Ulsan HD Confirmed to Progress to FIFA Club World Cup 2025 – Latest News and Updates

[OSEN=고성환 기자] Ulsan HD have confirmed that they will progress to the Club World Cup, where the best clubs in the world will compete against each other.

Ulsan, led by coach Hong Myung-bo, won 1st place thanks to Lee Dong-kyung’s winning goal in the first leg of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (known as ACL here) semi-finals 2023-2024 against Yokohama F. Marinos held at the Munsu Soccer Stadium at 7 pm on the 17th -0 and got ahead.

As a result, Ulsan gained an advantageous position in advancing to the final and showed their vision for the second leg of the semi-final (17 pm on the 24th at Yokohama International Stadium ). At the same time, they will participate in the FIFA Club World Cup that will be held in the United States in 2025. In the AFC club points, they passed Jeonbuk Hyundai (80 points) with 81 points. He got the ticket alone, second in Asia after Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia, 115 points).

FIFA announced, a year ahead of the 2026 North and Central America World Cup, that it will gather the best clubs in the world and hold a club competition like the World Cup, which is a national competition, and Ulsan will take part in the first competition, the ‘Mundial de Clubes FIFA’.

The previous Club World Cup saw seven teams, including champions from six continents and the host nation, compete for the trophy, but now there will be 32 teams to participate. It is held on a small scale every year and held once every four years as the World Cup.

After Ulsan beat Yokohama in the first leg of the ACL semi-finals, a congratulatory message came from FIFA President Gianni Infantino. President Infantino said: “I would like to congratulate the new team for their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup. “Ulsan HD FC from Korea,” said the welcome message.

K League 1 champions Ulsan are expanding beyond Asia and into the world. Ulsan’s journey to the Club World Cup was not easy. As of last May, Ulsan was third in AFC club points with 51.50 points. At the time, they were 7 points behind Jeonbuk (58.50 points).

Ulsan was relegated to the 2023/2024 ACL group stage, which was reorganized into the Chunchun system. However, they recorded a surprising 2-2 draw with Kawasaki Frontale in the last group game, and advanced to the round of 16 with 3 wins, 1 draw, and 2 losses and 2nd place in the group.

At that time, the point gap remained as Jeonbuk Division advanced to the round of 16 with Ulsan. Ulsan’s opponent in the round of 16 was Banfore Gohu, a sensational team in the J2 League. On the 15th of February, they won 3-0 at home, and on the 21st, they showed the reverse and won 2-1 in the second away game.

Coincidentally, the opponent in the quarter-finals was Jeonbuk. They drew 1-1 in the first leg away on March 5th, but smiled as they won 1-0 at home on the 12th. They added a total of 7 points, including 1 point for a draw in the first game, 3 points for a win in the second game, and 3 points for advancing to the semi-finals, which ‘ Jeonbuk ran closely (80 points).

Ulsan, who had collected points one by one, faced Yokohama in the first leg of the semi-final with 78 points, and claimed victory, taking 3 points. This amounted to 81 points. It marked a milestone in Ulsan’s history and, by extension, K League history.

Coach Hong Myung-bo expressed his pride, saying, “I am proud that Ulsan can participate as Korea’s representative in the first Club World Cup since the reorganization. It is a gift to our club and the fans.

Ulsan leaves for Yokohama on the 24th. You get 3 points for winning and 3 points for advancing to the finals. The goal is to build pride in the Korea-Japan game again. History goes on.

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[사진] Provided by Ulsan HD.

[저작권자 @머니투데이, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]