Suwon FC Women failed to overcome North Korea's Naegohyang Women's Football Club in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League (AWCL) semifinal, as goalpost misfortune and a missed penalty derailed their bid for the Asian title.
Suwon FC Women lost 2-1 to Naegohyang in the 2025-2026 AWCL semifinal held at Suwon Sports Complex on Thursday, despite controlling the match throughout.
The result marks the second consecutive season a WK League club has been eliminated in the semifinals, following Incheon Hyundai Steel's exit last season. Naegohyang, meanwhile, became the first North Korean women's football club to reach the AWCL final.
Naegohyang will face Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the final at the same venue at 2 p.m. on the 23rd. The winner will take home a $1 million prize (approximately 1.5 billion won), while the runner-up will receive $500,000 (approximately 750 million won).
The match drew attention as the first inter-Korean women's club football showdown held in South Korea. It marked the first time North Korean athletes had participated in an official sports event in South Korea in roughly eight years, since the 2018 International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon. In football, it was the first such occasion since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. It was also the first visit to South Korea by a North Korean women's football club team.
Suwon FC Women dominated the early going. Anchored by Ji So-yun in midfield, the home side controlled the match with aggressive pressing and short passing.
Han Da-in opened the attack with a long-range shot in the second minute, and Suwon FC Women continued to pepper Naegohyang's goal. But the woodwork repeatedly denied them.
In the 21st minute, Haruhi's diving header struck the post, and in the 30th minute, Mileninha's shot also rebounded off the woodwork. Haruhi's header in the 37th minute hit the goalkeeper and then the post, failing to find the net.
Naegohyang dropped deep in defense and looked to counterattack but rarely created chances in the first half. Suwon FC Women dominated the shot count with 10 in the opening period.
The home side's pressure paid off at the start of the second half. In the 49th minute, Haruhi calmly finished after capitalizing on a defensive mistake to put Suwon FC Women ahead.
The lead was short-lived. In the 55th minute, Choe Kum-ok headed home from a right-side free kick to level the score for Naegohyang.
Naegohyang took the lead in the 67th minute. Amid a scramble in the box, captain Kim Kyong-yong headed in a high ball to beat the Suwon FC Women goalkeeper.
Pressed for time, Suwon FC Women launched an all-out attack and earned a critical chance in the 78th minute. They were awarded a penalty kick, but Ji So-yun's shot sailed wide of the left post in a costly miss.
Suwon FC Women pushed forward with additional attackers until the final whistle but could not break through Naegohyang's compact defense.
When the final whistle sounded, Naegohyang's players embraced one another in celebration of reaching the final. Founded in 2013 and operated by the North Korean consumer goods company Naegohyang, the club rode the strength of North Korean women's football — ranked around 10th in the FIFA world rankings — to the brink of Asian glory.
