N, Hyundai Motors/Kumho Tire Sleeves: Jeonbuk State, Hyundai Ioniq 5 N/Hyundai Avante N Shorts:None
Pohang Steelers	Park Tae-ha	Puma	POSCO	List Front: Pohang, POSCO (away) Back: Lashevan, POSCO E&C Sleeves: Pohang Shorts:None
FC Seoul	Kim Gi-dong	Pro-Specs	Xi (home) GS Caltex (away)	List Front: TMON Back: Shinhan SOL Pay, GS Caltex Sleeves: KEF, Seoul My Soul, GS25 Shorts:None
Ulsan HD	Kim Hyun-seok	Adidas	HD Hyundai	List Front: Ulsan, the city of dreams, Ulsan, the corporate city Back: HD Hyundai Oilbank Kazen Sleeves: BNK Kyongnam Bank, Develon, Ulsan Shorts:None

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Jeju SK	Kim Jung-soo (Interim)	End of Interim	1 December 2025	Pre-season	Sergio Costa [8]	24 December 2025
Ulsan HD	Roh Sang-rae (Interim)				Kim Hyun-seok [9]
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Gus Poyet [10]	Resigned	8 December 2025		Chung Jung-yong [11]
Gwangju FC	Lee Jung-hyo [12]	Mutual agreement	21 December 2025		Lee Jung-kyu [13]
Gimcheon Sangmu	Chung Jung-yong [14]		24 December 2025

Foreign players

Each team may have up to six foreign players registered, but may only field up to five at any given time. ^[15] As a military-owned team, Gimcheon Sangmu are not allowed to sign any foreign players.

A North Korean player is considered to be a domestic player under South Korean nationality law. As of 2025, K League has a homegrown system under which players of foreign nationality who have grown up in Korea are considered to be domestic players when registering as new players.

Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window. Players in italics left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.

Team	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Player 7	Homegrown	Former [a]
FC Anyang	Ivan Jukić	Eduardo	Matheus Oliveira	Yago	Thomas Oude Kotte
Bucheon FC 1995	Jefferson Galego	Rodrigo Bassani	Thiaguinho Santos	Jhon Montaño	Kazuki Takahashi
Daejeon Hana Citizen	Anton Kryvotsyuk	Diogo Oliveira	João Victor	Victor Bobsin	Masatoshi Ishida	Gustav Ludwigson
Gangwon FC	Bruno Oliveira	Vitor Gabriel	Marko Tući
Gwangju FC	Reis	Hólmbert Friðjónsson
Incheon United	Modou Barrow	Gerso Fernandes	Shota Saijo	Stefan Mugoša
Jeju SK	Denílson	Evandro	Italo	Pedrinho	Tiago Alves	Yuri
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	Bruno Mota	Tiago Orobó	Patrick Twumasi	Andrea Compagno	João Gamboa
Pohang Steelers	Jorge Luiz	Juninho Rocha	Oberdan	Wanderson	Kento Nishiya
FC Seoul	Anderson	Lucas Rodrigues	Leonardo Acevedo	Yazan Al-Arab	Patryk Klimala			Gbato Seloh Samuel
Ulsan HD	Erick Farias	Marcão	Miłosz Trojak	Darijan Bojanić	Matías Lacava	Yago Cariello

1. Left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation [a]
1	FC Anyang	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for Champions League Elite league stage
2	Bucheon FC 1995	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Daejeon Hana Citizen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for Champions League Elite play-off round
4	Gangwon FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	Gimcheon Sangmu [b] (R)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to K League 2
6	Gwangju FC	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	Incheon United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	Jeju SK	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	Pohang Steelers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	FC Seoul	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
12	Ulsan HD	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Qualification for relegation play-offs except Gimcheon Sangmu

First match(es) will be played: 2026. Source: Soccerway K League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league was split into two groups, the top six and the bottom six.
2. Military-owned team Gimcheon Sangmu cannot qualify for AFC competitions. Gimcheon Sangmu will be relegated to K League 2 2027 season regardless of their own final place.

