News: K League unveils new Super Cup trophy, champions' sleeve patches

The K League has unveiled the official trophy that will be used for the Coupang Play K League Super Cup 2026, as well as brand-new sleeve patches for the reigning champions.

The K League has a fresh look about it heading into the 2026 season, with new teams in K League 2 and newcomers to K League 1. There's also the return of the Super Cup, which has been given a brand new trophy.

K League says that the newly revealed Super Cup trophy reflects a design concept symbolising the start of a rise to the throne. Featuring a V-shaped metal structure representing rays of victory, the trophy captures both the beginning of a new season and the dignity of a champion. Furthermore, the upward-stretching structural lines visually emphasise a team’s rising energy and the presence of the title winner.

In particular, the high-gloss silver finish strongly reflects spotlights, creating the effect of the trophy appearing as a source of light, while the asymmetrical structure symbolises the unpredictability of competition and the dynamic collision between the two teams.

The Super Cup trophy embodies both the meaning of a new season’s kickoff and the excitement of a one-match showdown.

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The K League Super Cup is an official K League-hosted competition held ahead of the new season and will return for the first time since 2006. It is contested between the previous season’s K League 1 champions and the Korea Cup winners. If one club wins both competitions, the K League 1 runners-up will participate instead.

This year’s Super Cup will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 21, one week before the start of the K League 1 season, at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, who completed a league-and-cup double last season, will face Daejeon Hana Citizen, who finished runners-up in K League 1 to record the best league result in the club’s history.

The winner of the match will claim the Super Cup trophy, marking the official start of the new season. The match will be played over 90 minutes and then straight to penalties if the score is level. The winners will receive 200 million Korean won, and the runners-up 100 million.

Coupang Play is the title sponsor of the event, and ticket sales and live broadcasting will both be handled via Coupang Play. Ticket information will be announced on the Coupang Play official website on Friday, January 30. Ticket sales will begin on Friday, February 6 via the Coupang Play mobile app, with Sports Pass presales opening at 12 noon, followed by general sales at 8 p.m.

While chasing a new trophy, Jeonbuk will have newly-designed K League champions patches on their sleeves. 

K League says that the patch is a unique league symbol representing that all teams competing in K League-organised competitions hold equal status.

Previously, the champions patch was based on the official competition logo, which includes the league’s title sponsor Hana Bank, and featured the same design as the standard league patch but with a gold finish to differentiate it. In contrast, the new champions patch incorporates each club’s unique elements into the design, capturing both team identity and pride in winning the title.

The redesigned champions patch combines graphic elements inspired by the club’s home stadium with the championship trophy, visually expressing the winning team’s symbolic identity in an intuitive way. The update goes beyond a league-wide emblem, reflecting the intention to also celebrate the champions’ history and achievements.

As a result, 2025 K League 1 champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will wear the new champions patch during the 2026 season, featuring Jeonju World Cup Stadium, the club’s record of 10 K League 1 titles, and the championship trophy.

via K League press releases