How the mighty have fallen: 9-time K League 1 champs Jeonbuk to finish in bottom 6

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will finish as one of the bottom six teams in the K League 1 for the first time, as the nine-time champions failed to climb up the table after a goalless draw with FC Seoul on Sunday, setting up the prospect of relegation.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Lee Seung-woo, right, looks on during a K League 1 match against Gwangju FC at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla on Aug. 9. [NEWS1]

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors will finish as one of the bottom six teams in the K League 1 for the first time, as the nine-time champions failed to climb up the table after a goalless draw with FC Seoul on Sunday.

A struggling Jeonbuk, sitting in 11th place in the 12-team table, only secured one point at home and stayed in the same position.

Sunday’s draw will put Jeonbuk in the so-called “Final B” group that the bottom six teams are entered in for the final stage of play.

The K League 1 splits into two groups — Final A and Final B — after 33 matches. The top six teams compete for the league title in the Final A group, while bottom six teams vie to avoid relegation. No matter what happens over that period, the six teams are locked in the two groups until the end of the campaign.

With four matches remaining for all 12 K League 1 teams until the split and 14 points separating sixth-place Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk as of Monday, Jeonbuk cannot enter the Final A group even if they win all four matches and the Steelers lose all of their games.

Daejeon Hana Citizen, Incheon United and last-place Daegu FC will also finish the 2024 season in the bottom half of the table.

The last-place team faces relegation to the K League 2 at the end of the season, while the 10th and 11th-place teams will play promotion-relegation playoffs with two K League 2 sides to decide which teams secure berths in the top tier next season.

For Jeonbuk, the prospect of relegation is the club's first on the back of a concerningly poor run so far this season. The club has not only struggled in the league throughout this campaign, but also crashed out of both the 2023-24 AFC Champions League and Korea Cup earlier this year to blow any chance of winning silverware.

Jeonbuk and Daegu are tied on points at 30 as of Monday, but Jeonbuk edge the other side out with more goals scored — the second deciding factor.

Jeonbuk, facing relegation, will mark another fall of a trophy-rich club after the Suwon Samsung Bluewings last year.

The Bluewings, who have four K League 1 titles and five Korean FA Cups, now called the Korea Cup, faced direct relegation to the K League 2 for the first time after finishing at the bottom of the table.

The 12 K League 1 teams will catch a short break until the league resumes on Sept. 13 after the international break this month, during which the Korean national team will play two 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Palestine and Oman.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]