North Korea national football team

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  On a July afternoon in 1966, the North Korea national football team walked onto a pitch in Middlesbrough and into sports history. Few people watching expected much from a squad representing a country most Britons could barely locate on a map, and almost no one anticipated what was about to unfold. The team had already shocked the sporting world by qualifying for the tournament at all. Now they were about to deliver one of the most improbable upsets the World Cup had ever seen.

  This is a team with a story unlike any other in international football. It stretches from their debut in a goalless draw in Rangoon in 1964, through decades of diplomatic boycotts and political interference, to a riot by their own supporters during qualifying, and a coach who was reportedly sent to a forced labor camp after a tournament defeat. The questions worth asking are not just about the football. They are about how sport survives under extreme political constraint, and what it means to play for a country that controls nearly everything its athletes do.

• 2. The 1966 Miracle

  ›

  Pak Doo-ik scored the goal that changed everything. With a single strike against Italy, the two-time world champions, he sent North Korea into the quarter-finals of the 1966 FIFA World Cup. It was the first time any Asian team had advanced beyond the group stage of a World Cup.

  The road to that moment had been complicated before a ball was kicked. FIFA placed all qualifying entrants from Africa, Asia, and Oceania into a single group, offering only one spot. Every African nation protested and withdrew, leaving North Korea to face Australia alone. The Australians were considered the clear favourites, but North Korea won both legs, 6-1 and 3-1, and booked their place.

  Their arrival in England created diplomatic headaches. Britain had not recognized the Pyongyang government since the Korean War, and the country refused to fly the North Korean flag or play its national anthem. A partial compromise was reached just before the tournament started in July 1966: the flag was displayed alongside those of the other nations, but the anthem remained silent before North Korea's matches.

  In group 4, North Korea first lost to the Soviet Union, then drew 1-1 with Chile, with Pak Seung-zin scoring the team's first ever World Cup goal. Their final group match against Italy decided who advanced. Coach Myung Rye-hyun's side won 1-0, and the locals of Middlesbrough, where the team was based, cheered them on.

  The quarter-final against Portugal pushed the fairy tale to its limit. Within 25 minutes, North Korea led 3-0, with goals from Pak Seung-zin, Yang Seung-kook, and Li Dong-woon. Then Portuguese forward Eusébio scored four goals, and José Augusto added a fifth. The final result was 5-3, and the dream was over. Pak Seung-zin finished the tournament as North Korea's all-time top scorer in the World Cup, with two goals in four games.

• 3. Politics on the Pitch

  ›

  The North Korean team has repeatedly found itself not just playing football, but navigating the consequences of geopolitical decisions made far above the level of any coach or squad. Their record is riddled with withdrawals, boycotts, and bans that had nothing to do with their ability on the field.

  After their 1966 quarter-final, North Korea effectively went dark for years. They forfeited the 1968 Olympic qualifiers and refused to enter both the 1968 AFC Asian Cup qualification and the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers because they would have faced Israel in a playoff. Between the 1966 quarter-final and 1971, they played exactly one friendly, a 3-1 loss to Algeria in Algiers.

  Diplomatic friction with South Korea repeatedly disrupted qualifying campaigns. For the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, they withdrew after being drawn into the same qualifying group as their southern neighbors. During the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Kim Jong Il refused to allow the South Korean national anthem to be played or the flag flown on North Korean soil, forcing both matches against South Korea to be relocated to China.

  A violent incident at the 1982 Asian Games resulted in one of the heaviest institutional penalties the team ever received. After losing a semi-final in extra time, North Korean players attacked Thai referee Vijit Getkaew. The AFC handed down a two-year suspension, which wiped out their participation in the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers and the 1984 Olympic qualifiers. The team went almost four years without playing official matches.

  The longer withdrawal came in the 1990s. After coach Pál Csernai departed following a string of World Cup qualifying defeats, the federation placed the team on hold for more than four years. That pause coincided with the North Korean famine of 1994-1998, the official three-year mourning period after President Kim Il Sung died in 1994, and the consolidation of power by his son Kim Jong Il.

• 4. The Cost of Defeat

  ›

  Playing for North Korea has never been without personal risk. When results go wrong, the consequences for players and coaches can extend well beyond the usual professional disappointments.

  At the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, North Korea were drawn into Group G alongside Brazil, Portugal, and Ivory Coast. With a pre-tournament ranking of 105th, they were the lowest-ranked side in the tournament. Ji Yun-nam scored their only goal in a 2-1 loss to Brazil. Then came the 7-0 defeat against Portugal, the heaviest loss in the team's history. After trailing 1-0 at halftime, they conceded six goals in the second half. The match was broadcast live in North Korea, a rare exception to the country's media restrictions, but the state interrupted the broadcast after Portugal's fourth goal.

  Radio Free Asia subsequently reported, citing anonymous sources, that coach Kim Jong-hun had been punished by being sent to forced labor camps. Some players were said to have faced what the reports described as harsh ideological criticism.

  The 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates produced North Korea's worst performance at the tournament. They lost all three matches, conceded 14 goals, scored only one, and collected two red cards. Their 6-0 defeat against Qatar was the second heaviest defeat in the team's history.

• 5. The Game of Their Lives

  ›

  Thirty-five years after the 1966 World Cup, the surviving players of that squad resurfaced in a documentary that brought their story to an entirely new audience. British director Dan Gordon tracked down seven of the surviving players from the 1966 side and made a film called The Game of Their Lives.

  The 1966 squad had become favourites with the British public during the tournament, and were celebrated as heroes on their return to North Korea. Gordon's film screened in both North Korea and South Korea, and received the award for Best Sports Documentary from the Royal Television Society. The project was remarkable not only for the access it achieved but for what it captured: a rare glimpse of aged athletes recalling a moment that had defined their nation's football identity for generations.

  Pak Seung-zin, who scored North Korea's first ever World Cup goal against Chile in 1966, remained the team's top scorer in World Cup history with two goals from four games.

• 6. Return and Renewal

  ›

  North Korea's withdrawal from international football during the COVID-19 pandemic lasted more than five years. FIFA and the AFC declared all of their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying results void after the team pulled out, and North Korea was excluded from the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

  In August 2023, the country announced its intention to return to competition, and FIFA and the AFC confirmed North Korea would enter the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. They were placed in Group B of the second round, alongside Japan, Syria, and Myanmar. On the 16th of November 2023, North Korea played their first international match in over five years, a 1-0 defeat to Syria. Five days later, Jong Il-gwan scored a hat-trick as they beat Myanmar 6-1 at the Thuwunna Stadium.

  The team advanced to the final round of World Cup qualification for the first time since 2010, and secured a place in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup after missing the 2023 edition. They did not advance further in World Cup qualifying, finishing last in their final round group.

  Since January 2024, the team's kit has been supplied by Chinese sports brand Inlang, which replaced the North Korean company Ch'oeusu. North Korea play their home fixtures at the Rungrado the 1st of May Stadium on Rungra Island in Pyongyang, the second largest stadium in the world with a capacity of 114,000, though since 2019 they have hosted their home matches at neutral venues outside the country.