sports

The second round of the 2025-2026 DPRK men’s and women’s premier leagues has come to a close.

The second-round matches, which were fiercer than the first-round, have changed the deep-seated views of experts and fans on the relatively strong and weak teams.

Not a few games recorded unexpected results, and the team rankings changed significantly as the teams which had lagged behind others advanced.

In the men's league, the first place was taken by the Ryomyong Team which had won 19 points to be the fifth placer in the first round.

The team whose individual players have relatively high physical and technical abilities gave full play to its potential in each game, leaving a deep impression on the spectators.

In the second round, the Amnokgang Team was rated as a team well prepared physically, technically and tactically and great in spiritual strength and teamwork. The team scored 24 goals in the round, coming first in the goal rankings.

The Sonbong Team, the third placer in the second round, showed thrilling scoring scenes with its vigorous rhythm.

The Wolmido Team became the one which made a "miracle" in the second round.

The team has never been included even in the top six in recent years and was the lowest in the first-round rankings, but it rose to the fourth place in the second round.

The Rimyongsu Team, the ninth placer in the first round, also became the sixth in the second round.

The team, fast in advance for attack, attempted to score points by making a breach in the rival’s defence while frequently changing its attack directions.

A total of 186 goals were scored in the men's games, a decrease of 14 as compared to the first round, and the hat-tricks increased from two to four.

Women’s games, too, were fierce as differences in abilities between teams remarkably dwindled.

The April 25 Team took the first place in the second round again after the first one.

It is the only team which has so far established unbeaten records with the largest number of goals scored and the smallest number of goals allowed.

The Rimyongsu Team’s ability has remarkably improved.

The team unfortunately ranked third as it lagged behind the Pyongyang Team in terms of disparity between gains and losses, but it showed higher progress than in the first round.

The Jebi Team, the ninth placer in the first round, came fourth.

In the first round, it was one of the teams with many losses as it scored 17 goals while allowing 20. But at the end of the second round, its losses numbered eight, the next smallest to those of the April 25 and Pyongyang teams.

A total of 145 goals were scored in the women's games.

During the second round, 33 goals or 17.7% of 186 in the men's league and 29 goals or 20% of 145 in the women's league were scored nearly at the end of the games. Thus, the results of several matches overturned the expectations of the spectators at the end of them.

And male and female footballers played 66 and 55 matches respectively, scoring 29 and 10 penalty goals surpassing those in the first round. In particular, the penalty goals in the men's games are 15.6% of the total goals and 2.4 times more than those in the first round.