2025–26 Iraq Stars League

Iraq Stars League
Season2025–26
Dates13 September 2025 – TBD 2026
Top goalscorerSherzod Temirov (15 goals)
Biggest home winZakho 4–0 Newroz
(4 October 2025)
Al-Karma 4–0 Al-Kahrabaa
(25 October 2025)
Biggest away winAl-Qasim 1–7 Al-Shorta
(8 January 2026)
Highest scoringAl-Qasim 1–7 Al-Shorta
(8 January 2026)
All statistics correct as of 26 February 2026.

The 2025–26 Iraq Stars League is the 52nd season of the highest tier football league in Iraq since its establishment in 1974, and the third season since launching as a professional league under the name Iraq Stars League.[1] The season started on 13 September 2025.[2]

Overview

20 teams are competing in the 2025–26 Iraq Stars League: 17 teams from the previous season,[3] as well as Al-Mosul, Al-Gharraf and Amanat Baghdad who were promoted from the 2024–25 Iraqi Premier Division League, replacing Naft Al-Basra, Al-Hudood and Karbala who were relegated.[4] Al-Mosul are returning to the top-flight after a 14-year absence, while Amanat Baghdad are returning after a one-year absence. Al-Gharraf are playing in the top-flight for the first time in history this season.[5]

Teams

Locations of teams in the 2025–26 Iraq Stars League

Clubs and locations

Team Manager[6] Location Stadium Capacity
Al-Gharraf Haider Obeid Dhi Qar (Al-Gharraf) Al-Nasiriya International Stadium 20,000
Al-Kahrabaa Ahmed Abdul-Jabar Baghdad (Al-Wazireya Al-Sinaaiya) Al-Zawraa Stadium 15,443
Al-Karkh Ayman Hakeem Baghdad (Al-Mansour) Sharar Haidar Stadium 5,150
Al-Karma Essam Hamad Anbar (Al-Karma) Al-Jolan Stadium 6,000
Al-Minaa Hussein Abdul-Wahed Basra (Maqal) Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium 30,000
Al-Mosul Haitham Al-Shboul Mosul Duhok Stadium 22,800
Al-Naft Adel Nima Baghdad (Shaab) Sharar Haidar Stadium 5,150
Al-Najaf Chasib Sultan Najaf Al-Najaf International Stadium 30,000
Al-Qasim Haidar Aboodi Babil (Al-Qasim) Al-Najaf International Stadium 30,000
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Rashid Jaber Baghdad (Zayouna) Al-Shaab Stadium 35,700
Al-Shorta Moamen Soliman Baghdad (Al-Rusafa) Al-Shorta Stadium 10,089
Al-Talaba Alireza Mansourian Baghdad (Hayy Qahira) Al-Madina Stadium 32,000
Al-Zawraa Luay Salah Baghdad (Sheikh Maaruf, Al-Shaljiya) Al-Zawraa Stadium 15,443
Amanat Baghdad Ahmed Khalaf Baghdad (Al-Nahdha) Al-Madina Stadium 32,000
Diyala Yamen Zelfani Diyala (Baqubah) Diyala Stadium 10,000
Duhok Abdul-Ghani Shahad Duhok Duhok Stadium 22,800
Erbil Basim Qasim Erbil Franso Hariri Stadium 25,000
Naft Maysan Ali Abdul-Jabbar Maysan (Amarah) Maysan Olympic Stadium 25,000
Newroz Wali Kareem Sulaymaniyah Newroz Stadium 14,500
Zakho Ayoub Odisho Duhok (Zakho) Zakho International Stadium 20,000

