K League United
·28 September 2022
K League United
·28 September 2022
It is very much the business end of the season in K League and absolutely everything that's left to be decided will be crammed into the month of October. That, of course, includes the remaining five rounds of the 2022 Hana 1Q K League 1 campaign which means that, in Final A, the title will be decided in just a matter of weeks, the AFC Champions League spots too, and in Final B automatic relegation to K League 2 will be determined, as too which teams finish in the promotion-relegation playoff places.
What used to be referred to as "the split" with the "Championship Round" and "Relegation Round" is now called Final Round with the top half of the table being Final A and the bottom Final B. Teams will play five more matches but only against the sides in their respective mini-leagues.
This system has been in place since 2012 when relegation to the second tier was first introduced. Before that, the top six in a 15 or 16-team league would compete in the Championship Playoffs.
Final Round begins on October 1st and we have a round-by-round guide:
Sat. 1st October
Sun. 2nd October
Sat. 8th October
Sun. 9th October
Tue. 11th October
19:30, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors vs Gangwon FC- (Commentary: Alex Jensen)
Wed. 12th October
Sun. 16th October
Sat. 22nd October
K League has numerous overseas broadcasting partners for matches to be aired on television.
OneFootball: Brazil, France, Italy, Spain, England, Singapore, all countries with K League broadcasting rights
TVB: Hong Kong
TV Start: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Astro Sports: Malaysia, Brunei
VieON: Vietnam
MNC: Indonesia
Macau Cable TV: Macau
Tap Sports/SkyCable: Philippines
Digital platforms:Dugout, OneFootball, 433
Alternatively,TV.KLeague.com has all the matches LIVE, for FREE and in HD.
Full match replays and highlights are also available shortly after the live broadcast.
Details of all Final A and Final B games can be foundhere.
The 2022 K League Title
The title is still up for grabs. Ulsan Hyundai sit top heading into Final A but current champions Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have made a recent habit of making up noteworthy points gaps with Ulsan to then go on and retain their title. In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Jeonbuk fought back to win the title.
The gap was as wide as 14 points earlier this season - 10 after the same number of games had been played - eight points at one stage in the earlier part of 2021, five in 2020, and four in 2019. Last season Jeonbuk were level on points with Ulsan heading into the split but in 2020 they were two points behind and one point in 2019.
AFC Champions League Qualification
Pohang Steelers, Incheon United and, to a lesser extent, Jeju United are fighting for third and a place in next season's AFC Champions League. The Steelers have a strong lead over fourth and so third is theirs to lose. Should they finish third, it will only be the second time in seven years that Pohang will have qualified for the ACL through league standings.
Automatic Relegation
Seongnam FC are bottom of the league and, given how far adrift they are, it looks to be a matter of when not if the Magpies are confirmed. The Tancheon outfit might get a stay of execution, though, should they get off to a good start in Final A.
Adding extra excitement this season is the extra promotion-relegation playoff. Finishing 10th in K League 1 used to be enough to survive relegation but now third from bottom in the top flight has to face the winners of the K League 2 playoffs. Third in K League 2 faces the winner of fourth versus fifth who then face the K League 1 side over two legs.