Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (Korean: 전북 현대 모터스 FC) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Jeonbuk have won the K League a record ten times, including five consecutive titles between 2017 and 2021, and the Korea Cup six times, which is also a joint-record.[1] At international level, the club have won the AFC Champions League twice, in 2006 and 2016. Jeonbuk have also made two appearances in the FIFA Club World Cup, most recently in the 2016 edition. The club's home ground is the Jeonju World Cup Stadium.
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' predecessor was founded in January 1993 under the name Wansan Pumas. Oh Hyung-keun was the founder of the team, the first to be named after its home location in K League history. However, they failed to raise enough funds and the club went bankrupt before they could take their place in the K League. Many people wanted to keep the club and Bobae Ltd., a local alcohol producer, offered financial support to the club. In 1994, they joined the K League after renaming as Chonbuk Buffalo, but ran into financial problems and were dissolved after the final match of the 1994 season.
In 1994, South Korea was in the campaign to host the 2002 FIFA World Cup, so Hyundai Motors, who was in the process of building Hyundai Jeonju Plant,[2] took over the Buffaloes' players and formed a new club called Chonbuk Dinos on 12 December 1994. The K League's official policy is that Chonbuk Buffalo and Chonbuk Dinos (later renaming as Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors) are two different clubs.[1]
Domination in K League and success in Asia (2005–2021)
Since 1994, Jeonbuk had not seriously challenged for the K League title, often languishing in mid-table.[1] After Choi Kang-hee was appointed manager in July 2005, Jeonbuk won the Korean FA Cup in December of that year.[1] In 2006, Jeonbuk finished a disappointing eleventh in the K League, however, they won their first AFC Champions League title.[1] En route to the final, they defeated the Japanese champions, Gamba Osaka, and China's Shanghai Shenhua,[3] as well as Ulsan Horang-i, the South Korean champions, in the semi-finals.[4] They then triumphed 3–2 on aggregate over Al-Karamah, the champions of Syria, in the final.[5]
As AFC Champions League winners, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors qualified for the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup.[6] They lost their first game 1–0 to América in the quarter-finals on 10 December, however, they defeated Auckland City 3–0 on 14 December and finished fifth in the tournament.[6] In 2009, Jeonbuk became the Korean champions for the first time after beating Seongnam Ilhwa 3–1 on aggregate in the K League Championship.[1][7] They repeated the feat in 2011 and won their second domestic title after defeating Ulsan Hyundai 4–2 in the final.[8][9] The same year, they also reached the AFC Champions League final, where they lost to Al-Sadd after a penalty shoot-out.[10]
With significant investment from its parent company, Jeonbuk completed its state of the art Yulsori Clubhouse (club training center) in nearby Wanju County in 2013.[11] Hyundai's generous support and Choi Kang-hee's aggressive play style led to the club dominating the K League for the next several years, with the club winning the 2014 and 2015 titles.
2016 was a tumultuous year for Jeonbuk. The club won their second AFC Champions League title after defeating Al-Ain 3–2 on aggregate,[12] but the team came under fire in the domestic front for allegedly bribing referees through a scout.[13] The club was fined and had nine points deducted from their 2016 league campaign, resulting in rivals FC Seoul claiming the title. Despite being champions of Asia, the club's participation in the 2017 AFC Champions League was revoked due to this incident.[14]
The club continued to enjoy success in the K League, securing the next five consecutive titles.[15] Additionally, they won the 2020 Korean FA Cup, defeating rising rivals Ulsan over two legs to mark their first-ever domestic double.[16]
Decline (2022–2024)
The 2022 season marked the beginning of Jeonbuk's decline, dramatically losing the title to now chief rivals Ulsan[17] by three points. The club, however, won the 2022 Korean FA Cup. The following year led to even poorer results, with the club finishing fourth in the 2023 season,[18] their lowest league finish since 2008. Jeonbuk also failed to win a second consecutive FA Cup, being defeated by Pohang Steelers in the 2023 final.[19] The fourth-place finish and failure to win the FA Cup meant the club was unable to participate in the rebranded 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite.
