United Koreans in Japan official football team

United Koreans in Japan

Association	United Korean Football Association in Japan
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	An Yong-hak
Most caps	Shin Yong-ki (11)
Top scorer	Tae An-sung (4)
Home stadium	Akabane Park Stadium
First colours Second colours
First international
Zainichi Korea 1–0 Székely Land (Sukhumi, Abkhazia; 30 May 2016)
Biggest win
Ryūkyū 0–9 Zainichi Korea (Nakagusuku, Japan; 26 November 2016)
Biggest defeat
Zainichi Korea 0–3 Kurdistan Region  (Sukhumi, Abkhazia; 31 May 2016)
ConIFA World Football Cup
Appearances	2 (first in 2016)
Best result	Quarter-finals (7th), 2016

The United Koreans in Japan official football team represents the Korean population living in Japan. The team includes players holding passports from North Korea, South Korea and Japan. The team, run by the United Korean Football Association in Japan (UKFAJ), joined ConIFA in 2015, and played its first matches at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup.^[1]

History[]

The national team grew out of the local football club for Koreans in Japan, FC Korea, which formed in 1961 and currently plays in the Kanto Soccer League, and is still the base of the national team. Upon its formation, it joined ConIFA, and became one of the Asian teams invited to play at the 2016 ConIFA World Football Cup on 9 January 2016. The team progressed to the quarter finals after beating Székely Land 1-0 in the group stages, but lost on penalties to Northern Cyprus, thus putting them in the placement rounds, where they eventually finished 7th in the overall competition.

In 2018 they were confirmed as participating in the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup. For the tournament, they appointed former North Korean international An Yong-hak as player-manager.

Matches[]

United Koreans in Japan  v  Székely Land

30 May 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Group B	United Koreans in Japan	1–0	Székely Land	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	Lee Son-chon 60'

United Koreans of Japan v  Kurdistan Region

31 May 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Group B	United Koreans of Japan	0–3	Kurdistan Region	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET		Report	Diyar Rahman 27' Miran Khesro 45' (pen.) Hunar Ahmad 73'

United Koreans in Japan  v  Northern Cyprus

1 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Quarter-Final	United Koreans in Japan	1–1 (2–4 p)	Northern Cyprus	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	On Song-tae 54'		Ünal Kaya 31'
	Penalties
	Kim Kwang-woo On Song-tae Kim Su-yong An Suug-tae		Esin Sonay Halil Turan Ünal Kaya Ibrahim Çıdamlı

United Koreans in Japan  v  Sápmi

3 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Placement R1	United Koreans in Japan	1–2	Sápmi	Dinamo Stadium, Sukhumi
15:00 GET	Kim Su-yong 2'		? 9' (pen.)  ? 61'

United Koreans in Japan  v  Kurdistan Region

4 June 2016 2016 ConIFA WFC Placement R2	United Koreans in Japan	1–1 (4–2 p)	Kurdistan Region	Daur Akhvlediani Stadium, Gagra
11:00 GET	An Suug-tae 90+5'		? 80'
	Penalties
	Kim Su-yong An Suug-tae Kim Kwang-woo Huo Yang Shin Yong-ki

Ryūkyū v  United Koreans in Japan

26 November 2016 (2016-11-26) International Friendly	Ryūkyū	0–9	United Koreans in Japan	, Nakagusuku, Japan
12:00 JST			Anne-Sung Tae Yuuki Gomi Lee Seong-cheol Kang Awe Akimoto Kaijin Lee Yoshiaki

United Koreans in Japan  v  Western Armenia

31 May 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	United Koreans in Japan	0–0	Western Armenia	, Carshalton
12:00 BST				Referee: Fehim Dayı

United Koreans in Japan  v  Kabylie

2 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	United Koreans in Japan	0–0	Kabylie	, Bracknell
14:00 BST				Referee: Leon Dastych

Panjab  v  United Koreans in Japan

3 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Group D	Panjab	1–1	United Koreans in Japan	, Slough
18:00 BST	Purewal 77' (pen)		Mun 90+4'	Referee: David Murphy

United Koreans in Japan  v  Tuvalu

5 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 1	United Koreans in Japan	5–0	Tuvalu	, Bracknell
18:00 BST	Taniyama 18' Lee 20', 58' Shin 23' Mun 83'

Abkhazia  v  United Koreans in Japan

7 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 2	Abkhazia	2–0	United Koreans in Japan	Hayes Lane, Bromley
12:00 BST

Tibet  v  United Koreans in Japan

9 June 2018 2018 ConIFA WFC Placement Round 3	Tibet	1–1 (1–4 p)	United Koreans in Japan	St Paul's Sports Ground, Rotherhithe
BST

Current squad[]

The following players were called up to the squad to face Panjab, Western Armenia and Kabylie at the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup in London from 31 May to 10 June.^[2]

Caps and goals correct as of 1 May 2018, when the squad was announced.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Shim Woo-dae	(1985-01-24) 24 January 1985 (age 37)	0	0	Unattached
96	1GK	Lim Hyo-geum	(1996-05-03) 3 May 1996 (age 25)	0	0	Kwansei Gakuin University
2	2DF	An Yong-hak	(1978-10-25) 25 October 1978 (age 43)	0	0	Unattached
5	2DF	Hong Yun-guk	(1995-02-11) 11 February 1995 (age 27)	0	0	FC Tokushima
6	2DF	Son Min-chol	(1986-10-27) 27 October 1986 (age 35)	0	0	Lee Man FC
13	2DF	Kim Sun-ji	(1994-12-05) 5 December 1994 (age 27)	5	0	FC Korea
17	2DF	Shin Yong-ki	(1993-04-14) 14 April 1993 (age 28)	11	0	FC Korea
98	2DF	Kang Yoo-jun	(1998-05-08) 8 May 1998 (age 23)	0	0	Monroe Mustangs
4	3MF	Ko Ji-hwang	(1995-03-02) 2 March 1995 (age 27)	0	0	FC Tokushima
7	3MF	Lee Tong-jun	(1993-06-25) 25 June 1993 (age 28)	0	0	Arawore Hachikita
8	3MF	Choi Gwang-yeon	(1987-12-23) 23 December 1987 (age 34)	0	0	FC Korea
10	3MF	Yun Song-i	(1980-01-29) 29 January 1980 (age 42)	0	0	Unattached
14	3MF	Byun Yeong-jang	(1988-11-01) 1 November 1988 (age 33)	0	0	Tokyo United
21	3MF	Hong Te-il	(1988-05-24) 24 May 1988 (age 33)	0	0	Unattached
26	3MF	Mun Su-hyeon	(1995-08-06) 6 August 1995 (age 26)	0	0	FC Korea
28	3MF	Ken Tamiyama	(1995-12-29) 29 December 1995 (age 26)	10	0	FC Tokushima
89	3MF	Lee Tong-soung	(1999-03-01) 1 March 1999 (age 23)	0	0	Staines Town
51	4FW	Shin Yong-ju	(1996-01-01) 1 January 1996 (age 26)	0	0	FC Korea

Managers[]

Manager	Period	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
	2016	6	2	2	2	033.3
An Yong-hak	2018	6	1	4	1	016.7
Totals		12	3	6	3	25.00

References[]