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6 players from K League 1 champions Jeonbuk make Best XI squad

Published: 01 Dec. 2025, 11:28 Updated: 01 Dec. 2025, 18:13

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players and coaches celebrate their K League 1 title in front of fans at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on Nov. 8, 2025, in this photo provided by the Korea Professional Football League. [KOREA PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE]

Fresh off winning their league-record 10th title, six Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors players were named to the season-end K League 1 Best XI squad unveiled Monday.

The K League announced voting results for the annual best-of-season team, as selected by the media, club head coaches and club captains.

Jeonbuk goalkeeper Song Bum-keun earned his first Best XI nod of his career after leading the K League 1 with 15 clean sheets. With Song minding the net all year, Jeonbuk conceded the fewest goals in the league with 32 in 38 matches.

Song earned 127 out of 134 votes from the media, nine votes from the 12 head coaches and eight from the 12 captains — these totals were converted to 80.41 points. Coaches and captains were not allowed to vote for players on their own clubs.

Ulsan HD FC goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo had been on the Best XI team over the past eight seasons, but he wasn't even nominated this year.

Jeonbuk center back Hong Jeong-ho earned his fifth career Best XI selection with 28.79 points, joined by Yazan Al-Arab of FC Seoul with 22.15 points. The twin fullbacks chosen were Daejeon Hana Citizen FC teammates: Lee Myung-jae on the left with 41.53 points and Kim Moon-hwan on the right with 52.87 points.

All four midfielders on the Best XI squad were Jeonbuk players: Song Min-kyu with 46.31 points on the left, Kim Jin-gyu with 26.31 points and Park Jin-seob with 29.07 points in the middle and Kang Sang-yoon with 56.94 points on the right.

Park, Jeonbuk's captain, has also been nominated for the MVP award, with the winner set to be unveiled Monday afternoon.

The two other MVP candidates, Pablo Sabbag of Suwon FC at 23.34 points and Lee Dong-gyeong of Ulsan HD FC at 40.32 points, were the two forwards named to the Best XI team.

Sabbag led the K League 1 with 17 goals in his first campaign in Korea. Lee recorded 13 goals and 11 assists while fulfilling his mandatory military service with Gimcheon Sangmu FC, and following his discharge in October, he added an assist in two matches for Ulsan.

Yonhap