The Hwaebul Cup (홰불, ''Torch'') is an annual

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition in men's domestic football in

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 Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, organised by the

DPR Korea Football Association The Democratic People's Republic of Korea Football Association (PRKFA, ) is the governing body of football in North Korea. The association was founded in 1945 and it joined FIFA in June 1958 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Septem ...

. The competition is held for Youth Day, 28 August, one of North Korea's major holidays.

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, with the winner and second-place team of each group advancing to the knockout stage consisting of two semi-final matches and a final, which is played on 28 August of each year.

Venues

All matches are played at one stadium in

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

, which varies year to year. In 2013 the matches were held at the

Kim Il-sung Stadium Kim Il-sung Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium located in Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea. The stadium is used primarily for association football matches. History Kim Il-sung Stadium was originally named the Girimri Stadium (기� ...

,North Korea 2013
/ref> in 2014 at

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 foo ...

, in 2015 at

Rungrado 1st of May Stadium The Rungrado 1st of May Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium occupying an area of on Rungra Island, Pyongyang, North Korea. It opened on 1 May 1989, with its first major event being the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It is the sec ...

, in 2016 at Sŏsan Stadium, and in 2017 once again at Rungrado Stadium.

List of champions

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

* 2015:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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 ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

: Ryomyong -- Qualfied for the

2019 AFC Cup The 2019 AFC Cup was the 16th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club association football, football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Al Ahed FC, Al-Ahed won the title for the first time, defeating 4.25 SC, ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Ryomyong *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

: Rimyongsu

References

The Chosun Jørn: Can Jørn Andersen Make Sense of North Korean Football?
{{National football Cups (AFC region) Football competitions in North Korea 2013 establishments in North Korea National association football cups