# Hwaebul Cup

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Football tournament

Hwaebul Cup Organiser(s) DPR Korea Football Association Founded 2013; 13 years ago (2013) Region North Korea Teams 12 International cup AFC Challenge League Current champions Rimyongsu (1st title) Most championships April 25 (4 titles) 2022 Hwaebul Cup

The **Hwaebul Cup** (홰불, *Torch*) is an annual [association football](/source/Association_football) competition in men's [domestic football](/source/Football_in_North_Korea) in [North Korea](/source/North_Korea). It is organised by the [DPR Korea Football Association](/source/DPR_Korea_Football_Association), the governing body of [football in North Korea](/source/Football_in_North_Korea). The competition is held for Youth Day, 28 August, one of North Korea's major holidays.[1]

## Competition format

Beginning in July or August, the competition proceeds in two stages. The first stage consists of the teams divided into two groups playing in a single round-robin basis,[2] with the winner and second-place team of each group advancing to the [knockout stage](/source/Knockout_tournament) consisting of two semi-final matches and a final, which is played on 28 August of each year.[1]

## Venues

All matches are played at one stadium in [Pyongyang](/source/Pyongyang), which varies year to year. In 2013 the matches were held at the [Kim Il-sung Stadium](/source/Kim_Il-sung_Stadium),[3] in 2014 at [Yanggakdo Stadium](/source/Yanggakdo_Stadium),[4] in 2015 at [Rungrado 1st of May Stadium](/source/Rungrado_1st_of_May_Stadium),[5] in 2016 at [Sŏsan Stadium](/source/Sosan_Stadium),[6] and in 2017 once again at Rungrado Stadium.[7]

## List of champions

- [2013](/source/2013_Hwaebul_Cup): [April 25](/source/April_25_Sports_Club)[3]

- [2014](/source/2014_Hwaebul_Cup): [April 25](/source/April_25_Sports_Club)[4]

- [2015](/source/2015_Hwaebul_Cup): [April 25](/source/April_25_Sports_Club)[5]

- [2016](/source/2016_Hwaebul_Cup): [April 25](/source/April_25_Sports_Club)[6]

- [2017](/source/2017_Hwaebul_Cup): [Sobaeksu](/source/Sobaeksu_Sports_Club)[7]

- [2018](/source/2018_Hwaebul_Cup): [Ryomyong](/source/Ryomyong_Sports_Club)[8]

- [2019](/source/2019_Hwaebul_Cup): [Ryomyong](/source/Ryomyong_Sports_Club)[9]

- [2022](/source/2022_Hwaebul_Cup): [Rimyongsu](/source/Rimyongsu_Sports_Club)[10]

- [2024](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2024_Hwaebul_Cup&action=edit&redlink=1): [April 25](/source/April_25_Sports_Club)[11] - Clinched [2025–26 AFC Challenge League](/source/2025%E2%80%9326_AFC_Challenge_League) Qualifying Play-off spot. But they can participate the competition only if they obtain the club licence from the [Asian Football Confederation](/source/Asian_Football_Confederation).

- [2025](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2025_Hwaebul_Cup&action=edit&redlink=1): [Amnokgang](/source/Amnokgang_Sports_Club)[12]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-naenara-18754_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-naenara-18754_1-1) ["Hwaeppul tipped to win namesake tournament"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180228100726/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=18754). Archived from [the original](http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=18754) on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["First-division Hwaeppul Cup goes on"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161457/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=20745). Archived from [the original](http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=20745) on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-rsssf_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-rsssf_3-1) [North Korea 2013](https://www.rsssf.org/tablesn/nkor2013.html)

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nkagg_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nkagg_4-1) ["Final Game of Soccer Tournament for Torch Cup Held | North Korea Aggregator"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161616/https://nkaggregator.com/2014/08/28/final-game-of-soccer-tournament-for-torch-cup-held/). Archived from [the original](https://nkaggregator.com/2014/08/28/final-game-of-soccer-tournament-for-torch-cup-held/) on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-naenara-20800_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-naenara-20800_5-1) ["Hwaeppul Cup premier league finals draw to a close"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180228100642/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=20800). Archived from [the original](http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=20800) on 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-naenara-22741_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-naenara-22741_6-1) ["Hwaeppul Cup men's premier soccer tournament ends"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170228134024/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports). Archived from [the original](http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=22741) on 2017-02-28. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-naenara-24921_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-naenara-24921_7-1) ["Sobaeksu lifts Hwaeppul Cup"](https://web.archive.org/web/20171009093613/http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports). Archived from [the original](http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=24921) on 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2018-03-06.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Men's Soccer Tournament for Torch Cup"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191123232655/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2019/201908/news06/20190806-10ee.html). *[Korean Central News Agency](/source/Korean_Central_News_Agency)*. 6 August 2019. Archived from [the original](http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2019/201908/news06/20190806-10ee.html) on 23 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Ryomyong Team Wins Torch Cup"](https://web.archive.org/web/20191123234845/http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2019/201908/news30/20190830-04ee.html). *[Korean Central News Agency](/source/Korean_Central_News_Agency)*. 30 August 2019. Archived from [the original](http://www.kcna.co.jp/item/2019/201908/news30/20190830-04ee.html) on 23 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Men's Soccer Tournament for Torch Cup Closes"](http://www.kcna.kp/en/article/q/8ec910f5df28ac6566758171b021c2b3.kcmsf). *[Korean Central News Agency](/source/Korean_Central_News_Agency)*. 2022-08-29. Retrieved 27 November 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Soccer Tournament for Torch Cup Closes"](https://web.archive.org/web/20240829104800/http://www.kcna.kp/en/article/q/2b9cc24f4b9bfa08344a46f21f12292d.kcmsf). Korea Central News Agency. 29 August 2024. Archived from [the original](http://www.kcna.kp/en/article/q/2b9cc24f4b9bfa08344a46f21f12292d.kcmsf19da36.kcmsf) on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 5 October 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Soccer Tournament for Torch Cup Closes"](https://web.archive.org/web/20250829120000/https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1756460434-148243621/soccer-tournament-for-torch-cup-closes/). *KCNA Watch*. [Korean Central News Agency](/source/Korean_Central_News_Agency). 29 August 2025. Archived from [the original](https://kcnawatch.org/newstream/1756460434-148243621/soccer-tournament-for-torch-cup-closes/) on 29 August 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.

- [The Chosun Jørn: Can Jørn Andersen Make Sense of North Korean Football?](https://worldfootballindex.com/2017/06/north-korea-football-jorn-andersenn/)

v t e Hwaebul Cup seasons 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2022 2022 2023 2024

v t e Football in North Korea DPR Korea Football Association National teams Men Men's Men's U-23 Men's U-20 Men's U-17 Women Women's Women's U-20 Women's U-17 League system Men DPR Korea Premier League DPR Korea Football League 2 DPR Korea Football League 3 Women DPR Korea W-Premier League Cups Hwaebul Cup DPR Korea Championship Mangyongdae Prize Paektusan Prize Pochonbo Torch Prize Osandok Prize Venues, (cap) List of clubs Champions History Youth Soccer

v t e AFC members national football cups Australia Bahrain Bangladesh Brunei Cambodia China Chinese Taipei Guam Hong Kong India Indonesia† Iran Iraq Japan Jordan Korea DPR Korea Republic Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Macau Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal† Northern Mariana Islands Oman Pakistan Palestine Philippines† Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka† Syria Tajikistan Thailand Timor Leste† Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen† † Currently not played

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hwaebul Cup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwaebul_Cup) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwaebul_Cup?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.