| Season | 2022 | 
|---|---|
| Dates | 19 February – 23 October 2022 | 
| Champions | Gwangju FC (2nd title) | 
| Promoted | Gwangju FC Daejeon Hana Citizen | 
| Matches played | 220 | 
| Goals scored | 556 (2.53 per match) | 
| Best Player | Ahn Young-kyu | 
| Top goalscorer | Yu Kang-hyun Tiago Orobó (19 goals each) | 
| Biggest home win | Gyeongnam 6–1 Gimpo (4 June 2022) | 
| Biggest away win | Ansan 1–7 Jeonnam (14 September 2022) | 
| Highest scoring | Ansan 1–7 Jeonnam (14 September 2022) Daejeon 4–4 Gimpo (9 May 2022) | 
| Longest winning run | 4 matches Gwangju FC Daejeon Hana Citizen Seoul E-Land | 
| Longest unbeaten run | 15 matches Gwangju FC | 
| Longest winless run | 20 matches Jeonnam Dragons | 
| Longest losing run | 4 matches Ansan Greeners Gimpo FC Chungnam Asan | 
| ← 2021  2023 →  | |
The 2022 K League 2 was the tenth season of the K League 2, the second-tier South Korean professional football league. The champions and the winners of the promotion play-offs could be promoted to the K League 1.
Teams
Team changes
Relegated from K League 1
Promoted to K League 1
Promoted from K3 League
Locations
| Team | City/Province | Abbreviation | 
|---|---|---|
| Ansan Greeners | Ansan | Ansan | 
| FC Anyang | Anyang | Anyang | 
| Bucheon FC 1995 | Bucheon | Bucheon | 
| Busan IPark | Busan | Busan | 
| Chungnam Asan | Asan | Chungnam Asan | 
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | Daejeon | Daejeon | 
| Gimpo FC | Gimpo | Gimpo | 
| Gwangju FC | Gwangju | Gwangju | 
| Gyeongnam FC | Gyeongnam | Gyeongnam | 
| Jeonnam Dragons | Jeonnam | Jeonnam | 
| Seoul E-Land | Seoul | Seoul E | 
Stadiums
| Ansan Greeners | FC Anyang | Bucheon FC 1995 | 
|---|---|---|
| Ansan Wa~ Stadium | Anyang Stadium | Bucheon Stadium | 
| Capacity: 35,000 | Capacity: 17,143 | Capacity: 34,456 | 
|  |  |  | 
| Busan IPark | Chungnam Asan | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 
| Busan Asiad Main Stadium | Yi Sun-sin Stadium | Daejeon World Cup Stadium | 
| Capacity: 53,769 | Capacity: 17,376 | Capacity: 40,535 | 
|  |  |  | 
| Gimpo FC | Gwangju FC | |
| Gimpo Solteo Football Stadium | Gwangju Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 5,000 | Capacity: 10,007 | |
|  | ||
| Gyeongnam FC | ||
| Changwon Football Center | Jinju Stadium | Miryang Stadium | 
| Capacity: 15,074 | Capacity: 20,116 | Capacity: 8,440 | 
|  | ||
| Jeonnam Dragons | Seoul E-Land | |
| Gwangyang Stadium | Mokdong Stadium | |
| Capacity: 13,496 | Capacity: 15,511 | |
|  |  | |
Personnel and sponsoring
| Team | Manager[lower-alpha 1] | Kit manufacturer | Main sponsor | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan Greeners |  Lim Jong-heon (caretaker) | Applerind | Ansan Government | 
| FC Anyang |  Lee Woo-hyung | V-EXX | Anyang Government | 
| Bucheon FC 1995 |  Lee Young-min | Kelme | Bucheon Government | 
| Busan IPark |  Park Jin-sub | Puma | HDC Group | 
| Chungnam Asan |  Park Dong-hyuk | Mizuno | Asan Government | 
| Daejeon Hana Citizen |  Lee Min-sung | Macron | Hana Financial Group | 
| Gimpo FC |  Ko Jeong-woon | Sunderland of Scotland | Gimpo Government | 
| Gwangju FC |  Lee Jung-hyo | Kelme | Gwangju Government | 
| Gyeongnam FC |  Seol Ki-hyeon | Hummel | Gyeongnam Provincial Government | 
| Jeonnam Dragons |  Lee Jang-kwan | Puma | POSCO | 
| Seoul E-Land |  Chung Jung-yong | New Balance | E-Land | 
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
- ↑ Managers in the last matchday.
