Jeonbuk, ranked second in the ACL Federation, secures a Club World Cup if it wins
Ulsan, ranked third, needs to beat Jeonbuk and get one more win in the semifinals

Along with the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL), professional football Ulsan HD and Jeonbuk Hyundai, which are aiming to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup, will clash today with the “Hyundai Ga Derby.”

Ulsan and Jeonbuk will play the second leg of the ACL quarterfinals in the 2023-2024 season at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan at 7 p.m. on the 12th.

The two teams drew 1-1 in the first leg of the quarterfinals on the 5th. Jeonbuk led with Song Min-gyu’s first goal in the fourth minute of the first half, but Ulsan balanced it with Lee Myung-jae’s equalizer in the 32nd minute of the second half.

Ulsan and Jeonbuk, which Hyundai drew the Derby for the first time this season, will decide to advance to the semifinals of the tournament in their second showdown.

Ahead of the ACL during the week, Ulsan and Jeonbuk saved their physical strength by operating their rotation in the second round of Hana Bank K League 1 2024 on the 9th.

Ulsan beat Gimcheon Sangmu 3-2 with Lee Dong-kyung playing a two-goal, one-man show, and Jeonbuk drew 1-1 with Suwon FC overcoming the unfavorable factor of Boateng’s exit.

Ulsan’s main striker Joo Min-kyu, Seol Young-woo, Lee Kyu-sung and Lee Myung-jae took a rest. In addition, Lee Dong-kyung announced his resurgence, raising expectations for the match against Jeonbuk.

In particular, Joo Min-kyu, who was on the list of two consecutive games against Thailand in the second Asian qualifying round for the North-China-U.S. World Cup in March ahead of the match against Jeonbuk, has a strong will to wear the national flag for the first time in his life.

Jeonbuk, on the other hand, excluded Song Min-gyu, Kim Jin-soo, and Park Jin-seop from the match against Suwon FC, but the Boateng exit consumed other players’ physical strength.

Beyond the rival match, the showdown is hotter with tickets to the FIFA Club World Cup along with the ALC semifinals.

FIFA expanded the number of teams participating in the Club World Cup from 7 to 32 from 2025 and changed the hosting cycle to four years, increasing the size of the tournament.

The total prize money will reach 150 million euros (21.59 billion won), and the participation fee will also be 50 million euros (72 billion won). Participation in the event alone will generate a huge amount of money.

A total of four tickets were allocated to AFC at the 2025 Club World Cup.

Two of them went to Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), the winner of the 2021 ACL, and the 2022 ACL champion Urawa Reds (Japan).

The remaining two chapters will be determined by the ACL results of the 2023-2024 season.

For now, the winning team will take one ticket this season, and the last ticket will be taken by the team that ranks the highest except for the winning team in the “Federation Rankings” based on ACL performance over the past four years.

Currently, the No. 1 ranking is Al Hilal, who has already secured a ticket to the Club World Cup, followed by Jeonbuk (80 points) and Ulsan (72 points).

If Jeonbuk, which is ahead of the league in the rankings, wins the match and advances to the semifinals, it will be confirmed to participate in the Club World Cup. 스포츠토토

After advancing to the semifinals, Ulsan needs to add one more win to beat Jeonbuk to win a ticket to the Club World Cup. A winner in the ACL will receive three points, a draw will receive one point, and a player who advances to the next round will receive three points.