Football is one of the most popular sports, both in terms of participants and spectators, in Seoul. It hosted several of South Korea's leading football clubs and has the biggest football stadium in the country, the Seoul World Cup Stadium.

In June 1882, although the crew from HMS Flying Fish of the Royal Navy introduced the football in Port of Incheon, Regularized football introduction was the time of adoption of football as physical education course at National Seoul Foreign Language School in 1904 and the first official match in Korea was the game between Korea Sports Club and Korea YMCA at Seoul Dongdaemun Stadium in 1905.

In 1902, establishment of football team at Paichai Academy in Seoul (currently Paichai High School FC), There was a footballing boom throughout the Korea. that saw many football clubs and school teams formed by the 1910s. Also in Seoul, many famous football clubs like Bulgyo Cheongnyeonhoe (불교청년회, Buddhist Youth Club), Geongang Gurakbu (건강구락부, Health Club) and Joseon Football Culb (조선축구단) were founded between the 1910s and 1920s, and they usually had a rivalry against football clubs in Pyongyang, the second biggest city in Korea. In 1933 Kyungsung FC, named according to Seoul's alternate name, was formed and it was the only Korean club which won the Emperor's Cup in Japan.

Only counting the seasons, in which the franchises were based in Seoul.

The Seoul derbies started in 1990, with competing three football clubs: Ilhwa Chunma, LG Cheetahs and Yukong Elephants also participated in 1991. This derby was called Dongdaemun derby and first derby proper in K League. Many Korean football fans called Dongdaemun Derby because three clubs used Dongdaemun Stadium as their home together. The highlight match of the derbies was the K League 28-round match between Ilhwa Chunma and Yukong Elephants at Dongdaemun Stadium on 9 November 1994. This match was also famous for both teams' great goalkeepers: Valeri Sarychev of Ilhwa Chunma and Aleksandr Podshivalov of Yukong Elephants from Lev Yashin Club. Yukong Elephants beat Ilhwa Chunma 2–0 in this round, and took the derby with a one-point difference. The Seoul derbies stopped in 1995, due to the board of K League forcing the three original clubs out of the city in 1996.

• Seoul World Cup Stadium
• Seoul Olympic Stadium
• Mokdong Stadium
• Hyochang Stadium
• Dongdaemun Stadium

Seoul is the location of the headquarters of the Korea Football Association.^{[citation needed]}

• Football in South Korea