# 2020 K League 1

The 2020 K League 1 was the 38th season of the top division of professional football in South Korea, and the eighth season of the K League 1. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors won their eighth title, becoming the most successful K League club which had the most titles.
The regular season was scheduled to begin on 29 February and to end on 4 October, but was postponed until 8 May due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 24 April 2020, the K League Federation confirmed that they would adopt a modified plan for the season, reducing the number of matchdays to 27 including five matchdays of each divided final league.
Sangju Sangmu and the lowest-placed team at the end of the season were relegated to the K League 2 for the 2021 season.
In this season, one additional spot for players from ASEAN countries was added regardless of the "3+1" foreign players rule.

## Teams
### Team changes

Relegated to K League 2
* Gyeongnam FC
* Jeju United
Promoted from K League 2
* Gwangju FC
* Busan IPark

### Locations

The following twelve teams competed in the 2020 K League 1.
| Team | City/Province |
| Busan IPark | Busan |
| Daegu FC | Daegu |
| Gangwon FC | Gangwon |
| Gwangju FC | Gwangju |
| Incheon United | Incheon |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Jeonbuk |
| Pohang Steelers | Pohang |
| Sangju Sangmu | Sangju |
| Seongnam FC | Seongnam |
| FC Seoul | Seoul |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Suwon |
| Ulsan Hyundai | Ulsan |

### Stadiums

| Busan IPark | Daegu FC | Incheon United |
| Busan Gudeok Stadium | DGB Daegu Bank Park | Incheon Football Stadium |
| Capacity: 12,349 | Capacity: 12,415 | Capacity: 20,891 |
| Pohang Steelers | Sangju Sangmu | Seongnam FC |
| Pohang Steel Yard | Sangju Civic Stadium | Tancheon Stadium |
| Capacity: 17,443 | Capacity: 15,042 | Capacity: 16,146 |
| FC Seoul | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Ulsan Hyundai |
| Seoul World Cup Stadium | Suwon World Cup Stadium | Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium |
| Capacity: 66,704 | Capacity: 44,031 | Capacity: 44,102 |
| Gwangju FC | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| Gwangju World Cup Stadium | Gwangju Football Stadium | Jeonju World Cup Stadium |
| Capacity: 40,245 | Capacity: 12,000 | Capacity: 42,477 |
| Gangwon FC | Gangwon FC | |
| Chuncheon Songam Leports Town | Gangneung Stadium | |
| Capacity: 20,000 | Capacity: 22,333 | |

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Main sponsor | Kit manufacturer | Other sponsor(s) |
| Busan IPark | Lee Ki-hyung (caretaker) | Hyundai Development Company | Adidas | |
| Daegu FC | Lee Byung-keun (caretaker) | Daegu Government | Forward | DGB Daegu Bank AJIN Industrial Co., Ltd. |
| Gangwon FC | Kim Byung-soo | Gangwon Provincial Government | Applerind | Kangwon Land |
| Gwangju FC | Park Jin-sub | Gwangju Government | Kelme | |
| Incheon United | Jo Sung-hwan | Incheon Government | Macron | Shinhan Bank Incheon International Airport |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | José Morais | Hyundai Motor Company | Hummel | |
| Pohang Steelers | Kim Gi-dong | POSCO | Astore | Pohang Government |
| Sangju Sangmu | Kim Tae-wan | Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps | Kelme | |
| Seongnam FC | Kim Nam-il | Seongnam Government | Umbro | |
| FC Seoul | Park Hyuk-soon (caretaker) | GS Group | Le Coq Sportif | |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Park Kun-ha | Cheil Worldwide | Puma | Samsung Electronics |
| Ulsan Hyundai | Kim Do-hoon | Hyundai Heavy Industries | Hummel | Hyundai Oil Bank |

### Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the Asian Football Confederation countries and a slot for a player from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC confederation.
Players in bold were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player | Former player(s) |
| Busan IPark | Vintecinco | Rômulo | | Dostonbek Tursunov | Reis |
| Daegu FC | Césinha | Edgar | Dejan Damjanović | Tsubasa Nishi | |
| Gangwon FC | | | | Takahiro Nakazato | |
| Gwangju FC | Felipe | Willyan | Marco Ureña | Rustam Ashurmatov | |
| Incheon United | Stefan Mugoša | Elías Aguilar | Gustavo | Rashid Mahazi | Lanre Kehinde Gordan Bunoza |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | Murilo | Modou Barrow | Gustavo | Takahiro Kunimoto | Lars Veldwijk |
| Pohang Steelers | Manuel Palacios | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Aleksandar Paločević | | Brandon O’Neill |
| Seongnam FC | Igor Jovanović | Tomislav Kiš | | Jamshid Iskanderov | |
| FC Seoul | Adriano Michael Jackson | Osmar | | Ikromjon Alibaev | Aleksandar Pešić |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | Doneil Henry | Terry Antonis | | Adam Taggart | Sulejman Krpić |
| Ulsan Hyundai | Júnior Negrão | Dave Bulthuis | Bjørn Maars Johnsen | Jason Davidson | |
* ↑ Did not exist in the regulation of AFC.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (C) | 27 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 46 | 21 | +25 | 60 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Ulsan Hyundai | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 54 | 23 | +31 | 57 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Pohang Steelers | 27 | 15 | 5 | 7 | 56 | 35 | +21 | 50 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Sangju Sangmu (R) | 27 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 34 | 36 | −2 | 44 | Relegation to K League 2 |
| 5 | Daegu FC | 27 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 43 | 39 | +4 | 38 | Qualification for Champions League group stage |
| 6 | Gwangju FC | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 46 | −14 | 25 | |
| 7 | Gangwon FC | 27 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 41 | −5 | 34 | |
| 8 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 27 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 27 | 30 | −3 | 31 | |
| 9 | FC Seoul | 27 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 23 | 44 | −21 | 29 | |
| 10 | Seongnam FC | 27 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 24 | 37 | −13 | 28 | |
| 11 | Incheon United | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 27 | |
| 12 | Busan IPark (R) | 27 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 25 | 38 | −13 | 25 | Relegation to K League 2 |
* ↑ Teams are split into two groups (Final A and Final B) after each have played 22 matches.
* ↑ Sangju Sangmu were a military team and were not eligible to represent South Korea in the AFC club competitions. Additionally, they were relegated to K League 2 regardless of their final position by moving their stronghold the next season.

## Positions by matchday

Leaders  Qualification for Champions League group stage  Relegation to K League 2

### Round 1–22

| Team ╲ Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ulsan Hyundai | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 12 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Daegu FC | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Gwangju FC | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
| Gangwon FC | 2 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 8 |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
| FC Seoul | 8 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Seongnam FC | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
| Incheon United | 7 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Busan IPark | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |

### Round 23–27

The league was divided into two groups, the top six and the bottom six, after the 22nd matchday.
| Team ╲ Round | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Ulsan Hyundai | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Pohang Steelers | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Daegu FC | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Gwangju FC | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Gangwon FC | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| FC Seoul | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Seongnam FC | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
| Incheon United | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 |
| Busan IPark | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 |

## Results
### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | BSI | DGU | GWN | GJU | ICU | JHM | PHS | SJS | SFC | SEO | SSB | USH |
| Busan IPark | — | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Daegu FC | 3–0 | — | 2–1 | 4–6 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 6–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 |
| Gangwon FC | 2–4 | 0–0 | — | 4–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 |
| Gwangju FC | 3–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | — | 2–1 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Incheon United | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | — | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Pohang Steelers | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 4–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 |
| Sangju Sangmu | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–5 |
| Seongnam FC | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| FC Seoul | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | — | 2–3 |
| Ulsan Hyundai | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | — |

### Matches 23–27
## Statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai | 26 |
| 2 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang Steelers | 19 |
| 3 | Cesinha | Daegu FC | 18 |
| 4 | Aleksandar Paločević | Pohang Steelers | 14 |
| 5 | Stefan Mugoša | Incheon United | 12 |
| 5 | Felipe | Gwangju FC | 12 |
| 7 | Han Kyo-won | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 11 |
| 8 | Song Min-kyu | Pohang Steelers | 10 |
| 9 | Dejan Damjanović | Daegu FC | 9 |
| 9 | Adam Taggart | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 9 |
| 9 | Ko Moo-yeol | Gangwon FC | 9 |

### Top assist providers

| Rank | Player | Club | Assists |
| 1 | Kang Sang-woo | Sangju Sangmu Pohang Steelers | 12 |
| 2 | Jeong Seung-won | Daegu FC | 7 |
| 3 | Kim Seung-dae | Gangwon FC | 6 |
| 3 | Aleksandar Paločević | Pohang Steelers | 6 |
| 3 | Kim In-sung | Ulsan Hyundai | 6 |
| 3 | Manuel Palacios | Pohang Steelers | 6 |
| 3 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang Steelers | 6 |
| 3 | Song Min-kyu | Pohang Steelers | 6 |
| 9 | Son Jun-ho | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 5 |
| 10 | 12 players | 12 players | 4 |

