2022–23 Iraqi Premier League

The 2022–23 Iraqi Premier League was the 49th season of the Iraqi Premier League, the highest tier football league in Iraq, since its establishment in 1974 and the last season under the name Iraqi Premier League. The season started on 9 October 2022 and ended on 21 July 2023.^[1]

Iraqi Premier League

Season	2022–23
Dates	9 October 2022 – 21 July 2023
Champions	Al-Shorta (6th title)
Relegated	Al-Sinaa Al-Diwaniya
AFC Champions League	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
AFC Cup	Al-Zawraa Al-Kahrabaa
Matches played	380
Goals scored	830 (2.18 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mohannad Abdul-Raheem (18 goals)
Biggest home win	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 9–2 Al-Diwaniya (11 May 2023)
Biggest away win	Al-Najaf 0–5 Al-Shorta (25 June 2023)
Highest scoring	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 9–2 Al-Diwaniya (11 May 2023)
Longest winning run	6 matches Al-Kahrabaa Al-Najaf
Longest unbeaten run	18 matches Al-Zawraa
Longest winless run	15 matches Al-Diwaniya
Longest losing run	7 matches Al-Diwaniya
← 2021–22 2023–24 (Iraq Stars League) →

Al-Hudood, Karbala and Duhok joined as the promoted clubs from the 2021–22 Iraqi First Division League, replacing Amanat Baghdad, Al-Minaa and Samarra who were relegated.^[2]

Al-Shorta were crowned Iraqi Premier League champions for the second time in a row, securing the title with a 3–0 win away to Naft Maysan in the penultimate round of the season.^[3]

