| Japan–South Korea football rivalry | |
| City Or Region: | Asia (AFC) East Asia (EAFF) |
| First Contested: | 7 March 1954[1] 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification Japan 1–5 South Korea |
| Teams Involved: | |
| Top Scorer: |  Kunishige Kamamoto (7) |
| Mostrecent: | 27 July 2022 2022 EAFF Championship Japan 3–0 South Korea |
| Total: | 81 |
| Series: | Japan: 16 South Korea: 42 Draw: 23 |
| Largestvictory: | South Korea 5–1 Japan 7 March 1954 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| Map Location: | Asia |
| Map Label1: | Japan |
| Map Label1 Position: | right |
| Map Label2: | South Korea |
| Map Label2 Position: | left |
| Coordinates1: | 35°N 139°W |
| Coordinates2: | 37°N 126°W |
The Japan–South Korea football rivalry is a rivalry between the Japan national football team and South Korea national football team, and is one of the Japan–South Korea sports rivalries. The two have played each other officially since 1954. These matches are known as Nikkansen (Japanese: 日韓戦) or Haniljeon (Korean: 한일전) in their respective languages.
The historical and regional conflicts between Japan and South Korea, including Japanese occupation of Korea until 1945, have greatly influenced the football rivalry between the two countries.[2] Their first encounter in football was a two-legged qualifier for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. Both matches were held in Japan, with the South Korean government banning the Japan national team from entering their country at the time. South Korea qualified for the 1954 World Cup after defeating Japan 7–3 on aggregate.[3] The two countries also met in the two-legged final of the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification, and South Korea once again advanced to the World Cup by winning 3–1 on aggregate.
Japan conceded the World Cup berth to South Korea one more time despite a 1–0 derby win in 1994. Japan claimed the top spot before the last match in Asia's round-robin tournament, but was overtaken by Saudi Arabia and South Korea after drawing 2–2 with Iraq in that match. The draw between Japan and Iraq was called the "Agony of Doha" in Japan and the "Miracle of Doha" in South Korea.[2]
The "Japan–South Korea Regular Match" was held 15 times from 1972 to 1991, and South Korea led the event with 10 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses.[4] Its revival was steadily expected by the press,[5] [6] [7] but on the contrary, there were no "A" team matches between the two countries for ten years between 2011 and 2021, apart from the games at the EAFF Championship. Some of the causes were scheduling conflicts and poor diplomatic relations.[8]
South Korea overwhelmingly led the first 50 matches with 32 wins, 11 draws and 7 losses, but the rivalry has become a very close contest since the early 1990s following the establishment of the J.League.[4] From 2021 to 2023, South Korea suffered five consecutive defeats against Japan at all age levels of men's football, all by the same scoreline of 3–0, including the "A" team friendly on 25 March 2021. In 2023, JoongAng Ilbo surveyed 30 executives in the Korea Football Association, mostly K League club administrators, and 80% agreed that Japan overtook South Korea ten years ago.[9] [10] [11] [12]
The highest level of matches which the two nations could contest are the FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup qualification and the AFC Asian Cup. As of 2024, their last meeting at these levels dates back to the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. They have never met at the FIFA World Cup.
In the EAFF Championships, both countries field mostly players from their domestic leagues rather than their best players based in Europe.[13] Depending on their respective amount of Europe-based players, an East Asian Football Championship squad is effectively a second, third or fourth national squad.[14]
| Venue | Japan wins | South Korea wins | Draws | Japan goals | South Korea goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Japan home | 8 | 16 | 8 | 38 | 48 |
| At South Korea home | 5 | 15 | 3 | 17 | 35 |
| Neutral venue | 3 | 11 | 12 | 21 | 41 |
| Total | 16 | 42 | 23 | 76 | 124 |
