Japan–South Korea football rivalry
The Japan–South Korea football rivalry, between the Japan and South Korea national football teams, is one of many sports rivalries contested between Japan and South Korea. The two have played each other officially since 1954. They have had 80 matches so far with 42 South Korean wins, 23 draws, and 15 Japanese wins. The match between the two countries is often shorten as nikkansen (Japanese: 日韓戦) or haniljeon (Korean: 한일전/韓日戰) in their respective languages.
 2010 East Asian Football Championship Men's match | |
| Location | Asia (AFC) East Asia (EAFF) |
|---|---|
| Teams |  Japan South Korea |
| First meeting | Japan 1–5 South Korea 7 March 1954[1] |
| Latest meeting | Japan 3–0 South Korea 25 March 2021 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 80 |
| Most wins | South Korea (42) |
| Top scorer | Kunishige Kamamoto (7) |
| Largest victory | South Korea 5–1 Japan 7 March 1954 |
The highest level of matches which the two nations could contest are the FIFA World Cup (and its qualifiers) and the AFC Asian Cup. Their last meeting in the former dates back to the 1998 qualifiers, while the latter dates back to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Friendly matches between the two nations have declined since 2010, partly because of the scheduling conflicts for players in European clubs, and partly because of poor relations between the two countries.[2]
Men's matches
- As of 25 March 2021[3]
| Japan wins | 15 |
| South Korea wins | 42 |
| Draws | 23 |
| Total matches | 80 |
Unofficial matches
- Below matches are not counted as the official full international "A" matches.
| # | Date | Venue | Competition | Home team | Score | Away team | Goals (home) | Goals (away) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1966-08-14 | Stadium Merdeka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 1966 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan B | Cha Tae-sung (50), Kim Jung-nam (76) | |
| 2 | 1968-08-18 | 1968 Merdeka Tournament | South Korea | 2–0 | Japan B | Jung Kang-ji (4), Huh Yoon-jung (54) | ||
| 3 | 1974-05-11 | Dongdaemun Stadium Seoul | 1974 President's Cup | South Korea | 3–0 | Japan B | Park Lee-chun (41), Cha Bum-kun (60, 87) | |
| 4 | 1975-05-14 | 1975 President's Cup | South Korea | 1–0 | Japan B | Lee Cha-man (17) | ||
Women's matches
- As of 27 January 2022[3]
| Japan wins | 17 |
| South Korea wins | 4 |
| Draws | 11 |
| Total matches | 32 |
See also
References
- "Japan–South Korea matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- "サッカー日韓戦 "10年の謎" 2011年以来、なぜ親善試合がなかったのか". Yahoo! Japan (in Japanese). 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- "All-time record per countries" (in Korean). Korea Football Association. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
External links
- Japan Football Association (JFA) – official website (in English)
- Korea Football Association (KFA) – official website (in English)