List of Iraqi football champions

The Iraqi football champions are the winners of the highest league in Iraqi football. Following the establishment of the Iraq Football Association (IFA) in 1948, a regional league called the Iraq Central FA Premier League was held for teams from Baghdad and its neighbouring cities, alongside other regional leagues including the Basra, Kirkuk and Mosul leagues. These regional league championships lasted until 1973,^[1] when the IFA established the first nationwide football league in Iraq by the name of Iraqi National First Division, which featured a mixture of clubs and institute teams.

Iraqi League (1st tier)
Iraqi National First Division (1973–1974) Iraq Stars League (1974–present)
Country
Iraq
Founded
1973
Number of teams
20 (since 2014–15 season)
Current champions
Al-Shorta (2022–23)
Most successful club
Al-Zawraa (14 championships)

After one season, a new clubs-only league competition was established, with many of the institute teams merging together or being replaced by sports clubs. The first season saw Al-Tayaran (now known as Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya) achieving the league title.^[2] The four "Popular Teams" of Baghdad (Al-Zawraa, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Shorta and Al-Talaba), have dominated the now-called Iraq Stars League over the years. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Shorta have appeared in every season of the top-flight, while Al-Zawraa and Al-Talaba have also never been relegated.^[2]

Al-Zawraa have won 14 titles, the most of any club.^[3] Erbil are the only club outside of Baghdad to achieve more than one title, having won four titles, all in the 21st century.^[4][5]

List of champions

Key to list of winners

†	Champions also won the Iraq FA Cup that season for a double
*	Champions also won the Iraq FA Cup and Arab Club Champions Cup that season for a treble
†	Champions also won the Iraq FA Cup and Umm al-Ma'arik Championship that season for a domestic treble
‡	Champions also won the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship that season
#	Champions also won the AFC Cup that season

1973–1974: Iraqi National First Division

Season	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Winning manager
1973–74	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Aliyat Al-Shorta	Al-Minaa	Abdelilah Mohammed Hassan

1974–present: Iraq Stars League

Season	Champions (number of titles)	Runners-up	Third place	Winning manager
Iraqi National Clubs League
1974–75	Al-Tayaran^[a] (2)	Al-Naqil	Al-Muwasalat	Abdelilah Mohammed Hassan
1975–76	Al-Zawraa^†	Al-Tayaran	Al-Shorta	Saadi Salih
1976–77	Al-Zawraa (2)	Al-Jamiea	Al-Shorta	Saadi Salih
1977–78	Al-Minaa	Al-Zawraa	Al-Sinaa	Jamil Hanoon
1978–79	Al-Zawraa (3)^†	Al-Shorta	Al-Talaba	Anwar Jassam
1979–80	Al-Shorta	Al-Zawraa	Al-Talaba	Douglas Aziz
1980–81	Al-Talaba	Al-Shorta	Al-Tayaran	Ammo Baba
1981–82	Al-Talaba (2)	Al-Tayaran	Al-Sinaa	Jamal Salih
1982–83	Salahaddin	Al-Talaba	Al-Tayaran	Wathiq Naji
1983–84	Al-Jaish	Al-Talaba	Al-Tayaran	Munthir Al-Waadh
1984–85	Cancelled due to FIFA World Cup qualification
1985–86	Al-Talaba (3)	Al-Rasheed	Al-Tayaran	Yahya Alwan
1986–87	Al-Rasheed^*	Al-Jaish	Al-Shabab	Nasrat Nassir
1987–88	Al-Rasheed (2)^*	Al-Jaish	Al-Tayaran	Jamal Salih
Iraqi Pan-National Clubs League
1988–89	Al-Rasheed (3)	Al-Talaba	Al-Tayaran	Jamal Salih
Iraqi National Clubs League
1989–90	Al-Tayaran^[a] (3)	Al-Rasheed	Al-Shorta	Amer Jameel
1990–91	Al-Zawraa (4)^†	Al-Talaba	Al-Shorta	Falah Hassan
1991–92	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (4)^†	Al-Zawraa	Al-Karkh	Adil Yousef
1992–93	Al-Talaba (4)^‡	Al-Zawraa	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Ayoub Odisho
1993–94	Al-Zawraa (5)^†	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Talaba	Ammo Baba
1994–95	Al-Zawraa (6)^†	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Najaf	Hadi Mutanash
Iraqi Advanced League
1995–96	Al-Zawraa (7)^†	Al-Najaf	Al-Shorta	Adnan Hamad
Iraqi Premier League
1996–97	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (5)^†	Al-Zawraa	Al-Talaba	Ayoub Odisho
1997–98	Al-Shorta (2)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Zawraa	Abdelilah Abdul-Hameed
1998–99	Al-Zawraa (8)^†	Al-Talaba	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Amer Jameel
Iraqi First Division League
1999–2000	Al-Zawraa (9)^†	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shorta	Adnan Hamad
Iraqi Elite League
2000–01	Al-Zawraa (10)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shorta	Sabah Abdul-Jalil
2001–02	Al-Talaba (5)^†	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shorta	Thair Ahmed
Iraqi First Division League
2002–03	Cancelled due to the Iraq War
Iraqi Premier League
2003–04	Cancelled due to scheduling and security issues
2004–05	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (6)	Al-Minaa	Al-Talaba	Sabah Abdul-Jalil
2005–06	Al-Zawraa (11)	Al-Najaf	Erbil	Salih Radhi
2006–07	Erbil	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Najaf	Akram Salman
2007–08	Erbil (2)	Al-Zawraa	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Thair Ahmed
2008–09	Erbil (3)	Al-Najaf	Duhok	Thair Ahmed
2009–10	Duhok	Al-Talaba	Al-Zawraa	Basim Qasim
Iraqi Elite League
2010–11	Al-Zawraa (12)	Erbil	Al-Sinaa	Radhi Shenaishil
2011–12	Erbil (4)	Duhok	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Nizar Mahrous
2012–13	Al-Shorta (3)	Erbil	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Thair Jassam
Iraqi Premier League
2013–14	Ended prematurely without awarding title
2014–15	Naft Al-Wasat	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shorta	Abdul-Ghani Shahad
2015–16	Al-Zawraa (13)	Naft Al-Wasat	Al-Talaba	Basim Qasim
2016–17	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (7)^#	Al-Naft	Al-Shorta	Basim Qasim
2017–18	Al-Zawraa (14)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Naft	Ayoub Odisho
2018–19	Al-Shorta (4)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Zawraa	Nebojša Jovović
2019–20	Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (8)^†	Al-Zawraa	Al-Najaf	Ayoub Odisho
2021–22	Al-Shorta (5)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Talaba	Moamen Soliman
2022–23	Al-Shorta (6)	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Zawraa	Ahmed Salah
Iraq Stars League
2023–24	To be determined