| No. | Date | Venue | Competition | Home | Score | Away | Goals (home) | Goals (away) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 March 1954 | Meiji Shrine Stadium Tokyo | 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification | Japan | 1–5 | South Korea | Ken Naganuma (16) | Chung Nam-sik (22, 83), Choi Kwang-seok (34), Choi Chung-min (68, 87) | ||
| 2 | 14 March 1954 | South Korea | 2–2 | Japan | Chung Nam-sik (24), Choi Chung-min (43) | Toshio Iwatani (16, 60) | ||||
| 3 | 3 June 1956 | 1956 Summer Olympics qualification | Japan | 2–0 | South Korea | Masao Uchino (54), Isao Iwabuchi (77) | ||||
| 4 | 10 June 1956 | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Sung Nak-woon (59), Choi Kwang-seok (65) | |||||
| 5 | 5 September 1959 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1959 Merdeka Tournament | Japan | 0–0 | South Korea | ||||
| 6 | 6 September 1959 | South Korea | 3–1 | Japan | Choi Chung-min (2), Cho Yoon-ok (8), Cha Tae-sung (57) | Masao Uchino (12) | ||||
| 7 | 13 December 1959 | Korakuen Velodrome Tokyo | 1960 Summer Olympics qualification | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Choi Jung-min (51), Moon Jung-sik (57) | |||
| 8 | 20 December 1959 | Japan | 1–0 | South Korea | Hiroshi Ninomiya (70) | |||||
| 9 | 6 November 1960 | Hyochang Stadium Seoul | 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification | South Korea | 2–1 | Japan | Chung Soon-cheon (39, 41) | Koji Sasaki (21) | ||
| 10 | 11 June 1961 | Korakuen Velodrome Tokyo | Japan | 0–2 | South Korea | Chung Soon-cheon (20), Yoo Pan-soon (71) | ||||
| 11 | 30 August 1962 | Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Jakarta, Indonesia | 1962 Asian Games | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Cho Yoon-ok (80) | |||
| 12 | 13 August 1963 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1963 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 1–1 | Japan | Cha Tae-sung (64) | Shozo Tsugitani (65) | ||
| 13 | 1 August 1967 | Taipei Municipal Stadium Taipei, Taiwan | 1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification | Japan | 2–1 | South Korea | Katsuyoshi Kuwahara (40), Hamada Hiroshi (46) | Jung Byung-tak (52) | ||
| 14 | 7 October 1967 | National Stadium Tokyo | Japan | 3–3 | South Korea | Teruki Miyamoto (13), Ryuichi Sugiyama (37), Kunishige Kamamoto (70) | Lee Hoi-taek (54), Huh Yoon-jung (69, 72) | |||
| 15 | 12 October 1969 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification | South Korea | 2–2 | Japan | Kim Ki-bok (8), Park Soo-il (38) | Teruki Miyamoto (33), Yasuyuki Kuwahara (50) | ||
| 16 | 18 October 1969 | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Jeong Gang-ji (17, 40) | |||||
| 17 | 2 August 1970 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1970 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 1–1 | Japan | Park Lee-chun (89) | Takeo Takahashi (60) | ||
| 18 | 18 December 1970 | Supachalasai National Stadium Bangkok, Thailand | 1970 Asian Games | Japan | 1–2 | South Korea | Tadahiko Ueda (73) | Jeong Kang-ji (40), Park Lee-chun (114) | ||
| 19 | 2 October 1971 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | South Korea | 2–1 | Japan | Park Soo-duk (47), Chung Kyu-poong (83) | Yoshikazu Nagai (51) | |||
| 20 | 26 July 1972 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1972 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 3–0 | Japan | Park Soo-duk (27, 64), Park Lee-chun (58) | |||
| 21 | 14 September 1972 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 2–2 | South Korea | Kunishige Kamamoto (18, 89) | Park Lee-chun (48), Lee Cha-man (65) | ||
| 22 | 23 June 1973 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Lee Cha-man (56), Kim Jae-han (74) | |||
| 23 | 28 September 1974 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 4–1 | South Korea | Kunishige Kamamoto (35, 53), Daishiro Yoshimura (39), Kozo Arai (89) | Kim Jae-han (65) | ||
| 24 | 9 August 1975 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1975 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 3–1 | Japan | Cha Bum-kun (4, 42, 47) | Hiroshi Ochiai (17) | ||
| 25 | 8 September 1975 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 3–0 | Japan | Cho Dong-hyun (3), Park Sang-in (20), Lee Young-moo (30) | |||
| 26 | 21 March 1976 | National Stadium Tokyo | Japan | 0–2 | South Korea | align=left | Lee Young-moo (2), Park Sang-in (71) | |||
