2023–24 Iraq Stars League

The 2023–24 Iraq Stars League was the 50th season of the highest tier football league in Iraq since its establishment in 1974, and the first season since launching as a professional league under the name Iraq Stars League. The season started on 26 October 2023 and ended on 14 July 2024, with the post-season play-offs held from 19–24 July 2024.^[1]

Iraq Stars League

Season	2023–24
Dates	26 October 2023 – 14 July 2024
Champions	Al-Shorta (7th title)
Relegated	Amanat Baghdad Naft Al-Wasat
AFC Champions League Elite	Al-Shorta
AFC Champions League Two	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League	Duhok
Matches	380
Goals	872 (2.29 per match)
Best Player	Mahmoud Al-Mawas
Top goalscorer	Aymen Hussein (27 goals)
Highest scoring	Karbala 3–5 Erbil (19 February 2024) Al-Shorta 4–4 Newroz (4 May 2024) Duhok 4–4 Al-Minaa (1 July 2024) Newroz 4–4 Erbil (14 July 2024)
Longest winning run	8 matches Al-Zawraa
Longest unbeaten run	23 matches Al-Shorta
Longest winless run	31 matches Naft Al-Wasat
Longest losing run	5 matches Al-Qasim Naft Al-Wasat
← 2022–23 (Iraqi Premier League) 2024–25 →

Al-Shorta won the league title for the third season in a row, sealing the title in the penultimate round of the season by defeating Duhok 1–0. Al-Shorta also won the Iraq FA Cup title to secure the domestic double.^[2]

Overview

20 teams competed in the 2023–24 Iraq Stars League: 18 teams from the 2022–23 Iraqi Premier League, as well as Al-Minaa and Amanat Baghdad who were promoted from the 2022–23 Iraqi First Division League and both returned to the top tier after a one-year absence.^[3][4]

Teams

Baghdad

Najaf

Basra

Al-Qasim

Erbil

Karbala

Newroz

Naft Maysan

Zakho

Duhok

Baghdad teams
Al-Hudood
Al-Kahrabaa
Al-Karkh
Al-Naft
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Al-Shorta
Al-Talaba
Al-Zawraa
Amanat Baghdad

Najaf teams
Al-Najaf
Naft Al-Wasat

Basra teams
Al-Minaa
Naft Al-Basra

Locations of the 2023–24 Iraq Stars League teams

Clubs and locations

Team	Manager	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Hudood	Adel Nima	Baghdad	Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium	5,150
Al-Kahrabaa	Luay Salah	Baghdad	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Al-Karkh	Haitham Shaaban	Baghdad	Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium	5,150
Al-Minaa	Hassan Ahmed	Basra	Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium	30,000
Al-Naft	Basim Qasim	Baghdad	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Al-Najaf	Abdul-Ghani Shahad	Najaf	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Al-Qasim	Ayman Hakeem	Babil	Karbala International Stadium	30,000
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Razzaq Farhan	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Shorta	Moamen Soliman	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Talaba	Qahtan Chathir	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	35,700
Al-Zawraa	Essam Hamad	Baghdad	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Amanat Baghdad	Abbas Obeid	Baghdad	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Duhok	Ahmed Khalaf	Duhok	Duhok Stadium	22,800
Erbil	Samir Babo	Erbil	Franso Hariri Stadium	25,000
Karbala	Chasib Sultan	Karbala	Karbala International Stadium	30,000
Naft Al-Basra	Haitham Al-Shaboul	Basra	Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium	30,000
Naft Al-Wasat	Emad Aoda	Najaf	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Naft Maysan	Ali Abdul-Jabbar	Maysan	Maysan Olympic Stadium	25,000
Newroz	Nizar Mahrous	Sulaymaniya	Sulaymaniya Stadium	15,000
Zakho	Talal Al-Bloushi	Duhok	Zakho International Stadium	20,000

