East Bengal's AFC Champions League Two 2026-27 Rival Watch: Hwancheon KSPO

After a win in the first game, Hwancheon KSPO are the next opponents of the Moshal Girls

East Bengal women are poised to face a tricky challenge in their upcoming 2026-27 AFC Women’s Champions League clash against South Korean side Hwancheon KSPO.

The Korean side had a stuttering start to their continental championship campaign, falling to a gutting defeat in the opening game on April 25.

That is why the Hwancheon KSPO side will be particularly determined to win their upcoming match against the Indian heavyweights.

KSPO WFC might not be the oldest club in the South Korean women’s football scene, but they’ve maintained pretty steady progress in the scene and are actually representing the South Korean women’s football scene for the first time in the 2026-27 AFC Women’s Champions League.

KSPO has enjoyed a pretty impressive evolution as a football club in their country, enabling them to reach this stage and play in the premier competition of the Asian Women’s Football scene.

Here, we take a closer look at the club.

About the Team

The Hwancheon KSPO side is actually the women’s football team of the Korean Sports Promotion Foundation, which aspires to help promote the sport across multiple genders.

After their formation as a women’s football club in 2011, the Hwancheon KSPO side became the seventh team to start playing in the WK League – the semi-professional women’s football league that is run by the Korean Football Association and Korean Women’s Football Association.

Since their formation, the Hwancheon KSPO side have been able to hold their own in the WK League in South Korea. They reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2012 and even secured a runners-up finish in 2017 as well. However, they’ve really progressed as a women’s football club over the last three years.

After finishing as the runners-up in the 2024 WK League, they were able to win the division for the first time in 2025.

In fact, last year they were able to become the women’s football team in South Korea to win a domestic treble after also being able to win the WK League title and the cup competition as well.

The Coach

The Hwancheon KSPO manager is the prolific former South Korea women’s international Kang Sun-mi, who scored 10 goals in over 30 appearances at the international level.

After retiring from her eventful playing career, Kang initially spent some years coaching the Gangwon State University side before joining up with the KSPO women’s team as an assistant coach.

She worked in that capacity for four years before the hierarchy promoted her to the team’s manager in 2025. It turned out to be an instrumental decision, as Kang has enabled the Hwancheon KSPO side to play some thrilling football ever since.

It was under her guidance that the KSPO side won the domestic treble, as well as their first-ever WK League title, which allowed them to qualify for the AFC Women’s Champions League.

Kang Sun-mi has earned a reputation for encouraging free-flowing attacking football for her Hwancheon KSPO players. She likes them to be smart with their positioning and over-the-ball movement, troubling opposition players. Sun-mi also encourages discipline within her side, urging her players to work hard and not be reckless with their playing style.

She’ll definitely urge them to take the fight to East Bengal after the setback against April 25 and motivate the players to play innovative attacking football whilst maintaining their shape.

Players, watch out.

Choi Yoo-Jung

Choi Yoo-Jung had a pretty good start to the 2026-27 AFC Women’s League campaign, scoring the only goal for her side in their loss to April 25. The 34-year-old is a highly experienced player with many years of knowledge under her belt, something she will look to use to torment her opponents in the next few games.

Yoo-Jung has made a few appearances for the South Korea women’s football team and is known for being versatile in the attacking phases.

Indeed, she can play either as a winger or striker – but she is mostly playing up-front for the KSPO WFC side. Yoo-Jung will look to her element of surprise to good use, nailing her smart off-the-ball runs to get past defenders and cause them trouble.

She will look to maintain her efficiency in the final third, finishing off chances in clinical fashion and also looking to set them up in intelligent fashion with clever final third passes for her teammates.

Mun Eun-ju

A current South Korean women’s international footballer, Mun Eun-ju has been a real asset for the Hwancheon KSPO WFC side for the last five years.

Eun-ju has earned a lot of top-level experience in her career, even scoring multiple goals at the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and having scored against the India women’s side at the 2025 Pink Ladies Cup. Eun-ju is an energetic midfielder who can be an all-round powerhouse in the midfield.

She’s capable of being defensively stable, winning duels, and making possession recoveries to frustrate the opponents. But Eun-ju really thrives at moving her side forward with her intelligent passing qualities and ability to get into the danger zones with ease.

She will look to keep making clever late runs into the threatening areas to enhance her side’s goal threat and also aim to create chances regularly with clever final third passing qualities to help them score.

What to Expect

The Hwancheon KSPO WFC side might be playing in the AFC Women’s Champions League for the very first time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be happy with just enjoying the experience.

After losing their opening match in the group, the South Korean side will act like a wounded animal and try to get their revenge in the clash against the East Bengal women.

The KSPO side aren’t likely to totally dominate things and control the lion’s share of possession in the clash. However, they’ll look to maintain a solid and compact defensive shape to make it hard for their opponents to create chances and get free space inside their half of the pitch.

The South Korean heavyweights will look to trouble East Bengal’s transitions and win most of the battles in midfield to disrupt their style. Because of how determined they are to get their first win in the AFC Women’s Champions League, the KSPO WFC side will be an unpredictable threat that East Bengal must carefully work against.

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