WK League News

The WK League all-star match is set to make a return this year, according to the KWFF’s official WK League guidebook. The match is scheduled for a 14:00 kickoff on Saturday 4th July, with the venue and details yet to be confirmed.

The first all-star match took place in the middle of the inaugural WK League season in 2009, with the league’s six clubs divided into two regional teams, and players recommended by coaching staff. From 2012, the teams were decided based on clubs’ position in the league, rather than geography, and fans were able to vote for the players they wanted to see featured.

The 2014 all-star match was cancelled due to a period of national mourning following the sinking of the MV Sewol, in which over 300 people, most of whom were children, lost their lives. The following year, there was no all-star match due to South Korea’s participation in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The, after two years’ absence from the schedule, the event returned in a new format. In 2016, a team comprising players from all seven WK League clubs took on German side 1. FFC Frankfurt. The match ended in a draw and the WK League side were declared winners after a penalty shootout. In 2017, the WK League all-stars claimed another victory after penalties, this time against Japanese club INAC Kobe Leonessa.

In 2018, following South Korea’s display of sports diplomacy at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which saw a delegation of athletes, cheerleaders and officials from North Korea in attendance, the KWFF planned to host a North Korean team for the all-star match. Talks took place but agreement could not be reached and ultimately, the game was cancelled.

Since then, the all-star match has appeared on the WK League schedule a couple of times without coming to fruition, so its inclusion this year is no guarantee that it will go ahead. However, given that a date and time has been set, and also considering the raft of changes that have come to the WK League in 2026, fans have reason to be hopeful.

Whether it’s a clash between two WK League all-star teams, or a friendly against a team from overseas, the event should provide an opportunity to bring supporters from across the league together, and promote the WK League to a wider audience. The K League all-star match has become an annual fixture of the men’s domestic football calendar, at which fans from across the league put their rivalries aside for a day, cheering on players from other clubs as if they didn’t boo them off the field a few days earlier, and even joining in with other teams’ songs and chants, creating a real party atmosphere. In recent years, the closest experience for WK League fans has been the Korea Pro Footballers Association (KPFA) Charity Match, which features players from both the women’s and men’s leagues.