Ulsan Hyundai, the 2022 champions of the Korean Football League (K League 1), have been drawn with Japan’s J-League Kawasaki in the group stage of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.
The draw for the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League Group Stage was made on Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Ulsan has been drawn into Group I alongside Kawasaki, Johor Darul (Malaysia) and Pathum United (Thailand).
The 2023-2024 AFC Champions League group stage kicks off in September, with the round of 16 tournament beginning in February 2024 and the winner crowned in May 2024.
Groups A through E featured clubs from West Asia and Groups F through J featured clubs from East Asia, with four teams from the Korean Football League – Jeonbuk Hyundai, Incheon United, and Pohang Steelers – in addition to Ulsan.
Jeonbuk is in Group F with Bangkok United (Thailand), Lion City (Singapore) and Kitsch (Hong Kong), while Incheon will compete in Group G with last year’s J-League champions Yokohama (Japan), Shandong (China) and Caya (Philippines).
Pohang is also in Group J with last year’s Chinese Super League champions Wuhan, as well as Urawa (Japan) and Hanoi (Vietnam).
Shandong, which is in the same group as Incheon, is coached by former Jeonbuk head coach Choi Kang-hee and is the former team of international midfielder Son Jun-ho.
Son is currently under investigation by Chinese public security authorities for allegedly bribing non-state actors.
Urawa, who are in Group J alongside Pohang, won the AFC Champions League in the previous edition in 2022. 토토사이트