Ulsan HD will feature at the Club World Cup in the United States and here you can read some key facts and stats about the South Korean club.
Ulsan HD are a South Korean side from Ulsan who compete in the K League 1.
The club was founded in 1983, under the name Hyundai Horang-i. The club was originally based in Incheon, before moving to Ulsan in 1990.
The move brought the club closer to the headquarters of the company that owns them, shipbuilders HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. After the move, the club was renamed Ulsan Hyundai.
The club managed one second-place finish and one third-place finish in the K League in the 80s, but they found success after their move to Ulsan. They finished in the top three between 1991 and 1993, before winning the league for the first time in 1996.
The club has won five league titles to date, including each of the last three K League championships. However, they are six points off the pace this term ahead of a break in fixtures to accommodate the Club World Cup.
The club was renamed to Ulsan HD in December 2023, during their spell of three consecutive domestic titles.
The club also underwent a change in the dugout shortly after, as Hong Myung-bo left for the national team after winning back-to-back titles. The club turned to former Malaysia coach Kim Pan-gon, who guided them to the 2024 title.
Ulsan HD have won the AFC Champions League twice in their history. They first lifted the trophy against Al-Alhi in 2012, while they beat Iranian side Persepolis in 2020.
However, the club finished 10th out of 11 teams in the East section of the AFC Champions League this season and lost six of their seven matches on the way to an early exit.
Tigers
The K League rules restrict the number of foreign players allowed in the squad, with Ulsan HD maxing out their quota of six.
Brazilians Erick Farias and Yago Cariello, Polish defender Milosz Trojak, Venezuelan winger Matias Lacava, and Swedish pair Darijan Bojanic and Gustav Ludwigson are their six overseas players.
Farias is the standout among those, as he is the club’s leading scorer this term with eight goals.
The name most familiar to English fans is Lee Chung-young, who spent 11 years in Europe, including nine years in English football.
The midfielder moved to Bolton Wanderers in 2009, spending six years with the club, making 176 appearances. He moved to Crystal Palace in 2015, before heading to Bochum three years later.
He moved back to South Korea in 2020 to join Ulsan, playing a part in their recent domestic dominance.
Goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo is South Korea’s starting gloveman, having earned 42 caps for the national side. However, many of the club’s biggest names are ageing, with the South Korean national side looking elsewhere of late.
Club captain Kim Young-gwon has 112 caps, but the 35-year-old hasn’t been called up since September. Fellow 35-year-old Jung Woo-Young also hasn’t been called up by his country since last year.
Striker Kim Shin-wook is the club’s record goalscorer, netting 111 times for the club in a six-year spell between 2009 and 2015. The forward has also made the second-most appearances for the club, behind Kyoung-youl Yoo.
Brazilian striker Junior Negrao scored 84 times for the club in 125 games after joining from South Korean rivals Daegu FC. The forward scored twice in the 2020 Champions League final to secure the trophy.
Ulsan HD qualified for the Club World Cup as the side with the best record in the AFC across the four-year ranking and they are the only AFC representative who didn’t win the Champions League during that spell.
However, they had the second-best record in the AFC across that period, edging out fellow South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors by a point.
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