K League teams, 2026-2027 ACLE·ACL2 matchup confirmed... Jeonbuk/Pohang Expedition to China and Japan

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ahn Hong-seok = Professional soccer players Jeonbuk Hyundai and Pohang Steelers will only play away games against Chinese and Japanese teams in the 2026-2027 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League Elite (ACLE).

On the 18th, the draw ceremony for the league stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Jeonbuk and Pohang will meet Shanghai Port (China), Johor Darul Takzim (Malaysia), Kashiwa Reysol, and Gamba Osaka (Japan) at home, and will face Kashima Antlers, Vissel Kobe, Kyoto Sanga (Japan), and Beijing FC (China) away.

Both teams will only travel to China and Japan, which are relatively close by.

Daejeon Hana Citizen, who reached the finals of this competition for the first time since the launch of ACLE as the top stage of Asian club football competitions, will face Kashima, Kobe, Beijing and Kyoto at home and Shanghai Port, Johor, Kashiwa and Gamba Osaka on the road.

Starting with this competition, the number of teams participating in the ACLE finals has expanded from 24 to 32, making it more difficult to advance to the round of 16.

In the East Asian League stage, where 16 teams compete, only the top 8 teams advance to the round of 16.

The ACLE East Asia League stage will begin on the 15th of next month and be played over five months until February 17th of next year. Each team plays 8 games.

The round of 16 will be held from March 1 to 17 next year, and all matches from the quarterfinals to the final will be held in Saudi Arabia from April 23 to May 1.

At the 2026-2027 AFC Champions League 2 (ACL2) group draw ceremony held earlier, FC Seoul faced a somewhat burdensome result of ‘expediting to Australia’.

Seoul is in Group E and will play against Australia's Melbourne Victory, Vietnam's Tekong Viettel, and the winner of the preliminary playoff (PO) between Persive Bandung (Indonesia) and Manila Digger (Philippines).

The trip to Melbourne, which takes a full day to travel even by direct flight, is a burdensome schedule for Seoul, which is sprinting toward its first K-League 1 title in 10 years.

Gangwon FC is assigned to Group H and competes with Kuching City (Malaysia), Kitchee (Hong Kong), and Phnom Penh Crown (Cambodia).

Gangwon, who lost 0-1 in the PO against Gamba Osaka (Japan) due to the unclear referee's decision to 'not allow substitution of players', ended up participating in ACL2, the second division competition, rather than ACLE.

The ACL2 group stage, in which 32 countries compete in 8 groups, will begin on the 15th of next month and end on December 9th, and the round of 16 tournament, in which the first and second place winners of each group will advance, will begin on February 9th next year.

The finals are scheduled to be held on May 15th next year.