A guide to 2024 Team K League for Tottenham Hotspur fans

Tottenham Hotspur fans, looking to find out more about the 2024 iteration of Team K League? Well, you're in luck because K League United has put together another guide for you.

Tottenham Hotspur will continue their pre-season preparations on Wednesday night when taking on Team K League in the Coupang Play Series. It's Spurs' second trip to Seoul in three years having also taken on an all-star team of sorts in 2022. The 2024 team is a bit different, though.

Who normally uses the stadium?

Seoul World Cup Stadium is the home ground for FC Seoul, a K League 1 club with six top-division titles to its name. It holds 66,000 and FC Seoul's average attendance this season is 27,040. The largest K League attendance of the season so far was 51,670 whenJesse Lingard made his home debut.

'Sangam' as it's referred to locally, is also where the South Korean national team play most of their home games, usually all World Cup qualifiers. It was one of the venues used in the 2002 World Cup. The opening match, France 0-1 Senegal, was played here, as too one of the semifinals - Germany 1-0 South Korea.

It's also the current home of former Manchester United winger Jesse Lingard who currently turns out - and occasionally captains - the capital side. Son Heung-min was briefly in FC Seoul's academy in 2008 before moving to Hamburg. Unlike last time, when Spurs played Sevilla in another stadium - Suwon World Cup Stadium - both of Tottenham's matches in Korea will be played in the capital.

How is Team K League picked?

First of all, in late June, 12 young player candidates were put up for vote. Gangwon FC's Yang Min-hyuk received the most votes, 20.8% of the total, and became the first 2024 Team K League player. Then on July 5th, a total of 44 candidates were put up for vote in a 4-3-3 formation. The 11 players with the most votes made it into the squad. Then the K League's Technical Study Group (TSG) - a group of out-of-work managers and coaches looking to brush up their skills - picked the remaining 10 players to flesh out the squad. So, because of how most of the squad has been selected, Team K League is not an "all-star" team as such.

Has Team K League played since 2022?

Yes, against Atlético Madrid and they won 3-2. Match report:here

Who are the standout players from Team K League?

Two of K League 1's top scorers this season, FC Seoul's Stanislav Iljutcenko and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Lee Seung-woo are in the Team K League squad. Iljutcenko has 12 goals and five assists to his name, while former Barca youth product Lee has 10 goals and two assists. Brazilian winger Anderson Oliveira, who was a teammate of Lee Seung-woo both at Suwon FC and in Portugal with Portimonense, is the K League 1 leading assists maker with 11.

Who's in the team from last time?

Only goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, who is in his fourth Team K League squad, forward Lee Seung-woo, and striker Joo Min-kyu remain from the Team K League squad that faced Tottenham in 2022.

Which players are the most decorated?

Hwang In-jae, Oberdan, Wanderson, Jeong Jae-hee and Park Seung-wook won the FA Cup with Pohang Steelers last season. Jo Hyeon-woo, Lee Myung-jae, and Joo Min-kyu have won back-to-back K League 1 titles over the last two seasons with Ulsan HD. Lee Dong-gyeong is an AFC Champions League and K League 1 winner with Ulsan. Stanislav Iljutcenko won the K League and Korean FA Cup double while with Jeonbuk in 2021; Park Jin-seop won the FA Cup with Jeonbuk in 2022, and Cesinha won the FA Cup with Daegu FC in 2018.

Any other players who've played in Europe?

Aside from the players already mentioned, midfield-turned-wingback Hwang Mun-ki spent a few years in Portugal with Académica Coimbra from 2015 to 2019, while Lee Dong-gyeong spent time in 2. Bundesliga, first with Shalke 04 and then with Hansa Rostock before returning to Korea last year.

There have been a fair few players leaving for Europe since the match in 2022. Cho Gue-sung is now on the books of Danish Superliga champions FC Midtjylland, Kim Ji-soo with Brentford, Yang Hyun-jun is with Celtic, and Paik Seung-ho is with Birmingham City.

Which players play with Sonny for Korea?

There are a few who have earned caps for the national team. Most notably, one of the goalkeepers Jo Hyeon-woo rose to national stardom during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, starting all of South Korea's matches in the group stage. Jo has 33 caps to his name, Park Jin-seop has six and was part of the Asian Cup squad, midfielder Jeong Ho-yeon made his international debut in March in a 3-0 win over Thailand, similarly, Ulsan left back Lee Myung-jae who featured in the 1-1 draw with Thailand just a few days before, Joo Min-kyu this year became the oldest player to receive a first call-up for the national team at 33 years and 333 days and the second-oldest to score their first goal for South Korea, while defender Park Seung-wook made his debut in June in a 7-0 win over Singapore, recording an assist.

Any young players worth keeping an eye on?

Aside from Yang Min-hyuk, there are a couple of other young players who have been tipped for moves to Europe. Jeong Ho-yeon, 23, is a cultured midfielder who has had reported interest from teams in the English second tier, while 17-year-old Yoon Do-young has broken into the Daejeon first team this season and is proving to be an important player. He operates a little but like an early Lionel Messi in terms of how he runs at defenders, the area of the pitch he occupies, his close control and balance, and his low centre of gravity.

How can I watch K League?

K League games can all be watched for free online viaTV.KLeague.com with three matches per round picked for English commentary.

Follow the official K League International Instagram account to find out which matches have been selected for English commentary.

Further Reading, Listening & Watching

K League United Podcast: Team K League vs. Spurs Preview & Matej Jonjić Interview