Gangwon FC Suffers Defeat to Malaysia's Kuching, Drops to Bottom of Group

K League 1 professional football club Gangwon FC has fallen to the bottom of its group after suffering an away defeat to Malaysia's Kuching City in the AFC Champions League Two group stage.

Gangwon lost 2-0 to Kuching in the fourth match of Group H for the 2026-2027 ACL2 group stage, held at the Stadium Negeri in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia.

With this result, Gangwon remained tied with Kuching on 4 points (1 win, 1 draw, 2 losses), but dropped to the bottom of the group in 4th place due to goal difference.

Gangwon, which advanced to the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) playoff as the 5th-place team in the 2025 K League 1 season, moved down to the ACL2 after losing to Gamba Osaka (Japan).

Kuching entered this tournament as the runners-up of the 2025-2026 Malaysia Super League season.

The two teams previously faced each other on October 29, when Gangwon secured a 1-0 home victory to claim its first ACL2 win after three matches.

Heading into the away fixture with a heavily rotated starting lineup ahead of its upcoming K League 1 home match against Jeonbuk Hyundai on November 8, Gangwon struggled after conceding two goals in the first half alone.

In the 13th minute of the first half, Kuching's Safawi Rasid rapidly advanced into the penalty area and connected with a loose ball for a volleyed opening goal.

Gangwon conceded another goal just seven minutes later.

In the 20th minute of the first half, after a cross from the left flank was calmly controlled by Rasid inside the penalty area, he found the back of the net to complete his multi-goal performance.

Having struggled in the first half with only a single shot, Gangwon attempted a turnaround at the start of the second half by substituting in Jeong Seung-bin, Yu Byeong-heon, and Lee Eun-ho in place of Ko Eun-seok, Kim Lee-seok, and Kang Yoon-gu, but ultimately failed to create any threatening opportunities.

(Photo provided by Korea Professional Football League, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.