Football in North Korea

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Association football in North Korea is governed by the DPR Korea Football Association (KFA), which was established in 1945. While football is the most popular sport in the country, the state's secrecy makes it difficult to accurately determine things such as attendances and popularity for club matches.

Governing body

The KFA oversees the

DPR Korea League. The body became an AFC affiliate in 1954 and a FIFA
affiliate in 1958. Its chairman is Mun Jae Chol.

Teams and competitions

North Korea vs. Brazil at the 2010 FIFA World Cup

The

DPR Korea League is the highest league in the Korean football league system. Below it comes the DPR K-League 2 and the Amateur DPR K-League 3
. The DPR Korea League consists of three leagues which are played at different times of the year.

Prior to 2017, the DPR Korea League winners were not eligible for any Asian Football Confederation club competition.

Since 2017, the top 2 clubs in the

DPR Korea League compete in the AFC Cup
.
The main cup competition is the
Republican Championship
.

Other competitions held include the

Poch'ŏnbo Torch Prize
.

National teams

Men

The

by the FIFA, as of November 2022.[1] They consist of North Koreans and Chongryon-affiliated Koreans born in Japan. In 1966, the team managed to make up for a 3–0 loss to the Soviet Union in the first match of the group stages to qualify for the next round in second. In the group stage of the 1966 World Cup, North Korea surprisingly beat Italy 1–0 in the group stage to clinch the second place, thus qualifying for the quarter-finals.[2] Whilst there, Korea DPR lost 5–3 to Portugal thanks to four goals from Eusébio, after being 3–0 up on 25 minutes.[3] In 2010, the North Korea team failed to get past the group stages, finishing bottom of the group and losing all three matches.[4]
Subsequently, the team also failed to qualify for the 2014 or 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Women

Unlike the men's team,

ranked 9th in the World by the FIFA, as of December 2023.[7]

Youth football

North Korea has a distinguished record in youth football, in particularly Asia. North Korea has been a major football youth power in the continent, having won the

AFC U-23 Championship. The team also participated in the Summer Olympics
.

Largest North Korean football stadiums

Stadium Capacity Club City Notes
Rungrado 1st of May Stadium 114,000
National team
(very rarely used)
P'yŏngyang
 Second largest stadium in the world.
Kim Il-sung Stadium
 50,000
National team
P'yŏngyang
 Largest league use stadium in North Korea.

See also

References

  1. ^ FIFA men's ranking, retrieved 30 November 2022
  2. ^ Lacey, David (20 July 1966). "North Koreans profit by Italy's misfortune". The Guardian. p. 15.
  3. ^ "When Middlesbrough hosted the 1966 World Cup Koreans". BBC. 15 June 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  4. ^ "Fifa investigates North Korea World Cup abuse claims". BBC. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Women's World Cup results". BBC. 30 September 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  6. ^ "Kim commends Korean spirit". AFC official website. 9 June 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
  7. ^ FIFA women's ranking, retrieved 30 November 2022

Further reading

External links
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