WK League News

Suwon FC Women have booked their place in the semi-finals of the 2025-26 AFC Women’s Champions League with an away victory over reigning champions Wuhan Jiangda last night. Ji Soyun was the first of four different players to add their names to the scoresheet, setting the stage for a revenge arc in the semi-final as they go up against Naegohyang WFC, a North Korean side that beat Suwon 3-0 in the group stage of the competition.

Returning from the long winter break after a disappointing 2025 season that saw the defending champions finish seventh in the WK League and just barely scrape through their AWCL group, Suwon showed up in Wuhan with a point to prove. Following significant transfer activity during the off-season, the Korean side looked organised and motivated as they showed their fans plenty of reason to be hopeful about the season ahead.

Indeed, it was Suwon’s new arrivals that provided many of the key moments in this match. The visitors took an early lead as Choe Yuri, making her first appearance in a Suwon shirt, passed the ball neatly across the goal to set up an easy tap-in for captain Ji Soyun, who recently returned to Suwon from NWSL side Seattle Reign. Another January signing, Haruhi Suzuki, doubled Suwon’s lead later in the first half, skilfully keeping control of the ball in the box despite the best efforts of Wuhan’s defence before chipping it over the goalkeeper. The home team did create several chances in the first half but only found the back of the net once; the goal was disallowed for offside after a VAR review.

Suwon scored again early in the second half, Ayaka Nishikawa’s corner finding Kim Hyeri, who headed it in to widen the gap. Kim was part of the Wuhan Jiangda squad that won the 2024-25 AWCL, and indeed played for the side in the group stage of the 2025-26 competition, so she refrained from celebrating this goal against her former teammates. The Chinese side did their best to get back in the game, but Suwon’s defence adequately handled any threats that came their way, and as the clock ticked over into injury time and Wuhan’s hopes faded, Suwon ensured those hopes were completely extinguished with a fourth goal. Kwon Eunsom delivered a cross which Ayaka Nishikawa headed towards goal, and the best Wuhan keeper Peng Shimeng could do was to punch it away, leaving a loose ball in front of an open goal just waiting for someone to finish the job. Jeon Minji, a substitute who had only been on the pitch for a matter of seconds, was only too happy to do the honours, and the match ended 0-4, the defending champions knocked out of the competition.

The stage is now set for a semi-final between Suwon FC and Naegohyang WFC. Naegohyang, the first women’s team from their country to play in an AFC competition, earned their ticket to the semi-finals after beating Ho Chi Minh City 3-0 on Saturday in a match held in Laos. When Suwon and Naegohyang clashed in the group stage of the AWCL last November, it was the first time that teams from either side of the 38th parallel had met in a women’s club competition. In that match, the North Korean side comfortably won 3-0, but as demonstrated by yesterday’s quarter-final, they will face a very different Suwon FC squad this time around. Suwon’s winter signings proved that they have successfully settled into the team; even as key players Ji Soyun, Kim Hyeri and Choe Yuri re-joined the side with little time to recover from an intense Asian Cup campaign with South Korea earlier this month, their quality and experience shone throughout yesterday’s match.

Squad cohesion and confidence should only increase for Suwon between now and the semi-finals in May as the WK League season gets underway this weekend. The semi-finals are scheduled to take place on 20 May ahead of the final on 23 May, with all three matches happening at Suwon’s home ground, Suwon Sports Complex, also known as Castle Park.

The other semi-final will be contested by Melbourne City and Tokyo Verdy Beleza. The former narrowly defeated Nasaf of Uzbekistan in Melbourne yesterday, a very late winner seeing the 2025-26 AWCL finalists progress without the need for extra time; the latter recorded a 5-0 victory in front of a home crowd against Philippine side Stallion Laguna.