K League in 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Match Day 7 Recap

AFC Champions League Match Day 7 proved to be one of disappointment for K League's continental contingent. No wins, two draws and two losses across the two competitions leave work to be done for FC Seoul, Gangwon FC and Ulsan HD to reach the ACLE knockouts, while Pohang Steelers will have to earn a win in Japan to reach the ACL Two quarterfinals.

AFC Champions League Elite

It proved to be a disappointing start to 2026 for FC Seoul, losing 2-0 to Vissel Kobe in Japan on Tuesday. There were debuts for six players: Gu Sung-yun in goal, Juan Antonio Ros at centre back, Hrvoje Babec and Song Jeong-beom in central midfield, Song Min-kyu at left wing, and Leonardo Ruiz in attack, but the capital club suffered the same fortunes from the tail-end of 2025.

Kobe controlled possession, limiting Seoul to just two shots on target. A scoreline of 0-0 at half time will have given Kim Gi-dong and his men some satisfaction, but goals from Muto Yoshinori and Sakai Gotoku in the space of four minutes, striking on 69 and 73 minutes respectively, dealt two hammer blows that Seoul couldn't recover from.

K League's capital club have their knockout qualification destiny in their own hands, sitting sixth but with just a one-point lead. They face Sanfrecce Hiroshima next - at Mokdong and not Sangam - in their final league phase match. Sanfrecce will head to Korea on the back of back-to-back wins and a run of four unbeaten in ACL.

Gangwon FC's 0-0 draw with Chinese Super League champions Shanghai Port on Wednesday, on paper, represents a good result, but a single point earned, and now no wins in four, leaves the Bears clinging on to the last qualification place.

Goh Young-jun made his Bears bow as a starter, while Israeli striker Abdalla Halaihal came off the bench as a late sub, replacing Goh, but it was a game where Gangwon just couldn't find a breakthrough.

Gangwon had 62% possession, 11 shots but just two found the target, while Shanghai Port managed just two shots and neither hit the target. Jeong Kyung-ho's men sit eighth on eight points and will need to go to Melbourne and beat City to guarantee a place in the knockouts.

Ulsan HD began the Kim Hyun-seok era with a 2-1 loss at home to Melbourne City. The result will have been a tough one to take, owing to a late, late Melbourne winner with Marcus Younis finding the back of the net in the 93rd minute.

Darijan Bojanic equalised for the Horangi on 80 minutes, cancelling out Max Caputo's 37th-minute opener, but despite having the tiger's share of possession with 60% and 10 shots, it was a second ACLE loss in succession for Ulsan.

Ulsan sit one place outside the knockout qualification group, but level on points with Gangwon and Johor Darul Ta'zim. They face Shanghai Port next away from home, needing to win to advance.

AFC Champions League Two

Pohang Steelers came from behind to earn an ACL Two Round of 16 draw at home to Gamba Osaka. Yamashita Ryoya gave the J.League outfit the lead just after the restart, but Jorge Teixeira was able to offer a reply on 71 minutes. Nishiya Kento was the only Steelers debutant, starting in central midfield in a 4-1-4-1.

Pohang had to cede possession for the most part, but were able to out-edge Gamba in terms of shots and shots on target (14-12, 4-3). The result leaves the tie delicately poised ahead of next week's second leg in Osaka.