| 27 | 27 March 1976 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | South Korea | 2–2 | Japan | Kim Jin-kook (3), Cha Bum-kun (77) | Kunishige Kamamoto (40, 88) | |||
| 28 | 18 August 1976 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1976 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 0–0 | Japan | ||||
| 29 | 4 December 1976 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 1–2 | South Korea | Yoshikazu Nagai (33) | Huh Jung-moo (72), Hwang Jae-man (76) | ||
| 30 | 26 March 1977 | National Stadium Tokyo | 1978 FIFA World Cup qualification | Japan | 0–0 | South Korea | ||||
| 31 | 3 April 1977 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Cha Bum-kun (83 (pen.)) | ||||
| 32 | 15 June 1977 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 2–1 | Japan | Kim Jin-kook (21), Kim Sung-nam (25) | Nobutoshi Kaneda (55) | ||
| 33 | 19 July 1978 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1978 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 4–0 | Japan | Cho Kwang-rae (20), Cha Bum-kun (44), Park Sung-hwa (75), Kim Ho-gon (88) | |||
| 34 | 15 December 1978 | Chulalongkorn University Stadium Bangkok, Thailand | 1978 Asian Games | South Korea | 3–1 | Japan | Lee Young-moo (8), Park Sung-hwa (28), Oh Seok-jae (68) | Hisashi Kato (87) | ||
| 35 | 4 March 1979 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 2–1 | South Korea | Hiroyuki Usui (21), Kazuyoshi Nakamura (25) | Oh Seok-jae (87) | ||
| 36 | 16 June 1979 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 4–1 | Japan | Park Sung-hwa (15, 25, 54), Shin Hyun-ho (73) | Yoshikazu Nagai (47) | ||
| 37 | 22 March 1980 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1980 Summer Olympics qualification | South Korea | 3–1 | Japan | Huh Jung-moo (34 (pen.)), Cho Kwang-rae (57, 79) | Ikuo Takahara (89) | ||
| 38 | 8 March 1981 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 0–1 | South Korea | Chung Hae-won (39) | |||
| 39 | 21 June 1981 | Busan Gudeok Stadium Busan | 1981 President's Cup | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Oh Seok-jae (43), Lee Tae-yeop (77) | |||
| 40 | 21 March 1982 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 3–0 | Japan | Kang Shin-woo (2), Choi Soon-ho (38), Lee Kang-jo (52) | |||
| 41 | 25 November 1982 | 1982 Asian Games | Japan | 2-1 | South Korea | Kazushi Kimura (58), Nobutoshi Kaneda (79) | Kang Shin-woo (21) | |||
| 42 | 6 March 1983 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 1–1 | South Korea | Koji Tanaka (6) | Kim Kyung-ho (90) | ||
| 43 | 30 September 1984 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 1–2 | Japan | Lee Kyung-nam (42) | Kazushi Kimura (36), Takashi Mizunuma (50) | ||
| 44 | 2 October 1985 | National Stadium Tokyo | 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification | Japan | 1–2 | South Korea | Kazushi Kimura (43) | Chung Yong-hwan (30), Lee Tae-ho (42) | ||
| 45 | 3 November 1985 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Huh Jung-moo (61) | ||||
| 46 | 26 October 1988 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 0–1 | South Korea | Choi Soon-ho (43) | |||
| 47 | 6 December 1988 | Qatar SC Stadium Doha, Qatar | 1988 AFC Asian Cup | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Hwang Sun-hong (13), Kim Joo-sung (35) | |||
| 48 | 5 May 1989 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Lee Tae-ho (63) | |||
| 49 | 27 July 1990 | Workers' Stadium Beijing, China | 1990 Dynasty Cup | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan | Hwang Sun-hong (34), Kim Joo-sung (66) | |||
| 50 | 27 July 1991 | Friendly | Japan | 0–1 | South Korea | Ha Seok-ju (62) | ||||
| 51 | 22 August 1992 | Workers' Stadium Beijing, China | 1992 Dynasty Cup | South Korea | 0–0 | Japan | ||||
| 52 | 29 August 1992 | Japan | 2–2 (pen. 4–2) | South Korea | Masashi Nakayama (82), Takuya Takagi (96) | Jung Jae-kwon (32), Kim Jung-hyuk (97) | ||||
| 53 | 25 October 1993 | Khalifa International Stadium Doha, Qatar | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification | Japan | 1–0 | South Korea | Kazuyoshi Miura (60) | align=left | ||
| 54 | 11 October 1994 | 1994 Asian Games | Japan | 2–3 | South Korea | Kazuyoshi Miura (30), Masami Ihara (86) | Yoo Sang-chul (51), Hwang Sun-hong (77, 89 (pen.)) | |||
| 55 | 21 February 1995 | Hong Kong Stadium So Kon Po | 1995 Dynasty Cup | South Korea | 1–1 | Japan | Lee Woo-young (67) | Hisashi Kurosaki (47) | ||
