The seventh round of the AFC Champions League was one of the disappointing games for the mainland teams in the K-League. With no wins, two draws and two losses in two games, FC Seoul, Gangwon FC and Ulsan HD still have a long way to go to enter the ACLE knockout rounds, while Pohang Steelers must win a win in Japan to advance to the ACL second quarter-finals.
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AFC Champions League
A disappointing start to 2026FC Seoullost 2-0 to vissel kobe Tuesday in Japan. Six players including goalkeeper Koo Sung-yoon, center back Juan Antonio Rose, midfielders Hervoye Babek and Song Zhengbeom, left winger Song Minkyu, and forward Leonardo Ruiz made their debuts, but the capital club also suffered the same fate starting from the end of 2025.
Bryant dominated possession, limiting Seoul to just two shots on goal. The half-time score of 0-0 could have satisfied Kim Ki-dong and his players, but Muto Yoshinori and Sakai Ohtori scored in the 69th and 73rd minutes respectively within four minutes, giving the Seoul team two irreparable blows.
The K-League’s capital club’s fate of qualifying for the knockout round is in their own hands, ranking sixth but only one point ahead. Next up, they will face Sanfrecce Hiroshima in their final league stage match – in Mokdong instead of Sangam. Sam Arrows will head to South Korea with two consecutive wins and a four-game unbeaten run in the AFC Champions League.
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Gangwon FCof 0-0 Draw with Chinese Super League champions Shanghai Port On Wednesday, it was a good result on paper, but just one point and now four games without a win left the Bears clinging to the final qualifying spot.
Oh Young-joon started for the Bears, and Israeli forward Abdullah Halehar came on as a last-minute substitute to replace Oh Young-joon, but the Gangwon-do team could not find a breakthrough in this game.
The Gangwon team had 62% of the ball, shot 11 times, and only 2 shots were on target, while Shanghai Port only shot 2 times, and both missed. Cheng Kyung-ho’s side are in eighth place with eight points and need to travel to Melbourne to beat Manchester City to secure a knockout spot.
Ulsan HD Lost 1-2 at home to the South Korean team, starting the Kim Hyun Suk era city ​​of melbourne. It would be a tough result as Melbourne scored a late winner thanks to Marcus Younis’ 93rd-minute strike.
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Daryan Bojanic equalized for Horanj in the 80th minute, negating Max Caputo’s 37th-minute opener, but nonethelesstigerWith 60% ball possession and 10 shots on goal, Ulsan suffered its second consecutive loss at ACLE.
Ulsan tops the knockout qualifying group but is level on points with Gangwon Province and Johor Darul Tazim. They next face Shanghai Port away from home and need to win to advance.
AFC Champions League second round
Pohang Steelers came from behind and drew with Gamba Osaka at home in the second round of the AFC Champions League round of 16. Ryaya Yamashita gave the J-League side the lead after the restart, but Jorge Teixeira responded in the 71st minute. Kento Nishitani was the only player on the field for the Steelers, starting at midfield in a 4-1-4-1 formation.
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Pohang had to give up possession most of the time but outshot Gamba (14-12, 4-3) in shot attempts and field goal percentage. The result leaves the tie in a delicate balance ahead of next week’s second leg in Osaka.
