K League in 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Matchday 3 Recap

The third matchday of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Elite campaign brought two wins for K League sides over their J.League counterparts, with Ulsan HD and Gangwon FC triumphing, but FC Seoul suffered their first loss, succumbing to a 2-0 away defeat to Sha,nghai Shenhua, while Pohang in ACL Two suffered defeat away to Tampines Rovers in Group H.

AFC Champions League Elite

Tuesday 21st October

Ulsan HD 1-0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Building on the 2-0 win over Gwangju FC, Ulsan made it two wins in a week under caretaker manager Noh Sang-rae thanks to a 1-0 home triumph over Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Kim Min-hyeok's strike 12 minutes in proved to be enough for the Horangi. Ulsan dug in to earn the three points, with the goal being the only shot they registered on target from three in total. Sanfrecce, on the other hand, had 21 attempts at goal but only three found the target. 

Wendesday 22nd October

Gangwon FC 4-3 Vissel Kobe

Gangwon FC emerged victorious from a Korea-Japan seven-goal thriller on Wednesday, striking late into proceedings to retake the lead. Gangwon had actually struck early at home to the J1 champions with Lee Sang-heon opening the scoring on seven minutes. Gangwon thought they'd doubled their lead very shortly after, but Lee Sang-heon's close-range effort on the rebound was ruled out for offside. 

Another goal was ruled out on 20 minutes when Mo Jae-hyeon's glancing header from a corner found the back of the net, offside again the reason, with Seo Min-woo initially adjudged to have been interfering with play in front of the goalkeeper. But a VAR check overturned the decision, and the goal stood - 2-0 with barely 20 minutes on the clock. A third goal followed via a clean strike from the edge of the box by left back Song Jun-seok. But the start of the second half saw a Kobe fightback with two goals in as many minutes, first from Taisei Miyashiro, then Patrick. A second Taisei Miyashiro strike came in the 89th minute to make it 3-3, but Kim Gun-hee made it 4-3 to ensure the points were Gangwon's.

Shanghai Shenhua 2-0 FC Seoul

FC Seoul suffered their first loss of the current AFC Champions League Elite campaign, falling to a 2-0 away defeat to Shanghai Shenhua. It was a match that saw FC Seoul enjoy large spells of possession, 67% overall, and 21 shots to 14 for the hosts. But only five made the target, despite 12 attempts coming from inside the box. Kim Gi-dong said in the post-match press conference that he wanted to praise his players for their effort. He had restored goalkeeper Kang Hyeon-mu to the starting XI and fielded five foreign players with Lingard up top alongside Marko Dugandzic, Anderson and Lucas Silva on the flanks, and Yazan Al-Arab back at the heart of the defence. 

AFC Champions League Two

Thursday 23rd October

Tampines Rovers 1-0 Pohang Steelers

A goal with just 15 seconds on the clock from Japanese forward Hide Higashikawa was enough to condemn a rotated Pohang Steelers side to their first ACL Two defeat to Singaporean side Tampines Rovers. Higashikawa latched onto a dangerous ball into the channel, held off Pohang defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis before expertly finding the top corner. Pohang did their utmost to hit back and had 75% possession, 20 shots, with eight finding the target, but Higashikawa strike went without reply. The two teams will meet at the Steel Yard in a fortnight's time.

ACL Matchday 4 Fixtures

Tuesday 4th November

Sanfrecce Hiroshima (JPN) vs. Gangwon FC - 19:00

FC Seoul vs. Chengdu Rongcheng (CHN) - 19:00 KST

Wednesday 5th November 

Vissel Kobe (JPN) vs. Ulsan HD  - 19:00

Thursday 6th November

Pohang Steelers vs. Tampines Rovers (SGP) - 19:00