Total titles won

There are 11 clubs who have won the Iraqi title.

Teams in bold compete in the Stars League as of the 2023–24 season.

Rank	Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
1	Al-Zawraa	14	7	1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2010–11, 2015–16, 2017–18
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	8	14	1973–74, 1974–75, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2004–05, 2016–17, 2020–21
3	Al-Shorta	6	2	1979–80, 1997–98, 2012–13, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
4	Al-Talaba	5	7	1980–81, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1992–93, 2001–02
5	Erbil	4	2	2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2011–12
6	Al-Rasheed	3	2	1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89
7	Al-Jaish	1	2	1983–84
	Al-Minaa	1	1	1977–78
	Duhok	1	1	2009–10
	Naft Al-Wasat	1	1	2014–15
	Salahaddin	1	0	1982–83

Titles won by club (%)

  Al-Zawraa – 14 (31%)

  Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya – 8 (18%)

  Al-Shorta – 6 (13%)

  Al-Talaba – 5 (11%)

  Erbil – 4 (9%)

  Al-Rasheed – 3 (7%)

  Other clubs – 5 (11%)

By region

Region	Championships	Clubs
Baghdad	37	Al-Zawraa (14), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (8), Al-Shorta (6), Al-Talaba (5), Al-Rasheed (3), Al-Jaish (1)
Kurdistan	5	Erbil (4), Duhok (1)
South	1	Al-Minaa (1)
Central	1	Salahaddin (1)
Central Euphrates	1	Naft Al-Wasat (1)

By city

City / Town	Championships	Clubs
Baghdad	37	Al-Zawraa (14), Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (8), Al-Shorta (6), Al-Talaba (5), Al-Rasheed (3), Al-Jaish (1)
Erbil	4	Erbil (4)
Basra	1	Al-Minaa (1)
Duhok	1	Duhok (1)
Najaf	1	Naft Al-Wasat (1)
Tikrit	1	Salahaddin (1)

See also

• For Iraqi women's football champions, see Iraqi Women's Football League: List of champions
• Iraq Central FA Premier League
• Iraq FA Basra Premier League
• Iraq FA Kirkuk Premier League
• Iraqi National First Division
• Iraq Stars League

Notes

1. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were known as Al-Tayaran from 1974 until 1991.

References

1. "Story of the Iraqi Football League". Kooora Forums (in Arabic). Abu Baqer Al-Ahmed. 11 February 2007.
2. Hashim, Refel. "Iraq 1975/76". RSSSF.
3. Al-Nasser, Falah (22 May 2016). "Al-Zawra'a Are the Champions of the Premier League for the 13th Time in Their History". As-Sabah Al-Jadeed (in Arabic).
4. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974–2011. Iraq.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
5. Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links

• Iraq Football Association