## Awards
### Weekly awards

| Round | Player of the Round | Player of the Round |
| Round | Player | Club |
| 1 | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 2 | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 3 | Kang Sang-woo | Sangju Sangmu |
| 4 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang Steelers |
| 5 | Lee Chung-yong | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 6 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang Steelers |
| 7 | Kim Min-hyeok | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| 8 | Cesinha | Daegu FC |
| 9 | Takahiro Kunimoto | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| 10 | Lee Dong-jun | Busan IPark |
| 11 | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 12 | Oh Se-hun | Sangju Sangmu |
| 13 | Lee Seung-gi | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| 14 | Um Won-sang | Gwangju FC |
| Round | Player of the Round | Player of the Round |
| Round | Player | Club |
| 15 | Na Sang-ho | Seongnam FC |
| 16 | Han Seung-gyu | FC Seoul |
| 17 | Kim Jin-su | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| 18 | Felipe | Gwangju FC |
| 19 | Stefan Mugoša | Incheon United |
| 20 | Song Min-kyu | Pohang Steelers |
| 21 | Dejan Damjanović | Daegu FC |
| 22 | Aleksandar Paločević | Pohang Steelers |
| 23 | Adam Taggart | Suwon Samsung Bluewings |
| 24 | Jung Seung-hyun | Ulsan Hyundai |
| 25 | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang Steelers |
| 26 | Cesinha | Daegu FC |
| 27 | Hong Si-hoo | Seongnam FC |

### Monthly awards

| Month | Player of the Month | Player of the Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Manager of the Month | Goal of the Month | Goal of the Month |
| Month | Player | Club | Manager | Club | Division | Player | Club |
| May | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan | Kim Nam-il | Seongnam | 1 | Cho Jae-wan | Gangwon |
| June | Cesinha | Daegu | José Morais | Jeonbuk | 1 | Cesinha | Daegu |
| July | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan | Kim Do-hoon | Ulsan | 1 | Lee Dong-gyeong | Ulsan |
| August | Moon Seon-min | Sangju | Nam Ki-il | Jeju | 2 | Moon Seon-min | Sangju |
| September | Stefan Mugoša | Incheon | Kim Gi-dong | Pohang | 1 | Adam Taggart | Suwon |
| October | Stanislav Iljutcenko | Pohang | Nam Ki-il | Jeju | 2 | Hong Si-hoo | Seongnam |

### Annual awards

The 2020 K League Awards was held on 5 November 2020.
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Most Valuable Player | Son Jun-ho | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors |
| Young Player of the Year | Song Min-kyu | Pohang Steelers |
| Top goalscorer | Júnior Negrão | Ulsan Hyundai |
| Top assist provider | Kang Sang-woo | Sangju Sangmu Pohang Steelers |
| Manager of the Year | Kim Gi-dong | Pohang Steelers |
| Position | Best XI | Best XI | Best XI | Best XI |
| Goalkeeper | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) | Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan) |
| Defenders | Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan) | Kwon Kyung-won (Sangju) | Hong Jeong-ho (Jeonbuk) | Kang Sang-woo (Sangju, Pohang) |
| Midfielders | Aleksandar Paločević (Pohang) | Cesinha (Daegu) | Son Jun-ho (Jeonbuk) | Han Kyo-won (Jeonbuk) |
| Forwards | Stanislav Iljutcenko (Pohang) | Stanislav Iljutcenko (Pohang) | Júnior Negrão (Ulsan) | Júnior Negrão (Ulsan) |

## Attendance

Attendants who entered with free ticket are not counted.
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 16,808 | 10,535 | 0 | 1,200 | −91.4%$^†$ |
| 2 | Ulsan Hyundai | 16,352 | 6,973 | 0 | 1,168 | −87.9%$^†$ |
| 3 | FC Seoul | 13,047 | 5,485 | 0 | 931 | −91.9%$^†$ |
| 4 | Daegu FC | 7,265 | 3,030 | 0 | 558 | −94.8%$^†$ |
| 5 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 7,072 | 2,912 | 0 | 544 | −93.8%$^†$ |
| 6 | Incheon United | 6,849 | 3,428 | 0 | 526 | −93.8%$^†$ |
| 7 | Pohang Steelers | 6,996 | 3,280 | 0 | 499 | −94.1%$^†$ |
| 8 | Seongnam FC | 5,066 | 1,655 | 0 | 361 | −93.5%$^†$ |
| 9 | Gangwon FC | 2,978 | 1,967 | 0 | 212 | −92.6%$^†$ |
| 10 | Gwangju FC | 1,711 | 860 | 0 | 131 | −95.8%$^†$ |
| 11 | Busan IPark | 1,416 | 830 | 0 | 108 | −97.4%$^†$ |
| 12 | Sangju Sangmu | 1,080 | 666 | 0 | 83 | −96.5%$^†$ |
| | League total | 86,640 | 10,535 | 0 | 534 | −93.3%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 1 December 2020 Source: K League Notes: $^†$ Teams that played previous season in K League 2.