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in the table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Al-Qasim Wamidh Munir Resigned 16 September 2025 20th Hassan Hadi 23 September 2025
Duhok Sérgio Farias Mutual consent 23 September 2025 18th Abdul-Ghani Shahad 14 October 2025
Al-Zawraa Abdul-Ghani Shahad Mutual consent 6 October 2025 16th Emad El Nahhas 11 October 2025
Naft Maysan Abdullah Abu Zema Mutual consent 7 October 2025 15th Hassan Ahmed 13 October 2025
Al-Karma Ahmed Khalaf Sacked 13 October 2025 8th Antonio Cazorla 13 October 2025
Al-Najaf Mohamed Azima Sacked 15 October 2025 19th Ali Abdul-Jabbar 15 October 2025
Newroz Yasin Aras Sacked 26 October 2025 16th Wali Kareem 28 October 2025
Al-Kahrabaa Radhi Shenaishil Resigned 26 October 2025 19th Ahmed Abdul-Jabar 28 October 2025
Al-Talaba Talal Al-Bloushi Mutual consent 8 November 2025 11th Alireza Mansourian 28 November 2025
Amanat Baghdad Essam Hamad Resigned 9 November 2025 15th Ahmed Khalaf 28 November 2025
Al-Najaf Ali Abdul-Jabbar Resigned 24 January 2026 19th Qahtan Chathir 25 January 2026
Al-Qasim Hassan Hadi Sacked 26 January 2026 20th Haidar Aboodi 1 February 2026
Al-Mosul Chasib Sultan Sacked 28 January 2026 15th Haitham Al-Shboul 28 January 2026
Zakho Wesam Rizik Sacked 13 February 2026 8th Ayoub Odisho 13 February 2026
Al-Najaf Qahtan Chathir Resigned 20 February 2026 19th Chasib Sultan 3 March 2026
Al-Minaa Luay Salah Resigned 22 February 2026 15th Hussein Abdul-Wahed 27 February 2026
Al-Zawraa Emad El Nahhas Mutual consent 24 February 2026 6th Luay Salah 25 February 2026
Naft Maysan Hassan Ahmed Sacked 24 February 2026 17th Ali Abdul-Jabbar 25 February 2026
Al-Karma Antonio Cazorla Sacked 2 March 2026 3rd Essam Hamad 3 March 2026

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 19 13 4 2 25 10 +15 43 Qualification for the AFC Champions League Elite league stage
2 Al-Shorta 18 13 2 3 34 12 +22 41 Qualification for the AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League group stage[a]
3 Al-Karma 19 11 5 3 26 10 +16 38
4 Erbil 19 11 4 4 24 16 +8 37
5 Zakho 20 10 6 4 28 15 +13 36
6 Al-Talaba 19 10 4 5 25 16 +9 34
7 Al-Zawraa 18 8 7 3 23 15 +8 31
8 Al-Karkh 19 8 7 4 27 21 +6 31
9 Al-Gharraf 20 8 5 7 22 19 +3 29
10 Diyala 19 7 7 5 23 22 +1 28
11 Duhok 19 7 6 6 22 18 +4 27
12 Newroz 19 7 1 11 21 26 −5 22
13 Al-Mosul 19 6 4 9 18 27 −9 22
14 Al-Naft 18 5 6 7 18 18 0 21
15 Amanat Baghdad 18 6 3 9 20 28 −8 21
16 Al-Minaa 19 4 6 9 20 23 −3 18
17 Al-Kahrabaa 19 5 3 11 20 27 −7 18
18 Naft Maysan 19 4 4 11 22 35 −13 16 Qualification for the relegation play-off
19 Al-Najaf 19 3 1 15 15 34 −19 10 Relegation to the Iraqi Premier Division League
20 Al-Qasim 19 0 1 18 5 46 −41 1
Updated to match(es) played on 26 February 2026. 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.
Notes:
  1. ^ If the winners of the Iraq FA Cup finish in the top two places in the league, the league runners-up will instead qualify for the AFC Champions League Two group stage, and the AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League spot will be passed down to the league's third-placed team.