Foreign players
The maximum number of foreign players on the K League 2 is restricted to five players per team, including slots for a player from AFC and ASEAN countries status. A team could only use a maximum of four foreign players in each matchday.
Players in bold joined midway through the competition.
| Team | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC player | ASEAN player | Former player(s) | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ansan Greeners |  Anderson Canhoto |  Róbson Duarte |  Thiago Henrique |  Go Iwase |  Asnawi Mangkualam | |
| FC Anyang |  Maxwell Acosty |  Jonathan Moya |  Andrigo | |||
| Bucheon FC 1995 |  Nilson |  Samuel Nnamani |  Jorman Aguilar | |||
| Busan IPark |  Valentinos Sielis |  Domagoj Drožđek |  Bruno Lamas | .svg.png.webp) Ryan Edwards | ||
| Chungnam Asan | ||||||
| Daejeon Hana Citizen |  Leandro Ribeiro |  Willyan |  Renato Kayzer |  Masatoshi Ishida |  Daniel Popa | |
| Gimpo FC |  Luka Juričić  Mitsuru Maruoka | |||||
| Gwangju FC |  Reis |  Mike |  Sandro Lima | .svg.png.webp) Aaron Calver | ||
| Gyeongnam FC |  Tiago Orobó |  Heliardo |  Guilherme Castro |  Ryonosuke Ohori |  Willyan  Hernandes | |
| Jeonnam Dragons |  Jonathan Balotelli |  Leonard Pllana |  Nika Kacharava |  Yuhei Sato | ||
| Seoul E-Land |  Mauricio Asenjo |  Felipe Cadenazzi |  Tsubasa Nishi | 
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gwangju FC (C, P) | 40 | 25 | 11 | 4 | 68 | 32 | +36 | 86 | Promotion to K League 1 | 
| 2 | Daejeon Hana Citizen (O, P) | 40 | 21 | 11 | 8 | 70 | 45 | +25 | 74 | Qualification for promotion play-offs final round | 
| 3 | FC Anyang | 40 | 19 | 12 | 9 | 52 | 41 | +11 | 69 | Qualification for promotion play-offs second round | 
| 4 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 40 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 61 | Qualification for promotion play-offs first round | 
| 5 | Gyeongnam FC | 40 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 60 | 61 | −1 | 56 | |
| 6 | Chungnam Asan | 40 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 39 | 44 | −5 | 52 | |
| 7 | Seoul E-Land | 40 | 11 | 15 | 14 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 48 | |
| 8 | Gimpo FC | 40 | 10 | 11 | 19 | 39 | 65 | −26 | 41 | |
| 9 | Ansan Greeners | 40 | 8 | 13 | 19 | 49 | 67 | −18 | 37 | |
| 10 | Busan IPark | 40 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 34 | 52 | −18 | 36 | |
| 11 | Jeonnam Dragons | 40 | 6 | 17 | 17 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 35 | 
Positions by matchday
  Leaders, promotion to K League 1
  Qualification for promotion play-offs final round
  Qualification for promotion play-offs second round
  Qualification for promotion play-offs first round
Round 1–22
- 1 2 Jeonnam Dragons' 13th round (against Seoul E-Land on 3 or 4 May) was postponed to 8 June due to their participation in the Champions League.
Round 23–44
- 1 2 3 4 Daejeon Hana Citizen's 28th round (against FC Anyang on 24 July) and 29th round (against Jeonnam Dragons on 27 July) were postponed to 21 September and 5 October, respectively, due to the national team player's participation in the EAFF Championship.[1]
- 1 2 3 4 Seoul E-Land's 28th round (against Gyeongnam FC on 23 July) and 29th round (against Chungnam Asan on 26 July) were postponed to 21 September and 5 October, respectively, due to the national team player's participation in the EAFF Championship.[2]
Results
Promotion play-offs
The first round was contested between the fourth and fifth-placed teams, and its winners played the third-placed team in the second round. When the first and second round matches were finished as draws, their winners were decided on the regular season rankings without extra time and penalty shoot-outs.
