The gap between Korean and Japanese soccer is also evident at the ACLE... while all 16 Korean teams were eliminated, Japan produced a quarterfinalist for the second consecutive season.

*This content was translated by AI.

The gap between South Korea and Japan in football, which is widening not only in the A national teams for men and women but also in Yeon Ryeong-byeol (CEO) teams, is also becoming significantly pronounced at the club team level.

In the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), the top club competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), K League teams are struggling, while J League teams from Japan have reached the semifinals for two consecutive seasons.

Vissel Kobe advanced to the semifinals on the 17th (Korean time) after defeating Al Sadd (Qatar) 5-4 in a penalty shootout, following a 3-3 draw in regular time and extra time in the single-match 2025-2026 ACL quarterfinals held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier, Kobe, which advanced to the Round of 16 as the second-place team in the East Asia regional league stage, defeated FC Seoul in both the first and second legs of the Round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals, and then went on to secure the earliest spot in the semifinals of this tournament by overcoming Al Sadd. Al Sadd had advanced to the quarterfinals by eliminating Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), a team regarded as having "power beyond Asia," in the Round of 16.

With Vissel Kobe advancing to the semifinals, the Japanese J.League has now produced a semifinalist for two consecutive seasons, following Kawasaki Frontale's runner-up finish in the inaugural season of the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE). Since last season, the AFC has restructured its club competitions into the ACLE, AFC Champions League 2, and AFC Challenge League, with the ACLE serving as the top-tier tournament, equivalent to the UEFA Champions League.

In particular, Japan's J League's Machida Zelvia is set to face another quarterfinal match against Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia), meaning that, depending on the outcome, half of the tournament's four semifinalists could be J League teams.

This stands in sharp contrast to the struggles faced by South Korean K League teams at the ACL. Immediately this season, Seoul and Gangwon FC were eliminated early in the Round of 16, while Ulsan HD exited during the league stage. Last season, Gwangju FC, then led by head coach Lee Jeong-hyo, was the only team to reach the Round of 16 and advance to the quarterfinals, only to suffer a 0-7 defeat against Al-Hilal. Pohang Steelers and Ulsan failed to even clear the league stage hurdle.

In the league stage, all three teams that participated in both last season and this season from Japan's J League advanced, with J League teams even securing all top three positions this season. In contrast, only one K League team (Gwangju) advanced to the tournament last season, and this season, only two of the three K League teams advanced through the league stage.

Meanwhile, the ACLE, which was conducted with the round of 16 divided into the East and West Asia regions, will see all teams gather in Saudi Arabia from the quarterfinals onward, with no regional divisions, to play single-match games through to the final. Vissel Kobe will face the winner of the Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia) vs. Johor Darul Ta'zim (Malaysia) match in the semifinals, while on the other side, Machida Zelvia vs. Al-Ittihad and Buriram United (Thailand) vs. Shabab Al-Ahli (United Arab Emirates) are set to compete against each other. The ACLE championship prize money is a staggering 10 million dollars (approximately 1.48 billion won). The K League 1 championship prize money is 500 million won.

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*This content was translated by AI.