2023 K League 2

The 2023 K League 2, also known as the Hana 1Q K League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is the 11th season of the second division of professional football in South Korea since its establishment in 2013 as the K League Challenge and the sixth season under its current name, the K League 2. This season will be the last season not to feature relegation. Gwangju FC are the defending champions and were promoted to K League 1. The 2023 season will kick off at 1 March 2023.[1]

KEB Hana Bank
K League 2 2023
Season2023
Dates1 March – 2 December 2023 (including promotion play-offs)
6 and 9 December 2023 (Promotion-Relegation play-offs)
RelegatedNone (No Relegation between K League 2 and K3 League)
Matches played179
Goals scored452 (2.53 per match)
Top goalscorerColombia Luis Fabiàn Mina Zapata (Gimpo FC)
(14 goals)
Biggest home winGimpo 4-0 Cheonan City
(5 March)
Biggest away winJeonnam Dragons 0-5 Gyeongnam
(5 March)
Highest scoringCheonan City 2-3 Busan IPark (1 March)
Seoul E-Land 2-3 Chungbuk Cheongju (1 March)
Jeonnam Dragons 0-5 Gyeongnam (5 March)
Longest winning runBucheon, Gimcheon Sangmu, Gyeongnam
(2 matches each)
Longest unbeaten runGimpo, Gyeongnam
(9 matches each)
Longest winless runCheonan City
(10 matches)
Longest losing runCheonan City
(7 matches)
← 2022
2024 →

The 2023 season will have 39 Regular rounds (each team plays 36 matches) in which 13 teams play a triple round robin (Rounds 1–39 (1–36)). Then final 3rd, 4th and 5th place teams will join K League 2 play-offs for promotion and 2nd place team will join in K League 1-2 Promotion-Relegation play-off 1 and the winner of K League 2 promotion play-offs (3rd-4th-5th) will join in K League 1-2 Promotion-Relegation play-off 2. Initially bottom teams are relegated to K3 League, but eventually it won't be applied yet.

Overview

A total of thirteen teams are participating in the 2023 edition of K League 2.

Changes

Gwangju FC and Daejeon Hana Citizen (both promoted after one and seven years absence, respectively) were promoted from the 2022 K League 2. Gimcheon Sangmu and Seongnam FC (both relegated after one and four year in the top flight) were relegated to 2023 K League 2.

Cheonan City FC and Chungbuk Cheongju FC, which played in the K3 League and made their professional debuts on the K League 2 in the 2023 season, being the 24th and 25th K League member.

There will be no promotion or relegation between the K League 2 and K3 League this season.

Incoming
Decrease from 2023 K League 1Increase New teams
Gimcheon Sangmu
Seongnam FC		 Cheonan City FC
Chungbuk Cheongju FC
Outgoing
Increase to 2023 K League 1
Gwangju FC
Daejeon Hana Citizen

Teams
Locations of the 2023 K League 2 teams

Stadiums
Ansan Greeners FC Anyang Bucheon FC 1995 Busan IPark Cheonan City Chungbuk Cheongju Chungnam Asan
Ansan Wa~ Stadium Anyang Stadium Bucheon Stadium Busan Asiad Main Stadium(~21 May)
Busan Gudeok Stadium(27 May~)		 Cheonan Stadium Cheongju Stadium Yi Sun-sin Stadium
Capacity: 35,000 Capacity: 17,143 Capacity: 34,456 Capacity: 53,769
12,349		 Capacity: 26,000 Capacity: 16,280 Capacity: 19,283
Gimcheon Sangmu FC Gimpo FC Gyeongnam FC Jeonnam Dragons Seongnam FC Seoul E-Land
Gimcheon Stadium Gimpo Solteo Football Stadium Changwon Football Center Gwangyang Stadium Tancheon Stadium Mokdong Stadium
Capacity: 25,000 Capacity: 5,000 Capacity: 15,074 Capacity: 13,496 Capacity: 16,146 Capacity: 15,511

Foreign players

Restricting the number of foreign players strictly to five per team, including a slot for a player from the AFC and AFF countries. Gimcheon Sangmu FC, being a military-owned team, is not allowed to sign any foreign players. A team could use five foreign players on the field each game, including at least one player from the AFC and AFF.