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Shorta (C)	38	26	9	3	76	36	+40	87	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	38	24	10	4	68	32	+36	82	Qualification for the AFC Champions League Two group stage[a]
3	Al-Zawraa	38	21	12	5	54	23	+31	75	Qualification for the regional competition play-offs
4	Al-Najaf	38	19	10	9	45	28	+17	67[b]
5	Zakho	38	17	16	5	37	20	+17	67[b]
6	Duhok	38	14	16	8	41	33	+8	58	Qualification for the AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League group stage via the regional competition play-offs
7	Newroz	38	15	11	12	61	49	+12	56
8	Al-Talaba	38	13	14	11	40	38	+2	53
9	Al-Hudood	38	13	11	14	38	47	−9	50
10	Naft Maysan	38	10	17	11	41	40	+1	47
11	Al-Naft	38	10	16	12	37	44	−7	46
12	Al-Minaa	38	10	12	16	38	59	−21	42
13	Al-Kahrabaa	38	8	17	13	47	51	−4	41[c]
14	Erbil	38	9	14	15	46	50	−4	41[c]
15	Al-Karkh	38	7	18	13	36	45	−9	39
16	Karbala	38	8	13	17	39	60	−21	37
17	Al-Qasim	38	8	14	16	42	53	−11	35[d]	Qualification for the relegation play-out round
18	Naft Al-Basra	38	8	10	20	29	46	−17	34
19	Amanat Baghdad (R)	38	6	13	19	33	53	−20	31	Relegation to the Iraqi Premier Division League
20	Naft Al-Wasat (R)	38	1	13	24	24	65	−41	16

Source: IPFL
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) number of wins.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Since the winners of the 2023–24 Iraq FA Cup, Al-Shorta, qualified for the AFC Champions League Elite based on league position, the AFC Champions League Two spot was passed to the league runners-up Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.
2. Al-Najaf finished ahead of Zakho on head-to-head points: Zakho 1–1 Al-Najaf, Al-Najaf 2–1 Zakho.
3. Al-Kahrabaa finished ahead of Erbil on head-to-head goal difference: Erbil 1–0 Al-Kahrabaa, Al-Kahrabaa 3–1 Erbil.
4. Al-Qasim were deducted three points for withdrawing from their match away to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the 32nd minute.^[5]

Results

Home \ Away	HUD	KAH	KKH	MIN	NFT	NJF	QSM	QWJ	SHR	TLB	ZWR	AMN	DHK	ERB	KRB	NFB	NFW	NFM	NEW	ZAK
Al-Hudood		0–0	3–2	2–1	1–2	0–3	3–3	0–3	0–4	1–2	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–2	2–1	2–0	1–2	2–1	0–0
Al-Kahrabaa	1–1		2–2	2–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–1	3–1	0–1	3–1	3–0	1–0	1–1	1–3
Al-Karkh	0–1	3–3		4–1	0–0	0–3	1–1	0–1	1–4	1–1	0–3	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–1
Al-Minaa	1–1	1–3	1–3		0–0	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–3[a]	0–0	1–3	0–2	2–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	4–2	3–0	1–4	0–2
Al-Naft	0–2	3–2	2–2	1–1		2–1	3–2	1–4	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–0
Al-Najaf	1–0	1–0	3–2	2–0	1–0		1–0	0–1	2–2	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–2	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–1
Al-Qasim	1–0	3–3	0–0	0–0	2–3	1–2		1–1	2–3	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–3	2–1	0–1	3–0[b]	2–2	0–3	0–1	0–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3–2	2–0	1–0	4–2	2–0	1–0	3–0[c]		2–2	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	3–2	1–1	2–1	2–1
Al-Shorta	2–0	2–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–0	1–1		3–2	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	3–0	4–4	2–0
Al-Talaba	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	2–1		0–1	3–2	0–2	1–0	0–0	2–3	1–2	0–4	1–0	1–1
Al-Zawraa	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	0–2	1–1		0–0	3–0	3–0	5–2	3–0	2–0	3–1	0–2	1–1
Amanat Baghdad	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–2	0–1	0–2	1–2	0–2	1–2		2–2	1–3	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	0–0
Duhok	0–0	1–1	0–0	4–4	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	1–3	1–1	2–0		2–1	2–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	1–0	0–0
Erbil	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–4	2–4	0–0	0–1	4–1	1–1		4–1	0–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–2
Karbala	1–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–3	1–2	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	3–5		2–2	2–2	0–0	2–4	0–1
Naft Al-Basra	1–2	2–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–2	2–3	0–1	1–1	0–2	3–0	2–0	1–1	0–1		1–0	0–2	0–1	0–2
Naft Al-Wasat	1–2	0–2	1–2	0–0	0–4	1–2	1–1	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	1–1	2–2	0–2		0–2	0–4	1–2
Naft Maysan	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	0–4	2–3	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–3	1–1	3–0	1–2	0–0		2–2	2–0
Newroz	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–1	0–3	2–1	4–2	1–1	1–2	1–0	3–2	0–1	4–4	3–0	1–1	4–3	0–0		0–2
Zakho	1–1	0–2	0–0	3–1	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0

