Seoul: Seongnam FC defeated Seoul E-Land FC 1-0 in a second-division football playoff match in Seoul on Thursday, keeping alive their hope of earning promotion to the top competition next year. Leonardo Ruiz headed in the only goal of the first K League 2 playoff match in the 83rd minute at Mokdong Stadium in the capital city.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Seoul E-Land, as the higher seed at No. 4, only needed a draw to eliminate fifth-seeded Seongnam and advance to the next playoff match. They seemed content to keep the contest goalless, recording just one shot on target in the first half. Seongnam, too, managed just one shot in the opening 45 minutes. Then Ruiz finally broke the deadlock by heading home a cross from Shin Jae-won, scoring his team-leading 18th goal of 2025-and his fifth goal set up by Shin.
Seongnam FC will now go on to play No. 3 seed, Bucheon FC 1995, in the next playoff game at 2 p.m. Sunday at Bucheon Stadium in Bucheon, just west of Seoul. If the match is tied after 90 minutes, there will be no extra period and Bucheon FC 1995 will be declared the winner as the higher seed. The winner of this second playoff match will qualify for one of two promotion-relegation playoff series in December.
One series will pit the K League 2 playoff winner against No. 10 seed from the K League 1. The other series will have Suwon Samsung Bluewings, the runners-up in the K League 2, face No. 11 seed from the K League 1. The two winning sides will play in the K League 1 in 2026. Each year, the K League 2 champions earn direct promotion to the top division and trade places with the last-place team in the K League 1.
Seongnam FC last played in the K League 1 in 2022. They finished dead last that year to be relegated to the K League 2. This season, Incheon United have already clinched the K League 2 title and will rejoin the K League 1 after spending just one year in the second division.
The bottom three spots in the K League 1 will all be determined Sunday, the final day of the season. Daegu FC are currently in last place with 33 points, three back of Jeju SK FC. If the two clubs end up tied in points, Daegu FC will most likely win the goals scored tiebreaker, since they currently hold a 45-39 edge. Suwon FC are in 10th place with 42 points, but they only trail ninth-place Ulsan HD FC by two points. Suwon FC will avoid the promotion-relegation playoffs if they beat Gwangju FC and Ulsan lose to Jeju on Sunday.