The name in bold indicates that the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player AFF player Left in mid-season
Ansan Greeners Brazil Thiago Henrique Brazil Wandrew Brazil Gabriel Honório
FC Anyang Brazil Yago Brazil Bruno Paraíba Brazil Laércio Costa Rica Jonathan Moya
Brazil Andrigo
Bucheon FC 1995 Brazil Nilson Brazil Gabriel Ramos Portugal Jucie Lupeta Japan Kazuki Takahashi Brazil Kalil
Busan IPark Brazil Bruno Lamas Brazil Fessin Brazil Franklin Mascote
Cheonan City Brazil Bruno Mota Croatia Damir Šovšić Brazil Paulinho Vietnam Vũ Minh Hiếu Vietnam Nguyễn Cảnh Anh Brazil Rodolfo
France Axel Bakayoko
Chungbuk Cheongju Brazil Paulinho Brazil Jorge Luiz Australia Peter Makrillos Malaysia Kogileswaran Raj
Chungnam Asan Brazil Róbson Brazil Raphael Utzig Colombia Wilinton Aponzá
Gimpo FC Uruguay Pablo González Brazil Juninho Rocha Colombia Luis Mina
Gyeongnam FC Brazil Castro Brazil Gleyson Brazil Léo Ceará Brazil Mirandinha
Jeonnam Dragons Kosovo Leonard Pllana Brazil Valdívia Croatia Leo Mikić Japan Yuhei Sato Indonesia Asnawi Mangkualam Sweden Robin Simović
Seongnam FC Democratic Republic of the Congo Christy Manzinga Brazil Denilson Brazil Gabriel Honório Australia Patrick Flottmann
Seoul E-Land Brazil Renan Brazil Ronan Brazil Bruninho Japan Tsubasa Nishi Vietnam Nguyễn Văn Toàn

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Busan IPark (X) 33 19 9 5 47 24 +23 66 Promotion to 2024 K League 1
2 Gimcheon Sangmu (X) 33 20 4 9 67 36 +31 64 Qualification for promotion playoff 1
3 Gimpo FC (X) 33 16 11 6 40 22 +18 59 Qualification for K League 2 playoff 2
4 Bucheon FC 1995 34 15 9 10 40 32 +8 54 Qualification for K League 2 semi-playoff 2
5 Gyeongnam FC 33 13 11 9 48 39 +9 50
6 Chungbuk Cheongju 33 12 12 9 35 38 −3 48
7 Jeonnam Dragons 33 14 5 14 48 52 −4 47
8 FC Anyang 33 12 9 12 50 48 +2 45
9 Seongnam FC 34 10 11 13 41 48 −7 41
10 Chungnam Asan 34 11 6 17 37 45 −8 39
11 Seoul E-Land 33 10 5 18 36 48 −12 35
12 Cheonan City 33 5 9 19 32 58 −26 24
13 Ansan Greeners 33 5 7 21 34 65 −31 22
Updated to match(es) played on 22 October 2023. Source: Official website of K League SOCCERWAY
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goals scored; 3) Goal difference; 4) Number of wins; 5) Head-to-head points
(X) Assured a place of the Promotion Playoff(s)

Positions by matchday

  Leader & promotion to the 2024 K League 1
  Qualification for relegation/promotion play-offs

