The 2016 Hwaebul Cup was the fourth edition of the Hwaebul Cup (홰불, Torch) celebrating North Korea's Youth Day. The competition was held between 27 July and 28 August 2016, with all matches played at the Sŏsan Stadium 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. April 25 won the title for the fourth straight time.
Round and dates
Group stage
Thirteen teams took part in the group stage: : Amrokkang, April 25, Chebi, February 8, Hwaebul, Kyŏnggong'ŏp, Myohyangsan, Rimyŏngsu, Ryong'aksan, Ryongnamsan, Sobaeksu, Sŏnbong, and Wŏlmido. The teams drawn into two groups, with six teams in Group A and seven in Group B; February 8 and Ryongaksan were in Group B.
Matches began on 27 July 2016, with Sobaeksu, Sŏnbong, Amrokkang and Ryong'aksan each starting their campaigns with wins; Sobaeksu started off by winning their first two matches, Hwaebul, Rimyŏngsu, April 25, and Kyŏnggong'ŏp each started off with a win and a draw.
Group A
Table based on known results. The first- and second-placed teams advanced to the semi-finals. Hwaebul won the group, and Sobaeksu finished second.
Known results
Despite the heavy rain, Sobaeksu dominated Amrokkang right from the start, going up 1-0 early, then extending their lead to 2-0 shortly before the half on a penalty. After the restart, Sobaeksu added another goal to make it 3–0, but Amrokkang spoiled the clean sheet with a late goal, finishing the match at 3–1.
This was one of the last of the group stage matches. Myohyangsan opened the scoring in the tenth minute, with a long cross from number 14 on the left side to centre, where Jong Chol-min headed the ball into the net. They kept the pressure up, making numerous fast attacks. Ryongnamsan managed several attacks as well; towards the half-hour mark, Myohyangsan took advantage of Ryongnamsan's all-men-up posture, with number 10 seizing the ball in midfield to start a quick counterattack. He delivered a long pass to the rushing Ri Hyon-song, who dummied the last defender as well as the goaltender and shot the ball into the undefended net to extend his side's lead to 2–0 on the 30th minute. The second half, however, belonged entirely to Ryongnamsan in terms of ball possession and shots on net, but were unable to convert any of their chances, and the match ended 2–0 in favour of Myohyangsan.
Group B
Table based on known results. Sŏnbong started out strong, winning their first two matches, but eventually slowed down, with April 25 and Kyŏnggong'ŏp finishing first and second and advancing to the semi-finals.
Known results
April 25 began the match with an offensive stature, attempting to make quick breaks up either wing; Kyŏnggong'ŏp had set themselves up defensively, looking to take advantage of opportunities for quick counter-attacks. April 25 dominated the first half, having had possession of the ball for 80% of the opening 45 minutes, and having four corner kicks and six shots on goal, compared to Kyŏnggong'ŏp's 20% possession with only a single shot on goal and a single corner. They were, however, solid on defence, and April 25 were unable to take advantage of their superiority. Kyŏnggong'ŏp started the second half off with several bold, but fruitless attacks, but towards the end of the match April 25 was back on the offensive, though remained incapable of breaching Kyŏnggong'ŏp's defence. In the 88th minute, Kyŏnggong'ŏp advanced on a sudden counter-attack to score, but the goal was disallowed as off-side, and the match ended 0-0.
This match was a back-and-forth affair, but neither side was able to convert any of their chances until the 83rd minute, when Kyŏnggong'ŏp managed to break the deadlock with what proved to be the decisive goal.