Seoul: With the champions already decided over a month ago, the suspense in South Korea's top football league, the K League 1, is now focused on the bottom of the standings as the season draws to a close this weekend.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the K League 1 season will conclude on Sunday with all 12 clubs taking to the field. Matches for clubs in the lower half of the tables, known as Final B, are set to kick off at 2 p.m., while those in the upper half, Final A, will start at 4:30 p.m. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors secured their 10th league title on October 18, leaving little intrigue in Final A.
In contrast, the situation in Final B is far from settled, with the bottom three positions yet to be determined. Daegu FC currently sit at the bottom with 33 points, closely followed by Jeju SK FC in 11th place with 36 points. The last-place club will face direct relegation to the K League 2 for 2026, whereas the 11th-place team will enter the promotion-relegation playoffs to retain their spot in the top league next season.
Daegu FC still have a chance to avoid direct relegation if they defeat FC Anyang and if Jeju loses to Ulsan HD FC on Sunday. In such a scenario, both Daegu and Jeju would end the season tied at 36 points. The first tiebreaker is goals scored, and Daegu currently hold a significant advantage with 45 goals compared to Jeju's 39, a gap unlikely to be bridged on Sunday.
Daegu FC remain unbeaten in their last five matches, having secured one win and four draws, while Jeju have managed only one win, alongside three losses and one draw, in their previous five games. Meanwhile, FC Anyang, sitting in eighth place with 48 points, have already secured their K League 1 status for next year and have little at stake in the final match. However, Ulsan HD, in ninth place with 44 points, are as eager as Jeju to win on Sunday to avoid slipping to 10th place and entering the promotion-relegation playoffs.
Suwon FC, currently 10th with 42 points, have a 51-42 goal advantage over Ulsan. If Suwon FC win and Ulsan either lose or draw on Sunday, Suwon FC will finish in ninth place.
December will feature two promotion-relegation playoff series. One will involve the No. 10 seed from K League 1 facing the winner of a K League 2 playoff between Bucheon FC 1995 and Seongnam FC. The other will see the No. 11 seed from K League 1 take on the K League 2 runners-up, Suwon Samsung Bluewings. Meanwhile, Incheon United, as the champions of K League 2, have secured direct promotion to K League 1 after only one season in the second division.