Korea Cup Quarter Final: Gwangju FC 1 Ulsan HD FC 0

By Pearse McLaughlin

Gwangju FC edge past Ulsan Hyundai by a goal to nil thanks to Jo Sung-Kwon’s header late in the second half of the quarterfinals of the 2025 Hana Bank Korea Cup which was held at Gwangju World Cup Stadium. At the same time, Bucheon FC defeated Gimpo 3-1. Gwangju FC and Bucheon FC will now clash in the semifinals.

Ulsan participated in the Club World Cup which was held in the United States of America and was the sole representative from South Korea and a member of the Asian Football Confederation. Ulsan unfortunately lost 0-1 from the first match against Mamelodi (South Africa), lost in the second game 4-2 to Fluminense (Brazil), and they finished the tournament with three losses after narrowly losing 1-0 to Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund.

After finishing the tournament, Ulsan returned home after a long-distance journey to Korea and was in a physically unfit state. However, that could not be an excuse for the defeat tonight.

Gwangju FC have never been to a Korea Cup final. They had lost to Ulsan in the semifinals of last year’s Korea Cup.

Ulsan went down to ten men when defender Kim Young-Gwon picked up his second yellow card of the night in the 43rd minute with a hard tackle on Jasir Asani. It was a stupid tackle from the experienced defender and captain of Ulsan, on a booking and completely wipes out Asani and stops a dangerous counterattack, easy decision for the referee to make.

Gwangju still had trouble breaking through Ulsan’s stubborn defence, and then Cho Seong-Gwon’s 75th minute header ended up being the difference in what was a tight affair with neither side wanting to lose the game but its Gwangju FC who prevailed and advance to the next round of the cup.

Gwangju coach Lee Jung-Hyo has been in charge of Gwangju FC for four years and he aims to do all he can to deliver the Korean Cup this season for Gwangju FC. “I want to win the Korea Cup this season. I'll pour everything out."

In the semifinals, Gwangju FCwill face Bucheon FC, who prevailed over Gimpo FC 3-1 in a battle between K League 2 clubs. The match between Gwangju FC and Bucheon is set for the 20th of August and will be played at the Gwangju World Cup Stadium with a 7pm kick off time (KST). The semi finals are a two-legged affair with the return leg set for Wednesday the 27th of August and is also a 7pm kick off time (KST).

Gwangju FC: Kim Kyeong-Min, Jo Sung-Kwon (Jin Si-Woo 90’), Byeon Jun-Soo, Min Sang-Ki, Jeong Ji-Hoon (Park In-Hyeok 62’), Kim Han-Gil (Shim Sang-Min 62’), Choi Kyoung-Rok, Joo Se-Jong (Shin Chang-Mu 62’), Jasir Asani, Gabriel Tigrao (Lee Kang-Hyeon 71’), Reis. Subs not used: Roh Hee-Dong, Ahn Yeong-Kyu, Oh Hu-Sung, Yu Je-Ho.

Ulsan HD FC: Jo Hyeon-Woo, Milosz Trojak (Jung Woo-Young 80’), Kim Young-Gwon, Seo Myeong-Kwan, Cho Hyun-Taek, Lee Jin-Hyun (Lee Chung-Yong 80’), Darijan Bojanic (Matias Lacava 80’), Ko Seung-Beom, Kang Sang-Woo (Lee Jae-Ik 46’), Gustav Ludwigson, Erick Farias (Heo Yool 70’). Subs not used: Moon Jung-In, Park Min-Seo, Lee Hui-Gyun, Kim Min-Woo.

Reporter: Pearse McLaughlin