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The perfect way to ‘kick-off’ your trip to South Korea, K League football (or soccer) is a popular sport, up there with baseball. So if you are visiting Seoul any time soon, make sure you catch an FC Seoul K League Game at the Seoul World Cup stadium.
South Korea K League game tickets are easy to purchase (and very cheap) plus the World Cup Stadium in Seoul has good transport links with its very own subway station.
From purchasing KL League tickets for FC Seoul through to what types of food, drink and entertainment you can expect at the stadium, here is our guide to all things K League South Korea and the Seoul World Cup Stadium:
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Table of Contents
A brief overview of the South Korea K League
The football / soccer season in South Korea usually starts in February / March and runs until November with two main divisions; the first division – K League 1, and the second division; K League 2.
There are 25 K League teams in total with 12 teams in K League division 1.
The season usually consists of 36 rounds / matches. There are two further semi professional leagues – K League 3 and 4 – but these are not usually broadcast.
Spurred on by the popularity of KBO baseball in South Korea, the K League was founded in 1983 with a handful of teams and has grown since then. One of the catalysts for interest in football in South Korea was the 2002 FIFA World Cup that was held in South Korea and Japan.
The K League football matches in South Korea can usually be seen on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. This means that if you are visiting Seoul during the K League season, there will likely be at least one FC Seoul football match you can catch live at the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Alternatively, most K League football games are televised (either live or as highlights) and some Seoul craft beer bars and pubs show the games.
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FC Seoul’s football team and the World Cup Stadium
Seoul has one K League 1 football team called FC Seoul – who have played their games at the Seoul World Cup Stadium since 2004.
FC Seoul are owned by the GS Group, who you may recognise from all the GS25 convenience stores in South Korea (these are also the only convenience stores you’ll find at the Seoul World Cup Stadium).
FC Seoul is one of the most successful clubs in the K League 1 with a huge fan base. South Korea’s most famous footballer Son Heung-min also came through FC Seoul’s Youth Academy.
FC Seoul’s players and fans are easy to spot when watching a home game – their strip has red and black stripes
Seoul’s World Cup Stadium was one of ten purpose built new stadiums constructed for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the largest dedicated football stadium not only in South Korea but in Asia.
The World Cup Stadium in Seoul has a capacity of around 67,000. On the day we visited the stadium to watch FC Seoul take on Jeonbuk, there was an official crowd attendance of just over 33,000.
Many professional football players in the K-League are Korean but there are many international players including from Europe, Africa and the United States.
Looking for cheap Seoul day-trips, attractions or group/private tours? We recommend visiting Viator, GetYourGuide, and Klook!
Buying FC Seoul tickets / K League South Korea tickets
We recently attended a K League at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul in October 2023 – FC Seoul vs. Jeonbuk (alas the home side lost with Jeonbuk scoring 2 goals).
You may ask – ‘How do I get K League tickets in Seoul if I’m visiting from overseas?’ It is actually surprisingly easy.
You can usually buy FC Seoul K League tickets via fcseoul.com, ticketlink.co.kr or interpark.com but this can be a complicated process.
We found that most online sites selling K-League / FC Seoul tickets required a Korean phone number or debit card to allow a purchase, plus account registration.
Booking FC Seoul tickets online usually incurs no booking fees, and online reservations close 3 hours before kick-off.
As such, if you are willing to take the risk, you can normally buy FC Seoul / K-League Seoul World Cup Stadium tickets on the day of the match.
Given how big the ground is (66,000 capacity), FC Seoul home games do not usually sell out.
Seoul World Cup Stadium ticket booths selling FC Seoul football tickets can be found at the top of the stairs at the West gate (and possibly at other ticket booths around the ground but we got ours at the West entrance).
Ticket queues can be long on match day so either get there early and allow yourself plenty of time to pick up tickets.
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Buying FC Seoul football tickets at the World Cup Stadium
We went to the Seoul World Cup Stadium one Sunday in October 2023 and bought K-League football tickets for the FC Seoul game that afternoon.
The World Cup Stadium box office opens up a few hours before the game so that anyone (including visitors from overseas) can buy football tickets.
There are several seating areas and zones to choose from at the Seoul World Cup including a dedicated section for away fans, the cheapest of which are in the east stand.
Seating plans and K League football ticket prices can be seen on display at the Seoul World Cup Stadium box office on the electronic screens above the counters.
Note the screens rotate very quickly with lots of information so it is best to grab a photo when the price screens come up so you can refer back to it when in the queue.
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How much do K-League football tickets cost in Seoul’s World Cup Stadium
Foreigners can buy K League football tickets for FC Seoul at the Seoul World Cup stadium for as little as 19,000 Won (around £11.50 / $14 USD for adults) and 8,000 Won for children.
These cheapest K-League FC Seoul tickets are in the east stand in the Seoul World Cup Stadium.
Alternatively, other K League / FC Seoul adult ticket prices are 21,000 Won for the Premium East section, 26,000 to 36,000 Won for different tiers of the West end, or 43,000 Won for a VIP table seat.
Please note all FC Seoul / K League ticket prices listed are correct as of October 2023, based on the pricing signs at the World Cup Stadium box office for on the day sales.
Advance online tickets for FC Seoul may be different and incur additional booking fees.
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Seoul World Cup Stadium Sky Pub tickets
Did you know there are also special Seoul World Cup Stadium K-League ticket packages that include unlimited beer and popcorn?
Open for all FC Seoul games, the Seoul World Cup Stadium has two ‘Sky Pubs’ that have a view of the pitch and include unlimited Asahi beer (plus popcorn to snack on).
