K League 1 | Soccer-tainment

K League 1

FIFA Region

AFC

Season

2025

Location

Korea Republic

Abbreviation

KOR1

Click to view the
map of participating teams

Summary

The 2025 K League 1 (KOR1) is the top level of league-style football competition in South Korea. At the end of the 2025 KOR1 season, the KOR1 teams listed below qualify for the following non-league play:

2026-2027 AFC Champions League Elite- Group Stage:
- 1st place 2025 KOR1 Championship group team
2026-2027 AFC Champions Elite League - Playoff Round:
- 2nd place 2025 KOR1 Championship group team
2026-2027 AFC Champions League 2 - Group Stage:
- 3rd place 2025 KOR1 Championship group team

The winner of the 2025 Korean FA Cup, typically a KOR1 team, also receives a berth in the Group Stage of the 025-2026 AFC Champions League 2.

Leagues Pyramid - Korea Republic

Abbrev	League	# of Teams
KOR1	K League 1	12
KOR2	K League 2	14

Competition Structure

Season			# of Teams
Regular 14 Feb 2025 - 18 Oct 2025	Champ/Releg Rounds 21 Oct 2025 - 3 Dec 2025		12: KOR1 (9 minimum), KOR2 (3 maximum)

Season Format

In the 2025 KOR1 Regular season, each KOR1 team plays the other 11 KOR1 teams 3 times for a total of 33 league matches. In each 3 match series, one team hosts 2 home matches and the other team hosts 1 home match. After the Regular season, the top 6 teams play each other once in the Championship Group (5 more matches), and the bottom 6 teams play each other once in the Relegation Group (5 more matches). Table ranking ties are broken by (1) goals scored, (2) goal difference, (3) league matches won, then (4) head-to-head points.

Playoffs

Not applicable.

Relegation

At the end of the 2025 Relegation Group play, the 6th place KOR1 Relegation Group team is relegated directly to KOR2. The 5th place KOR1 Relegation Group team will have a Home-Away Promotion/Relegation Playoff with the 2nd place KOR2 team, and the 4th place KOR1 Relegation Group team will have a Home-Away Promotion/Relegation Playoff with the KOR2 Promotion Playoff winner.

More Info...

Relegation Playoffs

Date

Home

Status

Road

Venue

Aggregate

Suwon Bluewings (KOR2)

Jeju United FC (KOR1)

03.12.25

Suwon Bluewings

Jeju United FC

Suwon World Cup Stadium

07.12.25	Jeju United FC		20		Suwon Bluewings	Jeju World Cup Stadium
	Jeju United FC remains in KOR1

Aggregate

Bucheon FC 1995 (KOR2)

Suwon FC (KOR1)

05.12.25

Bucheon FC 1995

Suwon FC

Bucheon Stadium

08.12.25

Suwon FC

Bucheon FC 1995

Suwon Stadium

Championship/Relegation Rounds

		League							Home						Road
POS		MP	W - D - L	PTS	CPTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD
Championship
1	Jeonbuk Motors	38	23 -10-5	79	-	64	32	32	20	12 -5-3	41	38	21	17	18	11 -5-2	38	26	11	15
2	Daejeon Citizen FC	38	18 -11-9	65	-	58	46	12	19	10 -5-4	35	26	20	6	19	8 -6-5	30	32	26	6
3	Gimcheon Sangmu FC	38	18 -7-13	61	-	59	45	14	20	10 -3-7	33	28	19	9	18	8 -4-6	28	31	26	5
4	Pohang Steelers	38	16 -8-14	56	-	41	46	-5	19	9 -4-6	31	21	22	-1	19	7 -4-8	25	20	24	-4
5	Gangwon FC	38	13 -13-12	52	-	37	41	-4	19	6 -9-4	27	18	20	-2	19	7 -4-8	25	19	21	-2
6	FC Seoul	38	12 -13-13	49	-	50	52	-2	19	7 -6-6	27	32	28	4	19	5 -7-7	22	18	24	-6
Relegation
1	Gwangju FC	38	15 -9-14	54	-	40	41	-1	19	8 -4-7	28	23	20	3	19	7 -5-7	26	17	21	-4
2	FC Anyang	38	14 -7-17	49	-	49	47	2	19	8 -4-7	28	29	22	7	19	6 -3-10	21	20	25	-5
3	Ulsan Hyundai FC	38	11 -11-16	44	-	42	50	-8	19	7 -5-7	26	23	20	3	19	4 -6-9	18	19	30	-11
4	Suwon FC	38	11 -9-18	42	-	51	58	-7	19	7 -5-7	26	27	25	2	19	4 -4-11	16	24	33	-9
5	Jeju United FC	38	10 -9-19	39	-	40	53	-13	18	6 -4-8	22	22	24	-2	20	4 -5-11	17	18	29	-11
6	Daegu FC	38	7 -13-18	34	-	47	67	-20	18	5 -6-7	21	24	26	-2	20	2 -7-11	13	23	41	-18
2026-2027 AFCCL Relegation Playoff Relegation to KOR2

1st Stage

		League							Home						Road
POS		MP	W - D - L	PTS	CPTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD	MP	W - D - L	PTS	GF	GA	GD
1	Jeonbuk Motors	32	20 -8-4	68	-	55	27	28	16	9 -5-2	32	29	16	13	16	11 -3-2	36	26	11	15
2	Gimcheon Sangmu FC	32	16 -7-9	55	-	52	33	19	17	10 -3-4	33	28	14	14	15	6 -4-5	22	24	19	5
3	Daejeon Citizen FC	32	14 -10-8	52	-	45	40	5	15	7 -4-4	25	17	17	0	17	7 -6-4	27	28	23	5
4	Pohang Steelers	32	14 -6-12	48	-	38	42	-4	17	9 -2-6	29	21	22	-1	15	5 -4-6	19	17	20	-3
5	FC Seoul	32	11 -12-9	45	-	42	40	2	16	6 -6-4	24	26	21	5	16	5 -6-5	21	16	19	-3
6	Gangwon FC	32	11 -10-11	43	-	30	34	-4	17	5 -8-4	23	17	20	-3	15	6 -2-7	20	13	14	-1
7	Gwangju FC	32	11 -9-12	42	-	34	38	-4	16	5 -4-7	19	18	20	-2	16	6 -5-5	23	16	18	-2
8	FC Anyang	32	11 -6-15	39	-	38	40	-2	16	6 -4-6	22	22	19	3	16	5 -2-9	17	16	21	-5
9	Suwon FC	32	10 -8-14	38	-	48	51	-3	16	7 -4-5	25	25	21	4	16	3 -4-9	13	23	30	-7
10	Ulsan Hyundai FC	32	9 -10-13	37	-	37	43	-6	15	5 -4-6	19	19	18	1	17	4 -6-7	18	18	25	-7
11	Jeju United FC	32	8 -8-16	32	-	34	44	-10	16	6 -3-7	21	20	21	-1	16	2 -5-9	11	14	23	-9
12	Daegu FC	32	6 -8-18	26	-	39	60	-21	15	4 -4-7	16	19	22	-3	17	2 -4-11	10	20	38	-18
Championship Round Relegation Round