The draw for the Korea Cup and the inaugural 2026 W Korea Cup has been made. Instead of creating an updated and memorable Korea Cup, the fixture lists have determined this new edition will be forgettable and not-supporter-friendly.
Everyone loves a cup competition, right? There are countless reasons why domestic cups have become part of football folklore.
Firstly, it is another opportunity to win silverware. In most countries, clubs begin the season knowing they have two realistic routes to glory: win the league or lift the cup.
Cup success is often the more attainable route. Instead of surviving a gruelling 30-plus game season, where the richest and most powerful clubs usually prevail, a favourable draw and a run of good fortune can unexpectedly bring glory, riches, and history.
Then there is the possibility of a true big day out. A final appearance in the national stadium, in front of tens of thousands of supporters, a television audience, and dignitaries in the VIP box, all watching your club, your players, and your fans.
Secondly, winning the main domestic cup competition usually guarantees entry into continental competition the following season.
And then there are the elements that make cup football special: the possibility of a giant-killing, the unpredictability of an open draw, and the ruthless do-or-die format. These are the qualities that make knockout football so appealing around the world.
Which brings us neatly to the 2026–27 Korea Cup. Because there’s nothing about it which stirs the senses.
Korea’s primary domestic cup competition will now straddle two calendar years, aligning with the wishes of the Asian Football Confederation.
Could this be a test case for a future September-to-May shift for the K League? It is a calendar that few, if any, football fans in Korea want, given the country’s brutally harsh winters.
The revamped Korea Cup will begin on June 20, 2026, and conclude in June 2027. No rounds are scheduled between mid-August and mid-May.
This is tragically bad.
A format featuring an extraordinary nine-month break between the Round of 16 and quarter-finals completely robs the tournament of momentum.
Even supporters of clubs that progress that far will likely have forgotten about the competition by the time quarter-final tickets go on sale.
Added to that, with the league calendar still running from February to December, some clubs may have been promoted or relegated, while others could look entirely different after overhauling their squads during the hiatus.
Then there are the dreaded Wednesday-night fixtures.
The Preliminary Round, featuring K5 teams, and the First Round will be held on weekends. From the Second Round through to the semi-finals, matches will take place on Wednesday evenings.
Korea may be a relatively small country with excellent transport links, but how many supporters can realistically travel 430 kilometres one way from Paju to Busan for a midweek tie in July?
Podcast-host and Ansan Greeners fan Mike Brandon knows full well the implications of these midweek matches.
“There is always a chance that a marquee game is waiting in the wings,” he says. “Take last year, a miserable campaign but there was one highlight. A trip down to Jeonju for a cup clash with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
The Greeners took the eventual champions to extra time, and it was an opportunity for a new, exciting experience at a big club. The downside? It kicked off at 7 pm on a Wednesday night.”
Looking at the draw, several clubs could face significant fixture headaches if results go as expected.
Suwon Samsung Bluewings could find themselves travelling to Pohang Steelers, while Hwaseong FC may face a midweek trip to Jeju Island.
Should Jeju SK FC progress, they could then face another long journey to Anyang or Cheongju.
Seongnam FC would hardly relish a trip to Gimhae, nor would FC Seoul welcome a bus ride to Busan on a Wednesday night.
Having covered Korea Cup matches since the COVID-19 era, both from the stands and the media box, one truth is hard to ignore: attendances are poor.
Players often shrug off elimination. Despite the incentive of continental qualification, interest remains painfully low.
That is a real shame.
Even last December’s final attracted fewer than 30,000 spectators, leaving Seoul World Cup Stadium less than half full.
With the men’s Cup announced, it was time for the new women’s version.
The Korea Football Association released the fixtures for the inaugural W Korea Cup on May 27 following the recent growth of the WK League.
At first glance, it seemed cause for celebration. The women’s game finally has a 15-team domestic cup.
Happy days — until the schedule was examined more closely.
The competition begins with the First Round before jumping straight to the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final.
No venue or kick-off information has yet been released, but the First Round will be played on Tuesday, June 23, and Wednesday, June 24.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for a Tuesday, with the semi-finals on a Sunday.
WK League News creator Claire Evans fill in the blanks. “Given that all matches are taking place at centralised venues, the scheduling won’t make much difference to attendance for the early rounds anyway, especially for games between university teams.”
This is far from ideal for players, supporters, or groundhoppers.
There is an obvious solution for both competitions.
Move league fixtures to midweek around cup rounds, stage cup matches on weekends, and give the domestic cup the respect it deserves.
Create an atmosphere of importance. Build prestige around the competition. Lean into the romance and history that cup football represents elsewhere, and supporters will buy into it.
My colleague Luke believes “a neutral venue, roughly equidistant between the two finalists,” would be one solution to help improve the competition’s appeal.
He continues. “Daejeon World Cup Stadium is a great, football-specific stadium that holds 20,000 fewer seats than Seoul, which would instantly make the ground appear fuller.”
Claire wants to see “the KFA actively promoting W Korea Cup, and I want to see tangible expansion and development from year to year.”
As “this is a brand new format, there are bound to be practical limitations and issues to work out, but if the KFA’s promises of growth are genuine, I can forgive a few 10am kick-offs for the time being.”
Back to this year, K5 side Anseong Citizen sit on the same side of the draw as Ulsan HD.
They would need to navigate four rounds to earn a tie at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium. It will almost certainly never happen.
But imagine if it did.
Would Anseong rather play under the lights of a 2002 World Cup stadium on a quiet Wednesday evening, or in front of a vibrant Saturday afternoon crowd?
We all know the answer.
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