Results

Home \ Away GHA KAH KKH KRM MIN MSL NFT NJF QSM QWJ SHR TLB ZWR AMN DYL DHK ERB NFM NEW ZAK
Al-Gharraf 3–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 3–2 4–3 0–1 0–0
Al-Kahrabaa 0–1 3–0[a] 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–3
Al-Karkh 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 3–0
Al-Karma 4–0 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 3–0 0–0
Al-Minaa 0–1 1–2 0–2 0–0 4–2 2–0 a 1–1 1–3 1–1
Al-Mosul 1–3 2–1 2–1 0–1 1–3 0–3[b] 0–2 1–1 0–2
Al-Naft 1–0 1–2 0–0 3–0[c] 0–0 3–0 2–1 1–2
Al-Najaf 0–3 1–2 0–0 3–0[d] 0–2 1–0 0–1 2–4 1–2
Al-Qasim 2–3 0–3 1–7 0–3 0–2 0–1 0–3 0–2 0–3
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–1 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 a a 2–1 0–2 2–1 2–1
Al-Shorta 3–0 1–0 3–0 2–1 a a a 3–0[e] 2–0 2–1 3–2 1–0
Al-Talaba 3–1 2–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–0 a 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–0
Al-Zawraa 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 4–2
Amanat Baghdad 0–5 1–1 0–0 0–3 0–1 0–2 2–1 2–1 1–2 3–0[f] 4–1
Diyala 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–3[g] 3–0 1–1 1–1 2–1
Duhok 2–3 0–1 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0
Erbil 2–1 2–1 3–1 3–2 0–0 1–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–1
Naft Maysan 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–3 2–1 2–2 1–1 2–2 0–2
Newroz 3–2 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–2 0–1 1–2
Zakho 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–1 4–0
Updated to match(es) played on 26 February 2026. 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-Kahrabaa–Al-Qasim match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Kahrabaa, as Al-Qasim started the game with only eight players and had two of their players go off injured after eleven minutes while Al-Kahrabaa were leading 2–0.[7]
  2. ^ The Al-Mosul–Diyala match originally ended in a 2–2 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Diyala due to Al-Mosul fielding seven foreign players on the field at the same time, which exceeded the maximum number of foreign players allowed to be on the field at one time (six players).[8]
  3. ^ The Al-Naft–Al-Talaba match originally ended in a 0–0 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Naft due to Al-Talaba player Mustafa Maan wearing a different shirt number (34) than he was registered with for the match (32).[9]
  4. ^ The Al-Najaf–Al-Qasim match originally ended in a 1–1 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Najaf due to Al-Qasim violating the rules by making late changes to their lineup within the submission system.[10]
  5. ^ The Al-Shorta–Diyala match originally ended in a 2–1 win for Al-Shorta but was changed to a 3–0 win for the same team due to Diyala fielding seven foreign players on the field at the same time, which exceeded the maximum number of foreign players allowed to be on the field at one time (six players).[11]
  6. ^ The Amanat Baghdad–Erbil match originally ended in a 1–1 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Amanat Baghdad due to Erbil fielding seven foreign players on the field at the same time, which exceeded the maximum number of foreign players allowed to be on the field at one time (six players).[12]
  7. ^ The Diyala–Al-Minaa match originally ended in a 0–0 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Minaa due to Diyala violating the rules by making late changes to their lineup within the submission system.[13]

Relegation play-off

The 18th-placed team in the Stars League will compete in a play-off with the winner of the play-out round between the 3rd and 4th-placed teams from the Premier Division League for a place in next season's Stars League. If the match ends in a draw after 90 minutes, there will be no extra time played and the game will go straight to a penalty shootout.[14]

v

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 Sherzod Temirov Erbil 15
2 Kingsley Fidelis Kuku Al-Gharraf 13
3 Leonel Ateba Al-Shorta 12
4 Alaa Al Dali Al-Mosul 11
5 Younis Humoud Al-Karkh 10
Peter Gwargis Duhok

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Reference
Leonel Ateba Al-Shorta Al-Karkh 3–0 (H) 20 November 2025 [15]
Kingsley Fidelis Kuku Al-Gharraf Amanat Baghdad 3–2 (H) 26 January 2026 [16]
Lucas Santos Al-Kahrabaa Amanat Baghdad 5–0 (A) 22 February 2026 [17]
Sherzod Temirov Erbil Al-Minaa 3–2 (H) 13 March 2026 [18]
Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Awards

Manager of the Month

Month Manager Team Reference
October Basim Qasim Erbil [19]
November Chasib Sultan Al-Mosul [20]
December Abdul-Ghani Shahad Duhok [21]
January Antonio Cazorla Al-Karma [22]
February Rashid Jaber Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya [23]

