A 2-0 win over a ten-man Iraq seal Korea's place in the top two of the group with game to spare.

The result was hardly suprising - basically a home game for Al Hilal and they've got top players in their squad from the Saudi investment money - but the scoreline was bad. Gwamgju still bagged a decent amount of money from the competition overall, though.

In general, it was pretty bad showing from Korean teams though. Gwangju managed to pull off some upsets and were genrally pretty good. Pohang were a bit up and down and were arguably unlucky not to progress after Shandong withdrew. Ulsan were just terrible. Down in ACL2 Jeonbuk were doing enough until they faced Sydney. Yes, they didn't get a home game because they had to use Yongin Mireu, but I would have expected them to proceed anyway.

After summer we'll be seeing Ulsan again, Gangwon, and possibly FC Seoul in ACLE; and Pohang in ACL2. I'm not that optimisitc about ACLE prospects (maybe one or two getting to the knockouts), but Pohang could do it.

When did they drop Incheon from their name? Anyway, well done to them, but it wasn't that unexpected. A bit weird that they qualified for this tournament over a year ago, and perhaps they're not as strong right now (Wuhan, who are on the other side of the bracket seem to have poached a couple of their players). No idea how they'll fare against Melbourne, and no idea where it will be hosted yet.

Can't remember a recent year when so many K2 teams got knocked out so quickly

3rd round fixtures:

Siheung (K3) vs Hwaseong (K2)

Gangneung (K3) vs Daejeon (K1)

Jeonbuk (K1) vs Ansan (K2)

Gimpo (K2) vs Cheonan (K2)

Sejong (K4) vs Anyang (K1)

Daegu (K1) vs Gimhae (K3)

Korail (K3) vs Namyangju (K4)

Bugakong (K3) vs Suwon FC (K1)

Gwangju (K1) vs Gyeongju (K3)

Incheon (K2) vs Pyeongchang (K4)

Bucheon (K2) vs Jeju (K1)

Gimcheon (K1) vs Suwon (K2)

Turn clubs on and off in the legend if you want to probe a bit more.

Y-axis is in units of millions of won. Values are for entire playing squad, across all competitions (including ACL) and including any bonuses.

Ulsan finally overtakes Jeonbuk at the top. Gwangju had quite a big jump from last year; I'm sure playing (and winning) in the ACL had something to do with that. Suwon were the biggest spenders in K2. Seongnam were the second-biggest spenders in K2, so I'm not sure whether Suwon or Seongnam had a worse ROI in 2024.

Highest-paid Korean players were Jo Hyeon-woo, followed by Kim Young-gwon, Kim Jin-su, Lee Seung-woo, and Park Jin-seop.

Highest-paid foreigners were Lingard (although not by as much as I expected), followed by Cesinha, Mugosa, Gerso, and Iljutcenko.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/25528290

Alternate angle: https://fmkorea.com/8125223116