| 56 | 26 February 1995 | Japan | 2–2 (pen. 5–3) | South Korea | Masahiro Fukuda (2), Motohiro Yamaguchi (87) | Lee Ki-hyung (26, 90+2) | ||||
| 57 | 21 May 1997 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 1–1 | South Korea | Kazuyoshi Miura (88 (pen.)) | Yoo Sang-chul (56) | ||
| 58 | 28 September 1997 | National Stadium Tokyo | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification | Japan | 1–2 | South Korea | Motohiro Yamaguchi (65) | Seo Jung-won (83), Lee Min-sung (86) | ||
| 59 | 1 November 1997 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | South Korea | 0–2 | Japan | Hiroshi Nanami (1), Wagner Lopes (37) | ||||
| 60 | 1 March 1998 | International Stadium Yokohama | 1998 Dynasty Cup | Japan | 2–1 | South Korea | Masashi Nakayama (17), Shoji Jo (88) | Lee Sang-yoon (21) | ||
| 61 | 1 April 1998 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 2–1 | Japan | Lee Sang-yoon (40), Hwang Sun-hong (72) | Masashi Nakayama (61) | ||
| 62 | 7 December 1998 | Rajamangala Stadium Bangkok, Thailand | 1998 Asian Games | Japan | 0–2 | South Korea | Choi Yong-soo (31 (pen.)), 46) | |||
| 63 | 26 April 2000 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Ha Seok-ju (78) | [16] | ||
| 64 | 20 December 2000 | National Stadium Tokyo | 2000 Kirin Challenge Cup | Japan | 1–1 | South Korea | Toshihiro Hattori (56) | Ahn Jung-hwan (14) | [17] | |
| 65 | 16 April 2003 | Seoul World Cup Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 0–1 | Japan | Yuichiro Nagai (90+2) | |||
| 66 | 31 May 2003 | National Stadium Tokyo | Friendly | Japan | 0–1 | South Korea | Ahn Jung-hwan (86) | |||
| 67 | 10 December 2003 | International Stadium Yokohama | 2003 East Asian Football Championship | Japan | 0–0 | South Korea | ||||
| 68 | 7 August 2005 | Daegu World Cup Stadium Daegu | 2005 East Asian Football Championship | South Korea | 0–1 | Japan | Yuji Nakazawa (86) | |||
| 69 | 28 July 2007 | Gelora Sriwijaya Stadium Palembang, Indonesia | 2007 AFC Asian Cup | South Korea | 0–0 (pen. 6–5) | Japan | ||||
| 70 | 23 February 2008 | Olympic Sports Center Chongqing | 2008 East Asian Football Championship | Japan | 1–1 | South Korea | Koji Yamase (68) | Yeom Ki-hun (14) | ||
| 71 | 14 February 2010 | National Stadium Tokyo | 2010 East Asian Football Championship | Japan | 1–3 | South Korea | Yasuhito Endō (23 (pen.)) | Lee Dong-gook (33 (pen.)), Lee Seung-yeoul (39), Kim Jae-sung (70) | ||
| 72 | 24 May 2010 | Saitama Stadium 2002 Saitama | 2010 Kirin Challenge Cup | Japan | 0–2 | South Korea | Park Ji-sung (6), Park Chu-young (90+1 (pen.)) | [18] | ||
| 73 | 12 October 2010 | Seoul World Cup Stadium Seoul | Friendly | South Korea | 0–0 | Japan | ||||
| 74 | 25 January 2011 | Al-Gharrafa Stadium Doha, Qatar | 2011 AFC Asian Cup | Japan | 2–2 (pen. 3–0) | South Korea | Ryoichi Maeda (36), Hajime Hosogai (97 (pen.)) | Ki Sung-yueng (23 (pen.)), Hwang Jae-won (120) | [19] [20] | |
| 75 | 10 August 2011 | Sapporo Dome Sapporo | 2011 Kirin Challenge Cup | Japan | 3–0 | South Korea | Shinji Kagawa (35, 55), Keisuke Honda (53) | [21] | ||
| 76 | 28 July 2013 | Seoul Olympic Stadium Seoul | 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup | South Korea | 1–2 | Japan | Yun Il-lok (33) | Yoichiro Kakitani (24, 90+1) | ||
| 77 | 5 August 2015 | Wuhan Sports Center Stadium Wuhan | 2015 EAFF East Asian Cup | Japan | 1–1 | South Korea | Hotaru Yamaguchi (39) | Jang Hyun-soo (26 (pen.)) | ||
| 78 | 16 December 2017 | Ajinomoto Stadium Tokyo | 2017 EAFF E-1 Football Championship | Japan | 1–4 | South Korea | Yu Kobayashi (3 (pen.)) | Kim Shin-wook (13, 35), Jung Woo-young (23), Yeom Ki-hun (69) | ||
| 79 | 18 December 2019 | Busan Asiad Main Stadium Busan | 2019 EAFF E-1 Football Championship | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan | Hwang In-beom (28) | [22] [23] | ||
| 80 | 25 March 2021 | Nissan Stadium Yokohama | Friendly | Japan | 3–0 | South Korea | Miki Yamane (16), Daichi Kamada (27), Wataru Endo (83) | |||
| 81 | 27 July 2022 | Japan | 3–0 | South Korea | Yuki Soma (49), Sho Sasaki (64), Shuto Machino (72) |
| Venue | Japan wins | South Korea wins | Draws | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| At Japan home | 7 | 0 | 3 | |
| At South Korea home | 4 | 1 | 5 | |
| Neutral venue | 7 | 3 | 3 | |
| Total | 18 | 4 | 11 |