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 upcoming2026-27 AFC Women's Champions Leagueclash 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 Hwancheon KSPO are set to make a return after the loss in their first game. 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 Hwacheon KSPO head coach Kang Sun-mi 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.