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839
Busan IPark156433554555642122134634322221111111
Gimcheon Sangmu323676221322236655322111111112222222
Gimpo FC1145555432111113566666455434654444433
Bucheon FC 19951292144796766354444555566666543333344
Gyeongnam FC511212313244465313211223243435555655
Chungbuk Cheongju16779910111212121211111111101111910989878877686576
Jeonnam Dragons12131011888898888109998877777777788867867
FC Anyang534321145433521231443342555366778788
Seongnam FC379867668677777781010119898999999999999
Chungnam Asan91212101110977999109101011991011111010101010101111101111101010
Seoul E-Land71011121211111011111010988877788101111111111111010111010111111
Cheonan City71113131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131313131312
Ansan Greeners97891012121210101111121212121212121212121212121212121212121212121213
Updated to match(es) played on 22 October 2023. Source: kleague.com

The match Chungnam Asan vs Chungbuk Cheongju(originally 13 August) of Round 26 was postponed to 14 October.

Results
Home \ Away ASG AYG BCN BSI CNC CBCJ CNAS GCS GIM GNM JND SNM SUE ASG AYG BCN BSI CNC CBCJ CNAS GCS GIM GNM JND SNM SUE
Ansan Greeners 1–1 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–2[2] 1–0 2–3 2–3 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–2 1–2 0–1 0–1 3–7 1–1
FC Anyang 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–2 2–4 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–1
Bucheon FC 1995 1–0 2–4 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–3 2–0 2–0 5–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0
Busan IPark 0–0 2–1 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 2–3 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–0 3–0
Cheonan City 1–1 0–4 0–3 2–3 2–2 0–1 0–2 0–2 2–3 1–3 3–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–3 3–1
Chungbuk Cheongju 3–0 2–1 0–4 1–1 2–1 0–4 0–2 0–0 0–2 3–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–1
Chungnam Asan 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–2 1–2 0–1 2–2 3–3 2–0 2–0 4–3 1–2 0–1 0–1 1–0
Gimcheon Sangmu 3–2 0–0 4–1 2–1 4–1 0–0 3–2 0–2 0–2 2–1 4–0 4–0 4–1 3–1 0–0 4–0
Gimpo FC 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 4–0 1–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 3–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 2–1
Gyeongnam FC 3–1 3–2 1–0 1–2 2–1 2–2 2–1 0–2 0–0 0–2 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–1 2–3 0–2
Jeonnam Dragons 5–2 0–1 1–0 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–5 2–2 3–3 3–2 1–3 2–1 0–0
Seongnam FC 2–1 1–2 0–1 1–3 2–0 3–2 0–0 2–2 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–0 1–0 2–4
Seoul E-Land 4–1 1–2 2–0 1–2 3–2 2–3 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–2 3–4 2–1 0–3 1–3 1–0
Updated to match(es) played on 22 October 2023. Source: K League 2
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Promotion/relegation play-offs

There are two playoffs contested in this stage. The Playoff "1" is played with the two league extremes facing each other (K League 1 second-worst placed team against K League 2 second-best placed team). Meanwhile, the Playoff "2" is played with K League 2 10th facing the Semi-playoffs winner. The winners of both ties earn two spots in the 2024 K League 1.

If scores are tied after regular time in any match of both the Semi-playoffs and playoffs, the higher-placed team will advance to the next phase. However, The same conditions do not apply for the promotion/relegation playoffs, with the match, if tied, requiring extra time. Should it remain tied, the match will go to the penalty shoot-outs.

Semi-playoff
(4th)v(5th)

Playoff
(3rd)v(4th or 5th)

Promotion-Relegation Playoff Final Round

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
(PO2 Winners) agg. (KL1 10th) 1st 2nd
(KL2 2nd) agg. (KL1 11th) 1st 2nd

First leg
(K2 2nd)v(K1 11th)
(PO2 Winners)v(K1 10th)

Second leg
(K1 10th)v(PO2 Winners)
(K1 11th)v(K2 2nd)

Season statistics

Awards

Most Valuable Player of the Round

See also

Notes

    References
    1. "2023시즌 K리그2 일정 발표, 3·1절 킥오프 (2023 K League 2 fixture announced., Kick-off at 1 March )". K League. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
    2. ppd to 8 Aug due to flood
    3. "K LEAGUE / Record".
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