References

  1. ^ "الدوري العراقي ينطلق في 13 سبتمبر" (in Arabic). Al-Khaleej. 25 August 2025.
  2. ^ "تحديد موعد انطلاق الموسم الجديد لدوري نجوم العراق حيث سينطلق بتاريخ ٢٠٢٥/٩/١٣ وينتهي ٢٠٢٦/٦/١ " (in Arabic). IQ Pro Players. 19 June 2025.
  3. ^ "الدوري العراقي يعزز قوته بـ7 نجوم من منتخب الأردن المتأهل لكأس العالم" (in Arabic). Al-Jazeera. 10 August 2025.
  4. ^ "رئيس الوزراء يهنئ ناديي الموصل والغراف لتأهلهما إلى دوري نجوم العراق" (in Arabic). INA. 6 July 2025.
  5. ^ "دوري نجوم العراق.. 5 معلومات قبل انطلاق الموسم الجديد" (in Arabic). Al-Ain. 21 August 2025.
  6. ^ "صراع تدريبي بين مدارس مختلفة في الدوري العراقي" (in Arabic). Al-Khaleej. 26 August 2025.
  7. ^ "لعدم وجود بدلاء.. الحكم ينهي مباراة القاسم والكهرباء في الدوري العراقي" (in Arabic). Erem News. 23 December 2025.
  8. ^ "نادي النجف يعلن عن كسب قرار الاستئناف بخصوص مباراتهم مع نفط البصرة وكسبهم ثلاثديالى يتصدر الدوري العراقي بقرار من لجنة الانضباط" (in Arabic). Al-Khaleej. 9 October 2025.
  9. ^ "الانضباط تعد الطلبة خاسراً أمام النفط 0-3" (in Arabic). Iraqi Media Network. 29 September 2025.
  10. ^ "الانضباط تعد نادي القاسم خاسراً أمام النجف ضمن دوري النجوم" (in Arabic). Shafaq. 10 February 2026.
  11. ^ "بأمر لجنة الانضباط.. ديالى خاسر أمام الشرطة في دوري نجوم العراق" (in Arabic). Shafaq. 27 February 2026.
  12. ^ "بسبب المحترفين.. أربيل "خاسراً" أمام نادي أمانة بغداد في دوري النجوم" (in Arabic). Shafaq. 4 February 2026.
  13. ^ "لجنة الانضباط تقرر فوز الميناء على ديالى" (in Arabic). Al-Khaleej. 19 November 2025.
  14. ^ "دوري نجوم العراق 2025- 2026.. موسم جديد بتقنيات أوروبية ووداع لعقد الأزمات" (in Arabic). Obersever Iraq. 25 August 2025.
  15. ^ "قبل موقعة الهلال.. أتيبا يقود الشرطة العراقي لإسقاط الكرخ" (in Arabic). Kooora. 20 November 2025.
  16. ^ "نجوم العراق.. الغراف يهزم أمانة بغداد بـ"هاتريك" من ركلات الجزاء" (in Arabic). Shafaq. 26 January 2026.
  17. ^ "دوري النجوم.. نادي الكهرباء يصعق أمانة بغداد بخماسية" (in Arabic). Shafaq. 22 February 2026.
  18. ^ "الزوراء يتعادل مع نفط ميسان وأربيل يتغلب على الميناء بدوري النجوم" (in Arabic). Iraqi News Agency. 13 March 2026.
  19. ^ "باسم قاسم يُتوج بلقب مدرب شهر أكتوبر" (in Arabic). Iraq Stars League. 5 November 2025.
  20. ^ "مدرب الموصل جاسب سلطان.. بصمة فنية تحصد لقب الأفضل في نوفمبر" (in Arabic). Iraq Stars League. 7 December 2025.
  21. ^ "عبد الغني شهد يُتوج بجائزة أفضل مدرب لشهر ديسمبر" (in Arabic). Iraq Stars League. 2 January 2026.
  22. ^ "أنطونيو كازورلا يتوَّج بجائزة مدرب الشهر، بعد انتصارات متتالية وضعت فريقه في الصدارة" (in Arabic). Iraq Stars League. 30 January 2026.
  23. ^ "مدرب القوة الجوية رشيد جابر يتوج بلقب مدرب الشهر" (in Arabic). Iraq Stars League. 1 March 2026.
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