South Korean media suffered a crushing defeat in the East Asian Cup, with 687 spectators, and there were fewer Japanese competitions three years ago
Jul 09, 2025
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Japan won 6-1 against Hong Kong in the first leg of the 2025 East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) at Yongin Mir Stadium on the 8th. Japan, led by players playing in the J-League, showed off its powerful power. Jermaine, a mixed-race striker, succeeded in a port trick against Hong Kong under Han Su. Coach Hajime Moriyasu made as many as 10 debuts in the A-match on the same day, and was eager to prepare for the 2026 World Cup in North Korea and the U.S.
However, what the Japanese media was interested in was the number of spectators. Japan's Soccer Kritik 'The number of spectators gathered for the match between Japan and Hong Kong was 687. Yongin, where the game was held, is about 40 kilometers away from Seoul, but when he opened the lid, he revealed a shocking vacancy. The minimum number of J1 spectators this season was 6,158 between Abispa Fukuoka and Okayama held in April. Only 10% of the minimum spectator games in J League 1 this season were admitted to the match between Japan and Hong Kong. In this season's J-League 1 and J-League 2, there were no games with fewer than 1,000 spectators.
As the Japanese media pointed out, the spectator's report card at the beginning of this tournament is not good. Only 4,426 people visited the match between Korea and China. There are fewer than 1,000 people in the ensuing war between Japan and Hong Kong, and there are voices of concern.
However, if you look at the East Asian Cup spectators held in Japan three years ago, the Japanese media point out that 'I'm the only one left behind' At that time, 4,980 people visited the opening match between Japan and Hong Kong in Kashima. The figure is not much different from the opening match between South Korea and China. Then, only 214 people entered the match between South Korea and China at Toyota Stadium in Aichi Prefecture. The number is less than a third of the match between Japan and Hong Kong.
The 2022 East Asian Cup was criticized for its poor number of spectators throughout the tournament, with only 10,526 in the second round between Japan and China, and only 14,117 in the match between Korea and Japan, the best big match of the East Asian Cup. In other words, Toyota Stadium, where the game was held, did not fill a third as it accommodated 44,692 people.
Because it is not held during the A-match period set by FIFA, the East Asian Cup, which excludes European players, is suffering from a "star famine". Naturally, it is also adversely affecting the box office. In the 2019 Busan competition, only 1,070 people visited the Busan Asiad Stadium in the first match between South Korea and Hong Kong, shocking. Since then, there have been only 7,916 matches against China. The day before Korea and Japan, 29,252 spectators gathered to save face.
This is why it is difficult to say that it is a heat problem in Korea. This is evidenced by the fact that the success of the 2022 tournament in Japan was even more disastrous.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
