Ulsan forward Ludwigson comments following defeat to Borussia Dortmund | OneFootball

South Korean champions Ulsan HD FC finished the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup tournament without a single point from their three matches, finishing 0-0-3 with a -4 goal differential (2-6) in Group F. While Borussia Dortmund and Brazilian side Fluminense will be advancing to the round of sixteen, Ulsan, along with South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, will be heading back home at the end of the week.

One of the players that took part in all 270 minutes of Ulsan's campaign was Swedish striker Gustav Ludwigson, who was fielded at left-back for most of the time that Kim Pan-gon's side played in the United States.

The 31-year-old from Göteborg, who was also at left-back for a majority of this match, said when asked to give an overall summary of his team's performance: “Of course it is disappointing, but we did not go into the tournament expecting much point-wise.”

He added, “We did everything we could to take one point, even three if we had the chance; we fight well as a team, we left everything on the pitch and that is all we can do. The result is disappointing but we must be happy with our performance, and our fighting spirit.”

When asked about playing as a wing-back for the first half, then shift to midfield and striker in the second half, Ludwigson said, “It was a bit easier to rest at midfield; as a wing-back, when they have the ball so much, it is up and down all the time - it is very difficult.”

He elaborated on his role within Kim Pan-gon's team in this match by stating, “I tried to regain some energy at halftime when he told me to move up higher. I like to play in this position [LM]; wherever he [Kim] puts me, that is where I play, but it was also fun to play striker; I have done that for a long time, so it was fun.”

Regarding the trip back to South Korea and what lies ahead in their K League 1 campaign - which includes matches against FC Seoul, Daejeon Hana Citizen, and Gangwon FC, as well as a Korean FA Cup quarterfinal in Gwangju against the energetic Lee Jung-hyo and Gwangju FC - Ludwigson had quite a bit to say about how the team will adjust to life back in Korea.

“It is going to be difficult; we have a long flight home, 13 hour time difference, so we need to recover as much as we can. We need to recover in the remaining days that we have here, and then we go to Korea, regain and deal with the jet lag”, he said.

He also highlighted that the club has players who need K League experience and could replace some of the regular starters while the main squad recovers: “It is going to be tough, but we had many players that did not play as much, so probably going to give them a lot of chances as well.”

Lastly, he was asked what the overall experience at the Club World Cup tournament was like and what the club learned from it, and he followed by responding: “We are going to take a lot of positive things from these three matches; we played a completely different level of competition, so this will be good for us in the long run.”