Naegohyang Women's FC captain Kim Kyong Yong scored just before half-time to secure a 1-0 victory over Japan's Tokyo Verdy Beleza in Suwon, South Korea, winning the AFC Women's Champions League on May 23, 2026. The team becomes the first North Korean sports team to visit the South in eight years.
Coach Ri Yu Il thanked leader Kim Jong Un and praised the team's historic achievement. Naegohyang now advances to next year's FIFA Women's Champions Cup in Miami.
The win was emotionally charged: players unfurled North Korea's national flag, a sensitive act under South Korea's National Security Act. Some 1,200 cheering supporters, backed by Seoul's unification ministry, attended the final at a nearly empty stadium.
North Korea's women's team ranks 11th in FIFA's world rankings, far ahead of the men's team at 118th.