The 2014 Hwaebul Cup was the second edition of the

Hwaebul Cup The Hwaebul Cup (홰불, ''Torch'') is an annual association football competition in men's domestic football in North Korea, organised by the DPR Korea Football Association. The competition is held for Youth Day, 28 August, one of North Korea's ...

(홰불, ''Torch'') celebrating

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

's Youth Day. The competition was held between 10 and 28 August 2013, with all matches played at the

Yanggakdo Stadium Yanggakdo Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located on Yanggak Island in Pyongyang, North Korea. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 30,000 people and was opened on 18 May 1989. In addition to the main foot ...

in P'yŏngyang. The competition was arranged in two phases, a group stage followed by a single-elimination play-off semi-finals, and a single-game final.http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/order/pytimes/?page=Sports&no=18754 Hwaeppul tipped to win namesake tournament]

Group stage

Thirteen teams took part in the group stage, with seven in Group A and six in Group B.

Group A

Group A was made up of Hwaebul Sports Club, Hwaebul, Kyŏnggong'ŏp, Kwanmobong, Wŏlmido,

April 25 Events Pre-1600 * 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...

, Amrokkang, and Ryong'aksan. The group stage opened with a match between Hwaebul and Kyŏnggong'ŏp on 10 August. Hwaebul, considered heavy favourites at the start of the tournament, won with a convincing 3-0 score, going on to win their next three matches against Kwanmobong (5-0), Wŏlmido and April 25 (1-0). April 25 had started out the competition by winning their first four matches, 4-1 against Amrokkang, 3-1 against Kyŏnggong'ŏp, 3-0 against Ryong'aksan, and 3-0 against Kwanmobong. Ryong'aksan had started off with a 3-2 win over Kwanmobong, whilst Wŏlmido and Amrokkang drew 1-1 in their opening match. Hwaebul and April 25 went on to advance to the semi-finals. ''Table based on known results.''

Known results

Group B

Group B included

Sobaeksu Sobaeksu Sports Club ( ko, 소백수체육단, ''Sobaeksu Ch'eyuktang'') is a North Korean multi-sports club based in Pyongyang, best known for its men's and women's football teams playing at Yanggakdo Stadium. Sobaeksu is the first tributary of ...

, P'yŏngyang City,

Myohyangsan The Mount Myohyang (Hangul: 묘향산 - "''Mysterious Fragrant Mountain''") is a mountain in North Korea. It is named after the mystic shapes and fragrances found in the area. It is a sacred site as, according to legend, it was the home of Kin ...

, Ponghwasan, Rimyŏngsu, and one other club. Rimyŏngsu had been tipped as favourites, but the opening match of the group, that they played against Sobaeksu, surprised observers with a 3-2 result in favour of Sobaeksu on 15 August. The group was topped by Sobaeksu and P'yŏngyang City, both of which had had two wins and two draws in their first four matches. ''Table based on known results.''

Known results

Semi-finals

Hwaebul and April 25 qualified for the semi-finals from Group A, and Sobaeksu and P'yŏngyang City from Group B; the first place finisher of each group played the second-place team from the other group. April 25 and Hwaebul won their matches to advance to the final.4.25-Sobaeksu 1:0, Pyongyang City-Hwaebul 0:2
/ref>

Final

Hwaebul and April 25 advanced to the final, which was played at Yanggakdo Stadium on 28 August, with April 25 emerging victorious with a 1-0 score.

References

{{2014 in Asian football (AFC) DPR Korea Football League seasons 1

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

Hwaebul Cup