WK League News

As Round 7 came to its conclusion on Saturday afternoon, so did the first round robin of the 2026 WK League; all teams have now played each other once. Results in this round saw Mungyeong Sangmu reinstate themselves at the top of the table after a 1-0 victory away at Incheon, as Suwon leapfrogged the Red Angels into second place. Incheon are now in third, ahead of Hwacheon KSPO, but only by the slimmest of margins. Meanwhile, Gyeongju KHNP are still without a win after a dire start to the season, not helped by several injuries in the squad. Ahead of them, with two wins apiece, are Seoul City and Gangjin Swans, with Sejong Sportstoto just about bridging the gap between the two halves of the table in fifth place.

Hwacheon 1-0 Seoul

The first match of the round kicked off on Friday evening at Hwacheon Sports Park, as Seoul City returned to the ground for the first time since last season’s Championship Final. The home side looked more aggressive throughout the first half, but the Amazones were expecting this and bolstered their defence accordingly, with Kim Minji dropping back to play a sweeper role. The score stood 0-0 at half time thanks to a series of saves from Seoul keeper and living WK League legend Kim Jungmi. Hwacheon set out to take the lead early in the second half, and they came close within just a couple of minutes but were denied in agonising fashion by a Kim Minji goal-line clearance.

Wave after wave of attacks kept coming, and eventually Lee Subin put Hwacheon ahead, mopping up a spilled ball directly in front of the goal after a KSPO free kick. Still, if the scoreline seems surprisingly narrow, it’s largely thanks to Kim Jungmi, by far and away the most experienced keeper in the league. Upcoming goalkeeping talent Woo Seobin is yet to start for Seoul this year after an outstanding debut season in 2025, but she has been making cameo appearances as a late substitution up front — it’s hard to say whether Woo is more likely to make a save or score a goal in the coming weeks.

Incheon 0-1 Mungyeong

Having vied for the top spot in the league table throughout the opening weeks of the season, Incheon Hyundai and Mungyeong Sangmu finally met on Saturday at Incheon’s Namdong Asiad Rugby Field. The only goal of the game came in the first half, with Sangmu captain Kwon Hahnul converting from the spot. Kwon Da-eun almost doubled Mungyeong’s lead in the second half but was denied by an excellent save by Kim Minjung. The home team had chances to get back in the game, including six corner kicks (all in the second half), but for the most part, any attempts to penetrate Sangmu’s defences were dealt with calmly. By the end of the match, the Red Angels looked frustrated, and understandably so — this match was an opportunity to start distancing themselves from the pack, but instead they find themselves in third place.

Gyeongju 0-2 Suwon

Leapfrogging Incheon into second place were Suwon FC, recording a comfortable win on the road against Gyeongju KHNP. These two teams have a longstanding rivalry, having come up against each other in the WK League playoff match several times over the years, and in any other season this clash could be considered a WK ‘big match’. This year, however, with Suwon on good form and KHNP still yet to record a win, the result seemed almost a foregone conclusion. In many ways,this was routine, for both teams. Suwon’s first goal came halfway through the first half as Haruhi Suzuki headed home a corner, delivered with precision by vice-captain Ayaka Nishikawa. Ayaka scored Suwon’s second for herself in the second half, chipping the ball over Gyeongju keeper Jo Eejung from the edge of the box. The home team’s best chance was a shot by Jung Yoojin early in the second half that was saved by Kim Kyunghee, and Mai Kyokawa was cruelly denied by the crossbar in stoppage time, but it would be hard to argue that KHNP deserved any points from this match.

Still winless after playing all seven of their league opponents (five of them at home), it’s hard to imagine a worse start to the season for Park Namyeol’s KHNP. The squad is missing several players, including a few who would ordinarily feature in the starting eleven, but even so the pressure is mounting on Park to lead his squad back to the top half of the table, where fans expect Gyeongju to be.

Sejong 3-1 Gangjin

The final match of the round saw Sejong Sportstoto host Gangjin Swans in a mid-table clash that had plenty of excitement for an enthusiastic home crowd. Sportstoto took the lead in the first half thanks to Shin Hyebin, and held the score at 1-0 going into the break despite a rocket from the Swans’ Lee Deokju, saved on the line by Kim Yumi. Just a few minutes into the second half, Sejong were awarded a penalty, and Park Heeyoung converted from the spot to increase the home team’s lead. Park scored Sportstoto’s third a few minutes later, with a well-placed ball from the edge of the box that Gangjin keeper Kang Jiyeon couldn’t get a hand to, the ball bouncing into the net off the far post. There was a consolation goal for the Swans, scored by captain Lee Hyokyung, but the visitors didn’t look likely to get back into the game, with Sejong creating several chances to keep Kang Jiyeon busy even in the final minutes of the match.