Fixtures
| Date | R | Home vs Away | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/26 18:30 | 1 |
Al Zawra'a vs Al Shorta SC
|
View |
| 02/26 18:30 | 20 | Zakho vs Al Gharraf | View |
| 02/28 18:00 | 20 | Naft Maysan vs Al Talaba | View |
| 02/28 18:00 | 20 | Al Qasim SC vs Al Karkh | View |
| 02/28 20:15 | 20 |
Al Quwa Al Jawiya vs Al Najaf
|
View |
| 03/01 18:00 | 20 | Al Minaa vs Al Karma | View |
| 03/01 18:00 | 20 | Amanat Baghdad vs Al Naft SC | View |
| 03/01 20:15 | 20 |
Erbil SC vs Diyala FC
|
View |
| 03/02 18:00 | 20 |
Duhok vs Newroz SC
|
View |
| 03/02 18:00 | 20 |
Al Shorta SC vs Al Kahrabaa
|
View |
| 03/02 20:15 | 20 |
Al Zawra'a vs Mosul FC
|
View |
Results
| Date | R | Home vs Away | - |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/22 20:15 | 19 |
[14] Amanat Baghdad vs Al Kahrabaa
[18]
|
0-5 |
| 02/22 18:00 | 19 | [8] Zakho vs Al Naft SC [16] | 2-0 |
| 02/21 20:15 | 19 |
[9] Al Karkh vs Al Zawra'a
[6]
|
3-1 |
| 02/21 20:15 | 19 | [4] Al Karma vs Naft Maysan [17] | 3-0 |
| 02/21 18:00 | 19 |
Al Qasim SC vs Erbil SC
|
0-2 |
| 02/21 18:00 | 19 | [16] Mosul FC vs Al Minaa [14] | 2-1 |
| 02/21 18:00 | 19 |
[2] Al Shorta SC vs Diyala FC
[10] |
2-1 |
| 02/20 20:15 | 19 |
[3] Al Talaba vs Al Quwa Al Jawiya
[1]
|
1-2 |
| 02/20 18:00 | 19 |
[11] Al Gharraf vs Duhok
[9]
|
4-3 |
| 02/20 18:00 | 19 | [15] Newroz SC vs Al Najaf [19] | 2-0 |
| 02/14 14:30 | 18 | [10] Diyala FC vs Al Karma [4] | 1-1 |
| 02/14 14:30 | 18 |
Al Najaf vs Al Kahrabaa
|
1-2 |
Teams
Duhok
Al Najaf
Zakho
Erbil SC
Al Qasim SC
Al Kahrabaa
Al Quwa Al Jawiya
Al Minaa
Al Talaba
Al Karkh
Al Naft SC
Diyala FC
Al Zawra'a
Al Karma
Al Shorta SC
Newroz SC
Naft Al-Basra
Karbalaa FC
Al Hudod
Al Gharraf
Amanat Baghdad
Mosul FC
Al Fahad
Al-Hussein Baghdad
Al Sinaah
Naft Al-Wasat
El Atesalat
Al Bahri
Kadhimiya SC
Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi SC
Wikipedia - Iraq Stars League
The Iraq Stars League (Arabic: دوري نجوم العراق, romanized: Dawrī Nujūm Al-'Irāq) is the highest level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraqi Premier Division League. It is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Association.
The league was formed by the Iraq Football Association in 1974 as the Iraqi National Clubs First Division League, the first nationwide league of clubs in Iraq, and later became known as the Iraqi Premier League. In 2023, the competition was rebranded as the Iraq Stars League and transitioned into a fully professional competition. The current format sees 20 teams playing 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season.
Of the 81 teams to have competed since the inception of the league in 1974, eleven have won the title. Al-Zawraa are the most successful club with 14 titles, followed by Al-Shorta (8), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (7) and Al-Talaba (5); these four clubs together contest the Baghdad derbies. The current league champions are Al-Shorta, who won their fourth consecutive title in the 2024–25 season.
History
Origins
Up until 1973, leagues in Iraq were contested at a regional level. The Central FA League, the Basra League and the Kirkuk League were all founded in 1948, while the Mosul League was founded in 1950. The first nationwide league to be held in the country was in the 1973–74 season when the Iraqi National First Division League was formed, with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya being crowned champions. The IFA then decided to replace the competition with a new National Clubs First Division League which would only be open to clubs and not institute-representative teams.
Foundation
The league held its first season in 1974–75 and was originally composed of ten clubs. The league's first ever goal was scored by Falah Hassan of Al-Tayaran (now known as Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya) in a 1–1 draw with Al-Sinaa. Al-Tayaran were crowned champions of the inaugural season which featured the following teams:
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"Stars League" formation
On 4 June 2023, Iraq Football Association (IFA) signed a three-year partnership agreement with Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (LaLiga) to transform the Iraqi Premier League into a professional league from the 2023–24 season. The competition is named the Iraq Stars League and is designed to meet the licensing criteria set down by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). A new association named the Iraqi Pro League Association, chaired by Javier Jiménez Sacristán and Matteo Mantovani, was formed to operate the competition and supervise the associated youth leagues. In addition, LaLiga began training an Iraqi management team to assume full operational control of the league once the partnership concludes. A start date of 26 October 2023 was set for the first Stars League season.
"Baghdad's Big Four" dominance
| Season | QWJ | SHR | TLB | ZWR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989–90 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 |
| 1990–91 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 1991–92 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 1992–93 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 1993–94 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
| 1994–95 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 1995–96 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| 1996–97 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 |
| 1997–98 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| 1998–99 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| 1999–2000 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2000–01 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| 2001–02 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Top four | 11 | 8 | 10 | 13 |
| out of 13 | ||||
| League champions | ||||
Since the league's inception, it has been dominated by the four biggest clubs in Baghdad: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Shorta, Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa, who together contest the Baghdad derbies. From the 1989–90 season until the 2005–06 season, the league was won by one of the four Baghdad teams every time.
After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, players started to leave the Baghdad-based clubs and join clubs in northern Iraq such as Erbil and Duhok due to the economic instability and security issues in the capital city. This migration of talent led to a shift in the dominance of the "Big Four" as Erbil won three consecutive league titles from 2007 to 2009 with Duhok winning the league in 2010. In the 2008–09 season, none of Baghdad's Big Four clubs finished in the top four and this is the only time that this has happened in the history of the league; the top four spots were occupied by Erbil, Al-Najaf, Duhok and Al-Amana. However, Baghdad's Big Four have since returned to dominating the league, having won all titles since 2015–16.