Prices start from 35,000 Won for a table seat in the Sky Pub, or 30,000 Won for a terrace seat with unlimited beer.
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How to read your FC Seoul / World Cup Stadium tickets
Once you’ve purchased your K League FC Seoul tickets at the box office, you’ll see three numbers and some Korean on the ticket. In order, these read as Gate number, Block number (on the far right; easy to miss!) and Seat Number. The gate number is where you enter the stadium.
The seat number with two digits was a little more confusing given the Korean but the first seat number (in our case 7) is the row number and the second number is the actual seat itself (so our ticket example shows that we sat in seats 3 & 4).
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Food and drink at a K League game at the World Cup Stadium
After we’d purchased our K League tickets to see FC Seoul take on Jeonbuk, we bought some food from the street food trucks outside the stadium at the West Gate.
If you want to eat during the K League game at the Seoul World Cup Stadium the only food and drink available inside is from the GS25 convenience stores.
There are several GS25 convenience stores inside but only a handful sell hot food; most sell snacks like crisps, ice creams, chocolate and cold fried chicken.
We noticed the food queues were very long inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium for the GS25 stores selling hot snacks, but the lines were much shorter for the GS25 stores selling just cold snacks and beer / soft drinks.
So if you want to eat at an FC Seoul home game at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, eat from one of the 10 or so food trucks outside.
We opted to go to a hotdog stall where hotdogs were 6,000 Won as the queue there was moving quite fast. Other food stalls included pizza, okonomiyaki, ice-cream plus lots of hot meat trucks.
Unlike our baseball experience at Jamsil Stadium, there are no chain restaurants like Dominos, BHC or Mom’s Touch anywhere near or inside the stadium.
Note that you can take hot food into the stadium from the food trucks, but you aren’t allowed to take in glass bottles or any containers with liquids over 600ml.
In terms of beer at Seoul World Cup Stadium, you can purchase cans of Cass Beer for 2,700 Won from the convenience stores inside but you must pour them into paper cups before you go to your seat. Cans and bottle caps are not permitted inside.
Alas there are no beer sellers going up and down the aisles like you see at South Korea baseball games – such a shame!
Alternatively, if you want to drink beer whilst watching a K League / FC Seoulgame and don’t want to queue up at the convenience store, try one of the Sky Pub tickets at the Seoul World Cup Stadium that include unlimited beer! Cheers!
The main beers available were Cass and Asahi (the latter in the Sky Pubs). Not a great choice for Seoul craft beer brewery fans.
Souvenirs and Merchandise
You can buy FC Seoul / K-League merchandise at the game but what is available is quite limited. We also only spotted FC Seoul merchandise in the outer areas, and not actually inside (well, not that we spotted).
Sample FC Seoul merchandise available to buy outside the stadium included pin badges, scarves, match day programmes plus FC Seoul shirts that you can personalise.
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South Korea K League game atmosphere / cheering culture
The atmosphere at the South Korea football games is pretty similar to most other football matches. Both the FC Seoul fans and Jeonbuk away supporters were very vocal, and each had their own drumming section plus waved several huge flags. FC Seoul also had a mascot that danced in the stands.
That said, we found the South Korea K League football game a LOT more subdued than our KBO baseball game at Jamsil Stadium – there are no dancers, cheerleaders or singers, no entertainment zones or half time performances.
The build-up to the game included a couple of presenters being broadcast on the big screens, plus at half time, there was a dance-cam and a small competition to win GS25 convenience prizes. All of which was kinda cute but nothing epic. Oh and there was usually a few small fireworks at kick-off and when the home side scored.
The crowd obviously got whipped up every time there was a goal, but at our game, FC Seoul lost 2-0 to Jeonbuk – and boy, the green army of Jeonbuk sure raised the roof. They were so loud, especially given how fewer Jeonbuk supporters there were compared to FC Seoul’s red and black army.
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South Korea Baseball or South Korea Soccer?
If you want spectacle over sport and with an awesome atmosphere, for us, we much preferred the hysterics of the KBO baseball game at Jamsil Stadium watching the Doosan Bears – dancing, stunts, live music and much more plus excellent food and drink options.
Watching FC Seoul football at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul was very much just about the football – no gimmicks, no side-line antics – just sensible soccer.
So if you are looking for a unique, fun night of sports, we’d say South Korea baseball is more entertaining than the K League based on the games we went to. But if you love soccer or football and want to see what a World Cup stadium looks like, you’ll do fine with FC Seoul.
And ticket prices for South Korea baseball and K-League are both pretty reasonable so you could always attempt both whilst you are in Seoul!
Read more about South Korean baseball matches and how to buy tickets in our Seoul baseball guide >
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How to get to the Seoul World Cup Stadium
If you are going to an FC Seoul football match at the World Cup Stadium, getting to the football match is so easy.
Your best form of public transport to Seoul’s World Cup Stadium is to use the Seoul subway line 6 (the light brown line) and take exit 2.
The Seoul World Cup Stadium can also be reached by bus; bus numbers 710, 7019 and 7715.
Subway trains to and from Seoul World Cup Station run approximately every four to five minutes – expect long queues and large crowds at the end of every baseball game.
Seoul World Cup Stadium Address – 515, Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul.
Seoul World Cup Stadium tours
If you want to visit the Seoul World Cup Stadium but your visit doesn’t coincide with an FC Seoul match-day or other event, the stadium is said to be open for tours Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm on non-match / non-event days.
However, we cannot find a booking link or recent review so Seoul World Cup Stadium tours may be currently suspended in 2023 – we also didn’t see the tours advertised anywhere during our FC Seoul game.
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