Positions by matchday

  Leaders, qualification for Champions League Elite league stage
  Qualification for Champions League Elite play-off round
  Qualification for Champions League Two group stage
  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
Daejeon Hana Citizen
Gimcheon Sangmu
Pohang Steelers
Gangwon FC
FC Seoul
Gwangju FC
FC Anyang
Ulsan HD
Jeju SK
Incheon United
Bucheon FC 1995

First match(es) will be played on TBA in 2026. Source: K League

Results

Matches 1–22

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

Home \ Away	AYG	BCN	DHC	GWN	GCS	GJU	ICU	JSK	JHM	PHS	SEO	USH
FC Anyang	—
Bucheon FC 1995		—
Daejeon Hana Citizen			—
Gangwon FC				—
Gimcheon Sangmu					—
Gwangju FC						—
Incheon United							—
Jeju SK								—
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors									—
Pohang Steelers										—
FC Seoul											—
Ulsan HD												—

Updated to match(es) played on TBD 2026. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–33

Teams will play each other once, either at home or away.

Home \ Away	AYG	BCN	DHC	GWN	GCS	GJU	ICU	JSK	JHM	PHS	SEO	USH
FC Anyang	—
Bucheon FC 1995		—
Daejeon Hana Citizen			—
Gangwon FC				—
Gimcheon Sangmu					—
Gwangju FC						—
Incheon United							—
Jeju SK								—
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors									—
Pohang Steelers										—
FC Seoul											—
Ulsan HD												—

Updated to match(es) played on TBD 2026. Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 34–38

Teams will play each other once, either at home or away.

Relegation play-off

The twelfth-placed team, unless being Gimcheon Sangmu, will play against the loser of the final of the promotion play-offs of the K League 2 in the relegation play-offs.

Team 1	Agg. Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Loser of the final of the promotion play-offs of K League 2	agg.	12th place team of K League 1(except Gimcheon Sangmu)	1st leg	2nd leg

December 2026 (2026-12)

19:00  UTC+9

	v

December 2026 (2026-12)

14:00  UTC+9

	v

Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.

See also

• 2026 in South Korean football
• 2026 Korean FA Cup
• 2026 K League 2
• 2026 K3 League
• 2026 K4 League

References

1. "The K League 1 Wrap-Up: Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Win the Title".
2. "K League 1 set for shake-up in 2026, 2027".
3. "Bucheon FC 1995 Secures Historic Promotion to K League 1".
4. "Incheon United Sweeps K League 2 Title, Awards, Promotion".
5. "Daegu FC has been demoted".
6. "Suwon FC Relegated After Benching Top Scorer Ssabak". The Chosun Daily. 9 December 2025. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
7. "기록" [Records]. K League. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
8. "[오피셜] '변화와 혁신' 제주SK FC, 신임 감독으로 파울로 벤투 '오른팔' 세르지우 코스타 선임..."그 어느 때보다 정말 진심을 다할 것"".
9. "[오피셜] 10년 만에 '파이널 B' 추락, 재건 나선 울산···신임 감독에 '레전드' 김현석 감독 선임 "울산 재도약 하도록 최선 다하겠다"".
10. "Jeonbuk confirm departure of title-winning coach Poyet".
11. "프로축구 전북, 정정용, 신임 감독 선임…'빅클럽' 사령탑 첫 도전"".
12. "와신상담' 수원, '정효볼' 영입".
13. "[오피셜] '포스트 이정효 시대' 광주FC 이정규, 제 8대 정식 감독 선임".
14. "정정용 감독, K리그1 전북 사령탑 선임…빅클럽 첫 도전".
15. Paik, Ji-hwan (6 December 2023). "K League to relax Asian quota in 2025, count 'homegrown' foreign players as Korean". Korea JoongAng Daily . Retrieved 21 March 2024.