The 2026 K League 1 season kicks off on February 28 with an opening match between FC Seoul and Incheon United, marking the start of a long campaign comprising 33 matches per team and 198 games in total. With the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North and Central America scheduled for June, interest in this season is higher than usual, with particular attention focused on five managers taking the helm for the first time.
According to K League 1, newly appointed Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors manager Jeong Jeong-yong is drawing significant interest. He inherits the legacy of former manager Gus Poyet of Uruguay, who achieved a "double" by winning both K League 1 and the Korea Cup in the 2025 season. Jeong is regarded as one of Korean football's most studious and development-focused coaches, having earned recognition for his leadership across senior and age-group national teams. After winning the recently revived Super Cup—the first in 20 years—by defeating Daejeon Hana Citizen under manager Hwang Sun-hong, Jeong is aiming to surpass the double this season. "I want a new star (championship). I will make sure to add another star to our uniform," he declared at the media day held the previous day.
Sergio Costa of Portugal, the new manager of Jeju SK FC, is also attracting attention. Costa forged ties with Korean football during Paulo Bento's tenure as national team manager. His strengths lie in extensive field experience, including roles as scout and performance analyst at Sporting CP (2007-2010), head coach and performance analyst for the Portugal national team (2016), and head coach of the South Korean national team (2018-2022). "We are still building the team," Costa said. "We will prepare well for every match and win."
Other managers taking charge of new teams this season include Kim Hyun-seok, tasked with rebuilding Ulsan HD following last year's collapse; Lee Jeong-kyu of Gwangju FC, who must generate momentum after the departure of former manager Lee Jeong-hyo (now managing Suwon Samsung in K League 2); and Joo Seung-jin, who will lead Gimcheon Sangmu, the league's only military team.
"Watching the performance of newly appointed managers is another key point of interest in this season's K League 1," said Han Jun-hee, commentator for Coupang Play. "The question for Manager Jeong is how he will demonstrate at a big club the strong leadership he showed with age-group national teams and at Gimcheon. It will also be interesting to see what kind of impact Manager Costa, who knows Korean football well, can make despite being a rare foreign manager."