All hold championship titles, with four elite Korean U15 teams coming to challenge!

Written by Han Bing The inaugural "462 Cup" China-Korea Youth Football Elite Competition brings four Korean U15 teams to Dingnan, each holding national youth football championship titles in Korea, showcasing their strength. The four U15 squads are Incheon United, which returned to the K1 League this year; Seongnam FC and Yongin FC, participants in the K2 League; and HSFA Hwaseong U15, a team with multiple national championships. For Chinese youth teams eager to compete with high-level foreign youth sides, this is a rare opportunity to exchange and improve.

Among the four Korean U15 teams, the most renowned professional club is Seongnam FC. Formerly known as Cheonan Ilhwa, it was one of Korea’s traditional football powerhouses, reaching the AFC Champions League finals four times and winning twice (in 1995 and 2010), securing seven K1 League titles and three Korean FA Cups. In 2014, the club was taken over by Seongnam city and renamed Seongnam FC, finishing fifth in the K2 League last season. Chinese fans are familiar with famous coaches like Lee Jang-soo, Kim Hak-bum, Shin Tae-yong, and Nam Ki-il, who have all managed the team.

Seongnam FC’s U15 team was established in 2009. Following the 2007 partnership of the U18 team with Bongseong High School, the U15 squad also cooperates with Bongseong Middle School. In recent years, the U15 team has made significant progress, finishing as runner-up at the 2019 Jeju International Youth Football Tournament, winning the 2022 Spring Korean Middle School (U15) Football Championship, and achieving strong results in the Korean Middle School League (K League youth group) for three consecutive years starting in 2023: third place in Group A in 2023, runner-up in 2024, and fourth place in 2025. In 2024, the Seongnam U15 team advanced through two rounds in the Korean Middle School League "King of Kings" tournament reaching the top 16 but narrowly lost 1–2 in the round of 16 to eventual champions Ulsan Hyundai.

Incheon United was founded after the Korea-Japan World Cup and competed in the K1 League for 21 consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2024. They were K1 League runners-up in 2005 and Korean FA Cup runners-up in 2015. In the 2023/24 season, Incheon United also participated in the AFC Champions League. After relegation in 2024, they earned promotion by winning the K2 League in 2025 and returned to K1 this year. Chinese fans know coaches like Zhang Wailong, Pet, Kim Bong-gi, Kim Do-hoon, and Anderson, who have all coached the team. Last year’s promotion was led by the renowned coach Yoon Jung-hwan.

Incheon United’s U15 team was established in 2009 through a partnership with Gwangseong Middle School in Seoul. After some years of development, they went undefeated in 2015 to win three national championships: the “Daekyo” Korean Middle School League, the Korean Middle School League “King of Kings” tournament, and the Korean Youth Sports Festival boys’ middle school division. In 2019, the U15 team won the Open Cultural Sports Cup and the 48th National Youth Sports Festival boys’ middle school title. In 2022, they took third place at the National Youth Sports Festival boys’ middle school division. In recent years, the team has performed well in the Korean Middle School League (K League youth group), finishing third in Group A in 2024 and champion in Group B in 2025.

The Incheon United U15 team has produced many overseas stars, earning the nickname “cradle of stars.” The most famous are Lee Seung-woo, one of the “Barcelona Trio,” and Lee Kang-in, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain. Lee Seung-woo, known as the “Korean Messi,” briefly played for Gwangseong Middle School under Incheon United U15 before being selected by Barcelona in 2011. Each of his professional transfers brought training compensation to Incheon United. Lee Kang-in was nurtured by Incheon United’s U12 team and donated football boots to the Gwangseong Middle School U15 team in 2023. He also returned to the Incheon United youth center during Paris Saint-Germain’s visit to Korea in 2024. Additionally, Jung Woo-young, who played for Bayern Munich, also represented Incheon United’s U12, U15, and U18 teams.

Yongin FC is a newly established club founded in 2025. Due to the expansion of the K1 and K2 Leagues, they will compete in the K2 League in the 2026 season. To prepare for the K2 League campaign, they hired Lee Dong-guk as technical director.

The predecessor of Yongin FC, Yongin City Football Center, has a long history dating back to 2001. The center focuses on youth football development and is one of Korea’s top youth training institutions. It has produced dozens of Korean national players and over 200 professional footballers, including Kim Jin-su, Kim Bo-kyung, Jung In-hwan, Jo Jin-ho, Yoon Jong-kyu, Lee Soon-min, and Lee Sang-hyeop.

After Yongin FC was founded last year, it directly incorporated the U12, U15, and U18 teams under Yongin City Football Center into the club structure. The youth teams have long-standing deep cooperation with local schools. The Yongin U15 team, mainly composed of students from Wonsam Middle School and Baegam Middle School, has won more than 20 Korean youth competition titles since 2003. Besides regional competitions like the Gyeonggi Province Student Sports Festival, the Yongin U15 team has claimed nearly every national championship, including the Korean Spring and Autumn Middle School Football Leagues, traditional tournaments such as the Geumgang Daeggi Cup, Tamna Flag Cup, Cheongryong Flag Cup, FA President’s Cup, Daegu Mayor’s Cup national middle school football championships, and the Korean Youth Sports Festival (boys’ middle school football). In 2025, after a 7-year gap, the Yongin U15 team reached the final of the Cheongryong Flag Cup national middle school football championship, emerging victorious out of 38 teams that qualified through national preliminaries. In November, they also reached the quarterfinals of the Korean Middle School League “King of Kings” tournament.

HSFA Hwaseong U15 is the only non-professional club youth team among the four Korean U15 teams. Founded in 2018 by the Hwaseong City Football Association of Gyeonggi Province, HSFA Hwaseong youth team has achieved remarkable results despite its short history. In early 2019, they won the Korean Middle School (U15) Football League President’s Cup for lower grades, followed by the Tamna Flag Cup national middle school football championship, making a striking debut and becoming a dark horse in Korean youth football.

In 2023, HSFA Hwaseong U15 won the Uljin Geumgang Pine Autumn Middle School Football Tournament for the first time, as well as the 24th Tamna Cup national middle school football championship. In 2024, they secured championships in both the Gyeonggi Province regional league and the Gyeonggi Province Dream Tree Football Tournament. In 2025, HSFA Hwaseong U15 achieved a four-peat in the national middle school football league regional group and won the Uljin Geumgang Pine National Spring Middle School Football Tournament.

Although not yet part of a professional club’s youth system, HSFA Hwaseong U15 holds national youth competition titles in Korea and is a formidable team.