Source: IPFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.
Notes:

1. The Al-Minaa–Al-Shorta match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Shorta, as Al-Minaa started the game with only seven players and had their player Mohammed Khudhair go off injured in the eighth minute while Al-Shorta were leading 1–0.^[6]
2. The Al-Qasim–Naft Al-Basra match originally ended 0–0 but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Qasim due to Naft Al-Basra involving the player Qasim Mohammed, who had not been included in the squad list submitted for the match.^[7]
3. The Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya–Al-Qasim match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, after Al-Qasim withdrew from the game in protest at the referee awarding a penalty to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the 32nd minute while the score was 0–0.^[8]

Regional competition play-offs

The four teams that finished 3rd to 6th competed in a play-off tournament to decide Iraq's participant in the 2024–25 AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League. If a match ended in a draw after 90 minutes, there would be no extra time played and the game would go straight to a penalty shootout.^[9]

Play-off semi-finals

19 July 2024

19:30 UTC+3

Al-Zawraa	0–3 (Walkover)	Duhok

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

19 July 2024

19:30 UTC+3

Al-Najaf	0–0	Zakho
Penalties
Mestouri Mendy Sattar Hameed Dawood	4–3	Attwan Abid Gaúcho Zaki Kabwe

Al-Zawraa Stadium, Baghdad

Play-off final

23 July 2024

19:30 UTC+3

Duhok	1–0	Al-Najaf
Younis 37'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Duhok qualified for the 2024–25 AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League.

Relegation play-offs

Play-out round

The 17th and 18th-placed teams competed in a play-off, with the winner remaining in the Stars League and the loser advancing to the relegation play-off.

If the scores were level after 90 minutes, 30 minutes of extra time would be played. If the scores were still level after extra time, the 18th-placed team would advance to the relegation play-off due to their inferior league position.^[9]

20 July 2024

19:30 UTC+3

Al-Qasim	1–2	Naft Al-Basra
Gyan 10'		Salih 59' Raad 90'

Duhok Stadium, Duhok

Relegation play-off

The loser of the play-out round competed in a play-off with the 3rd-placed team from the Premier Division League for a place in next season's Stars League. If the match ended in a draw after 90 minutes, there would be no extra time played and the game would go straight to a penalty shootout.^[9]

24 July 2024

19:30 UTC+3

Al-Qasim	2–1	Peshmerga Sulaymaniya
Mhaisen 80' Abdul-Karim 90+6'		Jamal 72'

Al-Zawraa Stadium, Baghdad

Al-Qasim remained in the Iraq Stars League, while Peshmerga Sulaymaniya remained in the Iraqi Premier Division League.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals
1	Aymen Hussein	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	27
2	Mahmoud Al-Mawas	Al-Shorta	20
3	Alaa Al Dali	Naft Maysan	18
	Ibrahim Ghazi	Al-Hudood
5	Mohanad Ali	Al-Shorta	16
	Ibrahim Tomiwa	Newroz
	Mohammed Qasim Nassif	Erbil

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Alaa Al Dali	Naft Maysan	Al-Talaba	4–0 (A)[10]	4 November 2023
Alaa Al Dali	Naft Maysan	Al-Minaa	3–0 (H)[11]	1 December 2023
Aymen Hussein	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Minaa	4–2 (H)[12]	10 February 2024
Okiki Afolabi	Al-Naft	Naft Al-Wasat	4–0 (A)[13]	17 February 2024
Mohammed Qasim Nassif	Erbil	Karbala	5–3 (A)[14]	19 February 2024
Aymen Hussein	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Naft	4–1 (A)[15]	4 March 2024
Marwan Hussein	Newroz	Al-Minaa	4–1 (A)[16]	25 April 2024
Ibrahim Tomiwa	Newroz	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	4–2 (H)[17]	31 May 2024
William Jebor4	Al-Minaa	Naft Al-Wasat	4–2 (H)[18]	18 June 2024

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Awards

Award	Winner	Club
Player of the Season[19]	Mahmoud Al-Mawas	Al-Shorta
Goal of the Season[20][21]	Bassam Shakir	Al-Shorta