K League 1 2026 round 35: Ulsan win at Seoul and need 4 points for the top three, a win at Incheon clinches it, Gwangju are certain to finish last and Gangwon go fourth

Round 35, the second of the five final rounds, was played on November 7 and 8. On Saturday, November 7, Gwangju FC drew 1-1 at Jeju SK and Gimcheon Sangmu beat FC Anyang 1-0 at home. On Sunday, November 8, in Final A, Ulsan HD won 2-1 at FC Seoul, Daejeon Hana Citizen beat Incheon United 2-0 at home and Gangwon FC beat Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3-2 at home. In Final B, Bucheon FC 1995 and Pohang Steelers drew 2-2 in Bucheon.

Every figure here is as of the November 8 update, 210 of the season's 228 matches. Every club has three matches left, all inside its own group, so the six clubs in Final A still finish first to sixth and the six in Final B seventh to twelfth. Clinch numbers assume the worst case, that every rival takes maximum points from every match it has left, and a rival who can finish exactly level is counted as a threat.

Final A, in order: Seoul 67 points (20 wins, 7 draws, 8 defeats), Ulsan 57, Daejeon 53, Gangwon 51, Jeonbuk 49 and Incheon 49. Gangwon climbed from sixth to fourth by beating Jeonbuk, who stay above Incheon, also on 49, on goals scored, 45 to 44. Seoul have lost twice in a row, to Incheon and Ulsan, since clinching the title in round 33. Final B: Jeju 48, Anyang 46, Pohang 44, Gimcheon 38, Bucheon 33 and Gwangju 23.

In the race for the top three, which this site counts as the continental places, Ulsan's clinch number fell from 8 to 4. Four more points take them to 61, and the only clubs who could then be level with or above them are Seoul and Daejeon, whose ceiling is 62. Three points would leave Ulsan on 60, which Gangwon can still reach, so 4 is needed. Daejeon's number fell from 12 to 8. On 61 only Seoul and Ulsan could match them, but three matches cannot produce 8 points, so in practice Daejeon have to win all three. The elimination numbers are Gangwon 3, Jeonbuk 2 and Incheon 2. Two more defeats would cap Jeonbuk and Incheon at 52, below Daejeon's 53.

Ulsan can finish the job in their next match. The number 4 treats each rival on its own, and the real fixtures settle it sooner. A win at Incheon on Saturday, November 21 takes Ulsan to 60, and besides Seoul only one of Daejeon and Gangwon could still reach 60, because those two meet the same day in Gangwon. A Daejeon win would cap Gangwon at 57 and a draw at 58, while a Gangwon win would cap Daejeon at 59. Jeonbuk can reach 58 at most, and Incheon, beaten by Ulsan, 55. Whatever happens, no more than two clubs could finish level with or above Ulsan, so a win clinches a top three place.

At the bottom, last place is settled. Gwangju drew at Jeju, moved to 23, and can reach only 32 by winning their last three, short of Bucheon's 33. That makes them certain to take the automatic drop for last place. Bucheon's draw with Pohang lifted them clear of last, and they can finish tenth or eleventh. Eleventh, which means a promotion and relegation playoff against a K League 2 side, will go to Bucheon or Gimcheon, who can finish anywhere from eighth to eleventh. Pohang and Anyang can finish seventh to tenth and Jeju seventh to ninth, so none of them can drop to eleventh.

Round 36 starts on Saturday, November 21 with Anyang at Pohang, Seoul at Jeonbuk, Ulsan at Incheon and Daejeon at Gangwon, and finishes on Sunday, November 22 with Bucheon at Gwangju and Jeju at Gimcheon. Round 37 is on November 28 and 29.

How to read these numbers. A clinch number is the smallest further return, counted in league points, that guarantees an outcome even if every rival takes maximum points from everything it has left. A tragic number is the count of further defeats after which the outcome becomes impossible even if the club wins everything else. Zero means already settled, and no number at all means arithmetic alone cannot get there. A rival who can finish exactly level counts against a club when we decide a clinch, so our clinch can trail an official announcement by a day. Goal difference, head-to-head records and the other official tiebreakers are not part of this arithmetic. The live table, shown in its two groups, is at, the fixtures at, the continental and relegation rules at, every club's figures at and the method at. To set results inside each group yourself, use. Club pages: Ulsan, Daejeon, Gangwon, Bucheon, Gimcheon and Gwangju.