The winners of the second round and the runners-up competed with the tenth and eleven-placed team of the K League 1, respectively, in the final round for the K League 1 spots of the next season. Each match of the final round was a two-legged tie.
Bracket
| First round | Second round | Final 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | FC Anyang | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Gyeongnam FC | 0 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Bucheon FC 1995 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
| 5 | Gyeongnam FC | 3 | ||||||||||||||
| FC Anyang | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings (a.e.t.) | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Final 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | 2 | 4 | 6 | |||||||||||||
| Gimcheon Sangmu | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||
First round
| Bucheon FC 1995 | 2–3 | Gyeongnam FC | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | Report | 
 | 
Second round
Final round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC Anyang | 1–2 | Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 0–0 | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | 6–1 | Gimcheon Sangmu | 2–1 | 4–0 | 
| Suwon Samsung Bluewings | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | FC Anyang | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | Report | Acosty  55' | 
Suwon Samsung Bluewings won 2–1 on aggregate and therefore both clubs remain in their respective leagues.
| Daejeon Hana Citizen | 2–1 | Gimcheon Sangmu | 
|---|---|---|
| 
 | Report | Mun Ji-hwan  22' | 
| Gimcheon Sangmu | 0–4 | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 
|---|---|---|
| Report | 
 | 
Daejeon Hana Citizen won 6–1 on aggregate and was promoted to K League 1, while Gimcheon Sangmu was relegated to K League 2.
Season statistics
| Goals
 
 | Assists
 
 | 
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Awards
Most Valuable Player of the Round
Season Awards
The 2022 K League Awards was held on 24 October 2022.
K League 2 Most Valuable Player
- The K League 2 Most Valuable Player award was won by  Ahn Young-kyu (Gwangju FC). Ahn Young-kyu (Gwangju FC).
K League 2 Young Player
- The K League 2 Young Player award was won by  Eom Ji-sung (Gwangju FC). Eom Ji-sung (Gwangju FC).
K League 2 Top Scorer
- The K League 2 Top Scorer award was won by  Yu Kang-hyun (Chungnam Asan). Yu Kang-hyun (Chungnam Asan).
K League 2 Top Assistor
- The K League 2 Top Assistor award was won by  Maxwell Acosty (FC Anyang). Maxwell Acosty (FC Anyang).
K League 2 Best XI
| 2022 K League 2 Best XI | 
| Position | Player | Club | 
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper |  Kim Kyeong-min | Gwangju FC | 
| Defender |  Cho Hyun-taek | Bucheon FC 1995 | 
| Defender |  Ahn Young-kyu | Gwangju FC | 
| Defender |  Cho Yu-min | Daejeon Hana Citizen | 
| Defender |  Doo Hyeon-seok | Gwangju FC | 
| Midfielder |  Willyan | Gyeongnam FC Daejeon Hana Citizen | 
| Midfielder |  Park Han-bin | Gwangju FC | 
| Midfielder |  Lee Soon-min | Gwangju FC | 
| Midfielder |  Eom Ji-sung | Gwangju FC | 
| Forward |  Yu Kang-hyun | Chungnam Asan | 
| Forward |  Tiago Orobó | Gyeongnam FC | 
K League Manager of the Year
- The K League Manager of the Year award was won by  Lee Jung-hyo (Gwangju FC). Lee Jung-hyo (Gwangju FC).
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ K리그 2, EAFF E-1 동아시안컵으로 일부 일정 변경 [공식발표] (in Korean). The Chosun Ilbo. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- ↑ [공식발표] '이재익 대표팀 발탁' 서울이랜드 경기 일정 변경 (in Korean). Footballist. 20 July 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
- 1 2 "K LEAGUE / Record".


