Merciless Team! Who are Ulsan FC, the South Korean champions set to face Mamelodi Sundowns in Fifa Club World Cup Group F opener?

Ulsan HD FC were founded in 1983 and the following year, they joined the K-League. By the end of the decade, they had already won their first trophy, bagging the Korean League Cup, but it took until 1996 for they to manage their first ever league title.

By the time the millennium rolled by, the club was in a winning mood again and earned the nickname 'Gangsters of Asia' for their exploits in the continental A3 Champions Cup with a merciless attacking style that saw them beating Dalian Shide 4-0 and Gamba Osaka and Al-Shabab both taking 6-0 drubbings.

It took until 2012 before the Tigers won their first AFC Champions League and then had to wait eight more years until they repeated that feat.

More recently, Ulsan have won the K-League three seasons in a row (2022, 2023 & 2024) and have established themselves as South Korea's club to beat.

The K-League runs from February to November, meaning Ulsan are in the middle of their season, which might give them an advantage over clubs who are still playing a season that started in August 2024. However, last season's success has evaporated, and after 19 matches the Tigers find themselves in 3rd, trailing league leaders Jeonbuk by nine points.

In continental competition, the outlook is even worse for the South Korean side who sit 10th in their 12-team Group A after just one win and six losses.

Football Database Ranking:

There are several candidates for Ulsan's best player, with Brazilian striker Erick Farias, veteran 35-year-old central defender Kim Young-Gwon and South Korean national team goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo all worthy of consideration.

But it is winger Won-Sang Um who is 'considered one of the most promising players of his generation in South Korea' that Sundowns should perhaps worry about the most.

The 26-year-old is known for his speed, ball control, dribbling and creativity, all attributes that can cause opposition teams huge problems.

,Kim Pan-Gon's journey to the Ulsan hotseat was a difficult one. He started out as a player at the club but his career was derailed by injury which saw him retire from professional football at just 28 years old. He returned to the professional ranks two years later to play in the Hong Kong Premier League from 2000 to 2004 before hanging up his boots permanently.

After gaining his AFC Professional Football Coaching Diploma, Asia's highest-level coaching license, he made his bones as an assistant coach at club level before moving into international management with Hong Kong and then Malaysia.

He abruptly quit as Malaysia's coach to join Ulsan mid-way through the 2024 K-League season and led Ulsan to its third K League 1 title in a row in November 2024.

The 56-year-old coach is bullish about his team's prospects at the Club World Cup, despite their poor form this season, setting a target of the Last 16 for his club.

Fifa Club World Cup

K-League

AFC Champions League

Ulsan

Kim Pan-Gon

Won-Sang Um