Jeonbuk's decline escalated in the 2024 season, with the club finishing tenth and flirting with relegation for the first time in its history.[20] The club narrowly avoided relegation to K League 2 by defeating Seoul E-Land in the promotion-relegation play-offs.[21]
Return to power under Poyet (2025–present)
In December 2024, Jeonbuk appointed Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet in a bid to achieve its former glory.[22] In the club's first competitive match under Poyet, they defeated Thai side Port FC 4–0 away in the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two, including two goals by new signing Andrea Compagno.[23]
Under Poyet's leadership, Jeonbuk decisively won the 2025 K League 1 with five games to spare to clinch their record-extending tenth title and the first since 2021.[24] During the season, they went on a 22-match undefeated streak, which is tied for the third-longest run in K League history.[25] Jeonbuk also won the 2025 Korea Cup after defeating Gwangju FC in the final, securing their second double and first since 2020.[26] However, two days after the final, Poyet stepped down as manager after his assistant Mauricio Taricco received a suspension.[27]
Jeonbuk is the most popular football team and the second most popular sports team in South Korea behind only Kia Tigers of the KBO League. The club draws over two million supporters[28] from all over the country and particularly from the Honam region. It has almost half a million followers on TikTok, boosted by the international popularity of former player Cho Gue-sung, who scored a brace in South Korea's group stage match versus Ghana in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[29] The club's main supporters group is called the Mad Green Boys, who sit at the North Stand of their stadium.
Mad Green Boys in a home league game in 2024
Rivalries
Seoul Metropolitan Area clubs
Jeonbuk shares strong rivalries with FC Seoul (Jeonseol Match)[30] and Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Gongseongjeon),[31] the two most popular football clubs of the Seoul Metropolitan Area. The three-way rivalry these teams share represent the business rivalry between their parent companies Hyundai, LG, and Samsung–three of the largest business conglomerates in South Korea. Their rivalry was the most intense in the 2010s, when Jeonbuk came to dominate the K League while Seoul and Suwon declined.
Jeonbuk supporters set a team record of over 7,600 away fans at a league match against Seoul on 3 May 2025, highlighting their rivalry.[32]
Hyundai Derby
Since the late 2010s, Jeonbuk's biggest league rival came to be Ulsan HD. Ulsan became the main club to challenge Jeonbuk's domestic dominance, finally breaking the club's five-year title winning streak in 2022. The matches between the two giants, now seen as the biggest derby in the country, continue to be very consequential for both clubs.[33] In 2025, all 32,560 available seats of the Jeonju World Cup Stadium sold out for the first time in the club's history for their fixture against Ulsan, which Jeonbuk won 3–1.[34]
Although the parent companies of the two clubs share the Hyundai name, they are legally separate business entities.
International
In the 2010s, Jeonbuk developed an intense international rivalry with Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande from frequently playing each other in the AFC Champions League.[35] The two teams were the dominant sides of their respective leagues and their most frequent representatives on the continental stage. Several South Korean players and staff members were instrumental to Guangzhou's victories over Jeonbuk and in Asia, as the club and other Chinese Super League teams used their large financial backing to attract South Korean talent.[36]
Guangzhou disbanded in 2025, making the rivalry defunct.[37]
Jeonbuk has played its home games at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium since 2002, after the stadium was completed the year before. It has a capacity of 34,207 seats.[38] Their previous home ground was the Jeonju Sports Complex Stadium. The club's reserve team, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors N, plays at the Wanju Public Stadium in nearby Wanju County.
Fans supporting Jeonbuk's reserve team at the Wanju Public Stadium
Jeonbuk owns one of the most modern club training facilities in Asia: the Yulsori Clubhouse in Bongdong-eup, Wanju.[39] The state-of-the-art training center, modeled after the training facilities of top European clubs, includes a large hydrotherapy room, indoor and outdoor training grounds, personal sleeping rooms, a gym, and a cafeteria.[40]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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