1988–89 Iraqi Pan-National League

The 1988–89 Iraqi Pan-National Clubs First Division League was the 15th season of the competition since its foundation in 1974 and the first that was played in a group stage format rather than a round-robin format. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi National Clubs League to Iraqi Pan-National Clubs League. Al-Rasheed won the title by defeating Al-Talaba on penalties in the final, to become the first team to win three Premier League titles in a row.

Iraqi Pan-National League

Season	1988–89
Champions	Al-Rasheed (3rd title)
Relegated	Al-Minaa Al-Nasr Wahid Huzairan Al-Tijara Al-Mosul Diyala Al-Nasiriya Salahaddin Al-Jamahir Al-Samawa Duhok Babil Al-Hurriya Sulaymaniya Al-Diwaniya Al-Numaniya
Asian Club Championship	Al-Rasheed
Arab Club Champions Cup	Al-Tayaran
Arab Cup Winners' Cup	Al-Rasheed
Top goalscorer	Karim Saddam (22 goals)
← 1987–88 (Iraqi National League) 1989–90 (Iraqi National League) →

During the regional stage, if a match ended in a draw, it would go to extra time and then penalties if necessary. A team would earn three points if they won a game by two goals or more after normal time, two points if they won a game by one goal or in extra time, and one point if they won a penalty shootout.^[1][2]

Regional stage

North Group

Team	Result
Erbil	Qualified to National Stage
Wahid Huzairan
Al-Mosul	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division
Salahaddin
Duhok
Sulaymaniya

Central Group

Team	Result
Al-Najaf	Qualified to National Stage
Al-Nasr
Diyala	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division
Al-Jamahir
Babil
Al-Diwaniya

South Group

Team	Result
Al-Bahri	Qualified to National Stage
Al-Minaa
Al-Nasiriya	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division
Al-Samawa
Al-Hurriya
Al-Numaniya

Baghdad Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	PW	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Zawraa	20	14	3	3	38	21	+17	8	39	Qualified to National Stage
2	Al-Rasheed	20	14	1	5	34	13	+21	8	37
3	Al-Tayaran	20	11	4	5	40	29	+11	5	31
4	Al-Talaba	20	11	2	7	30	21	+9	4	28
5	Al-Shorta	20	9	3	8	17	16	+1	0	21
6	Al-Jaish	20	8	1	11	29	26	+3	3	20
7	Al-Shabab	20	5	3	12	19	28	−9	2	15
8	Al-Sulaikh	20	2	6	12	16	28	−12	2	12
9	Al-Sinaa	20	5	0	15	12	23	−11	1	11
10	Al-Naft	20	5	0	15	18	30	−12	0	10
11	Al-Tijara	20	3	0	17	21	39	−18	1	7	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division

Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
Rules for classification: 1 bonus point was awarded for each game won by 2 or more goals in normal time.

Results

Home \ Away	JSH	NFT	RSH	SHB	SHR	SIN	SUL	TLB	TAY	TJR	ZWR
Al-Jaish		2–2[a]	1–3	2–0	1–2	0–1	2–0	4–4[b]	0–0[c]	1–0	1–2
Al-Naft	1–2		2–1	0–2	0–0[d]	1–0	1–1[e]	0–4	1–2	3–2[f]	0–2
Al-Rasheed	1–1[g]	2–0		2–1	2–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–1[h]
Al-Shabab	0–1	2–1	1–1[i]		0–1	0–0[j]	1–0	2–0	2–3	3–2	0–1
Al-Shorta	1–2	1–1[k]	1–0	1–0		1–0[l]	0–0[m]	1–0[n]	1–0	1–0	2–2[o]
Al-Sinaa	0–2	2–1	0–2	1–1[p]	1–0		2–0	1–1[q]	1–2	1–0	0–2
Al-Sulaikh	1–1[r]	0–1	0–1	2–0	1–1[s]	1–1[t]		1–1[u]	0–1	1–1[v]	2–3
Al-Talaba	1–0	2–0	1–2	3–1	3–2[w]	1–0	1–0		1–0	2–1	2–1[x]
Al-Tayaran	4–2	2–2[y]	3–2	2–2[z]	2–0	2–0	2–5	1–0		7–2	3–1
Al-Tijara	2–3	0–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–3	1–1[aa]		3–4
Al-Zawraa	1–1[ab]	1–0	0–2	3–1	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	3–2	3–1

Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. Al-Jaish won 4–2 on penalties.
2. 3–3 after normal time; 4–4 after extra time; Al-Talaba won 5–4 on penalties.
3. Al-Tayaran won 3–2 on penalties.
4. Al-Shorta won 6–5 on penalties.
5. Al-Sulaikh won 4–3 on penalties.
6. 2–2 after normal time; 3–2 to Al-Naft after extra time.
7. Al-Rasheed won 5–3 on penalties.
8. Al-Zawraa won 3–2 on penalties.
9. Al-Shabab won 5–4 on penalties.
10. Al-Shabab won 4–3 on penalties.
11. Al-Shorta won 4–3 on penalties.
12. 0–0 after normal time; 1–0 to Al-Shorta after extra time.
13. Al-Sulaikh won 4–3 on penalties.
14. 0–0 after normal time; 1–0 to Al-Shorta after extra time.
15. Al-Zawraa won 4–2 on penalties.
16. Al-Shabab won 3–1 on penalties.
17. Al-Talaba won 4–3 on penalties.
18. Al-Sulaikh won 6–5 on penalties.
19. Al-Shorta won 4–3 on penalties.
20. Al-Sulaikh won 3–1 on penalties.
21. Al-Sulaikh won 5–4 on penalties.
22. Al-Sulaikh won 3–2 on penalties.
23. 2–2 after normal time; 3–2 to Al-Talaba after extra time.
24. 1–1 after normal time; 2–1 to Al-Talaba after extra time.
25. Al-Tayaran won 5–4 on penalties.
26. Al-Tayaran won 6–5 on penalties.
27. Al-Tayaran won 5–4 on penalties.
28. Al-Zawraa won 7–6 on penalties.

National stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		ZWR	TLB	ERB	MIN	NSR
1	Al-Zawraa	4	4	0	0	11	3	+8	8	Qualified to Semi-finals			3–1	3–1	2–1	3–0
2	Al-Talaba	4	3	0	1	9	4	+5	6					3–0		3–0
3	Erbil	4	1	1	2	2	6	−4	3						1–0
4	Al-Minaa	4	1	0	3	4	6	−2	2	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division			1–2			2–1
5	Al-Nasr	4	0	1	3	1	8	−7	1					0–0

Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation		TAY	RSH	BHR	NJF	WHZ
1	Al-Tayaran	4	4	0	0	10	2	+8	8	Qualified to Semi-finals				2–0	3–0	3–1
2	Al-Rasheed	4	2	1	1	10	3	+7	5			1–2		4–0	5–1	0–0
3	Al-Bahri	4	1	1	2	5	7	−2	3						1–1	4–0
4	Al-Najaf	4	1	1	2	3	9	−6	3							1–0
5	Wahid Huzairan	4	0	1	3	1	8	−7	1	Relegated to Iraqi National Second Division

Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive

Golden stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	26 April 1989
	Al-Zawraa	1 (2)
					28 April 1989
	Al-Rasheed (p)	1 (4)
					Al-Rasheed (p)	1 (5)
	26 April 1989
					Al-Talaba	1 (4)
	Al-Tayaran	1 (5)
	Al-Talaba (p)	1 (6)
					Third place
					27 April 1989
					Al-Tayaran	4
					Al-Zawraa	1

Semi-finals

26 April 1989

Al-Zawraa	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Rasheed
Hamza		Radhi
Penalties
K. Saddam Hamza Naji Abid Nader	2–4	Hashim L. Hussein Karim Allawi Qais N. Saddam

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

26 April 1989

Al-Tayaran	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Talaba
Abdul-Kadhim		Saeed
Penalties
Khalil Allawi Kareem Mahdi Jassim E. Jassim Mohammed Jassim Hadi Abdul-Kadhim	5–6	Saeed Mutashar Makki Resan Mohammed Jeayer Yaseen

Al-Kashafa Stadium, Baghdad

Third place match

27 April 1989

Al-Tayaran	4–1	Al-Zawraa
H. Ibrahim Khalil Allawi M. Ibrahim		Khalil

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Final

28 April 1989

Al-Rasheed	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Talaba
Abdul-Abbas		A. Hussein
Penalties
N. Saddam Karim Allawi Qais L. Hussein Hashim Abdul-Abbas Jabbar	5–4	Mohammed Mutashar Makki Resan Saeed Salih Saber

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Qualification to AFC and UAFA competitions

Team	Qualification method	Competition(s) qualified to
Al-Rasheed	League champions	1989–90 Asian Club Championship and 1989 Arab Cup Winners' Cup[a]
Al-Tayaran	FA Cup runners-up[b]	1989 Arab Club Champions Cup

1. Although Al-Rasheed were the league champions and not the FA Cup winners, the IFA decided to admit them into the Arab Cup Winners' Cup rather than the Arab Club Champions Cup.
2. As FA Cup winners Al-Zawraa participated in the 1989 Arab Cooperation Council Club Championship, runners-up Al-Tayaran were chosen to participate in the Arab Club Champions Cup.

Season statistics

Top scorers

Pos	Scorer	Goals	Team
1	Karim Saddam	22	Al-Zawraa
2	Natiq Hashim	12	Al-Tayaran
	Hussein Saeed		Al-Talaba
	Saad Abdul-Raheem		Al-Zawraa

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player[1]	For	Against	Result	Date
Mohammed Jassim	Al-Tayaran	Al-Tijara	7–2	11 October 1988
Natiq Hashim4	Al-Tayaran	Al-Jaish	4–2	7 November 1988
Saad Abdul-Raheem	Al-Zawraa	Al-Sulaikh	3–2	2 March 1989

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals