K League Play-offs Explained and Critiqued

The dates for the 2025 K League Promotion-Relegation play-offs have been announced. The system isn't as straightforward as one would imagine. We explain the process and discuss why it is controversial.

At the time of writing, only Suwon Samsung Bluewings have guaranteed their place in the play-off picture. We will have a more detailed rundown of the teams and predictions closer to the dates.

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Final 1 

K League 2 (2nd) vs. K League 1 (11th).

There are no qualifying play-offs here. The 2nd-placed team in K League 2 directly advances to a fixture with the 11th-placed team in K League 1. This will be over two legs, with the K League 2 team opening the series midweek before the series concludes the following weekend at the home of the K League 1 team. Extra time applies if the scores are tied on aggregate, but away goals do not matter.

Wednesday, December 3: Suwon Samsung Bluewings vs. K League 1 (11th). 19:00.

Sunday, December 7: K League 1 (11th) vs. Suwon Samsung Bluewings. 14:00 or 16:30.

[READ: Why Suwon Bluewings' Title Challenge Ended]

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Final 2

First Round: K League 2 (4th) vs. K League 2 (5th). Wednesday, November 26. 19:00.

At this stage, the fourth-placed team hosts the fifth-placed team in a one-off match. Oddly, the higher-placed team (4th) doesn't need to win the match to advance. The match must end after 90 minutes, so a draw in 90 minutes will be enough to qualify for the next round. The visiting team has no option but to win.

Second Round: K League 2 (3rd) vs. K League 2 (4th/5th). Saturday, November 29. 14:00.

The winner of the single-legged, 90-minute match advances to play the 3rd-placed team on the road. Again, the higher-ranked team (in this case, 3rd) just needs to avoid defeat to advance to Final 2.

Rodrigo Bassani and Bucheon are well-placed to finish third.

For context, in 2024, Jeonnam Dragons (4th) drew 0-0 with Busan IPark (5th) and qualified for the next round. There, they were eliminated by Seoul E-Land even though the match ended 2-2. In both cases, there was no winner, and yet Seoul advanced to face K League 1 outfit Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.

Final 2: K League 2 (3rd/4th/5th Play-off Winner) vs. K League 1 (10th).

The final victors of K League 2's convoluted play-off structure set up a tie with the 10th-placed team in K League 1. Unlike the previous rounds, this will be two-legged, with the K League 2 team enjoying home advantage in the first leg before they move to the K League 1 side at the weekend. If the teams are tied on aggregate after 90 minutes in the return fixture, extra time applies. Away goals, on the other hand, do not count.

Thursday, December 4: K League 2 (Play-off Winner) vs. K League 1 (10th). 19:00.

Sunday, December 7: K League 1 (10th) vs. K League 2 (Play-off Winner). 14:00 or 16:30.

Last season, Jeonbuk Hyundai (1) defeated Seoul E-Land (2) 4-2 on aggregate, and Daegu FC (1) defeated Chungnam Asan 6-5 on aggregate, meaning all four teams remained in their respective leagues.

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State of Play

With just two weekends remaining in K League 2, Suwon Bluewings have booked their spot in Final 1 against the 11th-placed team in K League 1. Currently, that spot is occupied by Jeju SK. With just three rounds remaining (therefore, a total of nine points), Jeju are odds-on favorites to face the Bluewings. They lead Daegu FC (12th) by six points and trail Suwon FC (10th) by four. Whilst four isn’t insurmountable, the K League classification for teams finishing level on points is to reward the club with the most goals scored, and not the traditional method of goal difference. Suwon have scored 13 more goals than Jeju, so that four-point gap is, in reality, five.

Current K League 1 relegation standings. Keep an eye out for the Goals For (GF) column if sides finish level on points.

This Saturday, Jeju host Anyang at the same time as Daegu welcome Gwangju. Suwon travel to Ulsan on Sunday. Daegu will be relegated if results go against them.

[READ: No Country for Young Men; Is FC Anyang too old?]

The situation is also very tricky in K League 2. Only two match weeks remain for the six clubs chasing the final three spots (third to fifth). Bucheon are heavy favourites to make the play-offs, as they boast a five-point cushion over Seongnam FC (6th). Bucheon’s lead over Jeonnam Dragons (4th) is four points. It is, therefore, extremely likely Bucheon end the season third and advance to the second round. Jeonnam, Seoul E-Land, and Seongnam are separated by one point. Busan and Gimpo retain an interest, but only just.

GF could prove vital in K League 2 as well.

It could be a decisive weekend in K League 2. Seoul and Seongnam travel to clubs struggling near the foot of the table. Jeonnam, though, welcome champions Incheon to Gwangyang. Bucheon can wrap up third spot with three points away to Gimpo on Sunday.

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Criticism

1. The structure

Some K League 1 managers have repeatedly called into question the fairness of the play-off system because there are only 12 teams in K League 1. With one automatic relegation spot and two slots reserved for the play-offs, potentially punishing 25% of the league is apparently too high—even though only 8.33% are guaranteed to go down. To compare with other 12-team leagues: in Scotland, there is one automatic spot and one play-off spot. In Austria, only one team goes down, and in Wales, two go down automatically with no play-offs. As three clubs can potentially go down, K League is harsher than in other countries.

2. The K League 2 Play-offs

Advancing on the back of a solitary draw is a major bone of contention. As highlighted above, both rounds last season didn’t feature a winner, and yet Seoul E-Land had a shot at Jeonbuk. The previous season, one of the two ties ended in a draw, just like 2022. Curiously, something similar applies in the Korean Baseball League. In the Best-of-Two Wildcard, the fourth-placed team needs to tie one of the games to continue. Home advantage is enough of a reward. If the league chooses to retain the play-off path in its current guise, a victory must be achieved.

3. Are they anti-fan?

Sunday second legs simply aren’t ideal, and the situation is worse for any club traveling to Jeju. The island’s World Cup Stadium is 47 km south of the international airport. The kick-off times haven’t been finalized, but if, say, Suwon Bluewings are due to start in Jeju at 16:30 on Sunday afternoon, their fans will have a scramble to get back to the airport on time. After 21:00 on Sunday night, there are only six flights to Seoul. Prices will increase as demand takes over. This year, Final 1 has a Wednesday/Sunday schedule, whereas Final 2 has a Thursday/Sunday schedule.

Jeju away on Sunday isn't ideal.

The Korean Cup final takes place on Saturday, December 7. Presumably, this is why the play-offs have been moved to Sunday. The cup semi-finals took place at the end of August. Would it make more sense to play this earlier? And if you want it as the showpiece event to close out the season, why is the final taking place before the season is done?