Teams

Baghdad

Najaf

Naft Al-Basra

Al-Qasim

Al-Diwaniya

Erbil

Karbala

Newroz

Naft Maysan

Zakho

Duhok

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

Najaf teams
Al-Najaf
Naft Al-Wasat

Locations of the 2022–23 Iraqi Premier League teams

Clubs and locations

Team	Manager	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Diwaniya	Haider Hussien Shamran	Al-Qadisiyya	Al-Kut Olympic Stadium	20,000
Al-Hudood	Adel Nima	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	34,200
Al-Kahrabaa	Luay Salah	Baghdad	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Al-Karkh	Ahmed Abdul-Jabar	Baghdad	Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium	5,150
Al-Naft	Basim Qasim	Baghdad	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Al-Najaf	Saad Hafedh	Najaf	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Al-Qasim	Chasib Sultan	Babil	Karbala International Stadium	30,000
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Moamen Soliman	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	34,200
Al-Shorta	Ahmed Salah	Baghdad	Al-Shaab Stadium	34,200
Al-Sinaa	Qusay Munir	Baghdad	Al-Sinaa Stadium	10,000
Al-Talaba	Ahmed Khalaf	Baghdad	Al-Madina Stadium	32,000
Al-Zawraa	Haidar Abdul-Amir	Baghdad	Al-Zawraa Stadium	15,443
Duhok	Soliman Ramadan	Duhok	Duhok Stadium	22,800
Erbil	Abbas Obeid	Erbil	Franso Hariri Stadium	25,000
Karbala	Haidar Aboodi	Karbala	Karbala International Stadium	30,000
Naft Al-Basra	Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail	Basra	Al-Fayhaa Stadium	10,000
Naft Al-Wasat	Majed Najim	Najaf	Al-Najaf International Stadium	30,000
Naft Maysan	Uday Ismail	Maysan	Maysan Olympic Stadium	25,000
Newroz	Wali Kareem	Sulaymaniya	Sulaymaniya Stadium	15,000
Zakho	Nizar Mahrous	Duhok	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-Diwaniya	Qusay Munir[4][5]	Mutual consent	26 August 2022	Pre-season	Samer Saeed[6]	29 August 2022
Erbil	Nizar Mahrous[7][8][9]	Mutual consent	16 October 2022	16th	Ghazi Fahad[10][11][12]	22 October 2022
Zakho	Hamza Hadi[13][14][15]	Mutual consent	25 October 2022	14th	Haidar Abdul-Amir[16][17]	30 October 2022
Al-Naft	Hassan Ahmed[18][19]	Mutual consent	1 November 2022	18th	Hakeem Shaker[20][21]	1 November 2022
Al-Talaba	Thair Ahmed[22][23]	Mutual consent	4 November 2022	7th	Yamen Zelfani[24][25][26]	20 November 2022
Al-Diwaniya	Samer Saeed[27][28]	Mutual consent	30 November 2022	20th	Haitham Al-Shboul[29][30]	1 December 2022
Al-Sinaa	Sadeq Hanoon[31][32]	Sacked	30 November 2022	19th	Tahsin Fadhel (interim)	1 December 2022
	Tahsin Fadhel	End of interim spell	27 December 2022	19th	Khalid Mohammed Sabbar[33][34]	27 December 2022
Naft Al-Wasat	Abdul-Ghani Shahad[35]	Sacked	18 January 2023	12th	Samer Saeed[36]	18 January 2023
Al-Diwaniya	Haitham Al-Shboul[37][38]	Mutual consent	27 January 2023	20th	Chasib Sultan[39][40]	28 January 2023
Al-Najaf	Ahmed Khalaf[41]	Sacked	3 February 2023	7th	Abdul-Ghani Shahad[42][43]	4 February 2023
Erbil	Ghazi Fahad[44][45]	Mutual consent	6 February 2023	17th	Abdul-Qader Hussein (interim)	6 February 2023
Al-Naft	Hakeem Shaker[46][47]	Mutual consent	7 February 2023	18th	Mohammed Jassim (interim)	7 February 2023
Al-Qasim	Ali Abdul-Jabbar[48][49]	Mutual consent	13 February 2023	18th	Hassan Hadi (interim)[50][51]	16 February 2023
Al-Naft	Mohammed Jassim	End of interim spell	1 March 2023	18th	Mohamed Youssef[52][53][54]	1 March 2023
Karbala	Abbas Attiya[55]	Mutual consent	4 March 2023	14th	Haidar Aboodi[56]	4 March 2023
Al-Diwaniya	Chasib Sultan[57]	Mutual consent	6 March 2023	20th	Saeed Mohsen	6 March 2023
Erbil	Abdul-Qader Hussein	End of interim spell	10 March 2023	16th	Abbas Obeid[58][59]	10 March 2023
Al-Diwaniya	Saeed Mohsen	Mutual consent	12 March 2023	20th	Ahmed Ali Takhtakh (interim)	12 March 2023
Al-Qasim	Hassan Hadi	End of interim spell	13 March 2023	18th	Ali Abdul-Jabbar (Although he is suspended)[60]	13 March 2023
Al-Shorta	Moamen Soliman[61]	Sacked	17 March 2023	1st	Ahmed Salah[62]	17 March 2023
Al-Najaf	Abdul-Ghani Shahad[63][64]	Mutual consent	31 March 2023	9th	Saad Hafedh[65][66]	6 April 2023
Al-Diwaniya	Ahmed Ali Takhtakh	End of interim spell	3 April 2023	20th	Haider Abu-Ajjah[67][68]	3 April 2023
Al-Talaba	Yamen Zelfani[69]	Mutual consent	10 April 2023	5th	Ahmed Khalaf[70]	11 April 2023
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Qahtan Chathir[71]	Sacked	10 April 2023	2nd	Hammadi Ahmed (interim)[72]	15 April 2023
Al-Sinaa	Khalid Mohammed Sabbar	Mutual consent	12 April 2023	19th	Qusay Munir[73]	13 April 2023
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Hammadi Ahmed	End of interim spell	17 April 2023	2nd	Moamen Soliman[74]	17 April 2023
Naft Al-Wasat	Samer Saeed[75][76]	Mutual consent	17 April 2023	16th	Majed Najem[77][78][79]	18 April 2023
Al-Qasim	Ali Abdul-Jabbar	Mutual consent	27 April 2023	17th	Chasib Sultan[80][81]	27 April 2023
Zakho	Haidar Abdul-Amir[82]	Mutual consent	1 May 2023	16th	Nizar Mahrous[83]	2 May 2023
Al-Naft	Mohamed Youssef[84]	Mutual consent	8 May 2023	18th	Mohammed Jassim (interim)[85]	8 May 2023
Al-Zawraa	Ayoub Odisho[86]	Mutual consent	11 May 2023	3rd	Haidar Abdul-Amir[87]	11 May 2023
Al-Diwaniya	Haider Abu-Ajjah[88]	Mutual consent	14 May 2023	20th	Haider Hussien Shamran[89]	14 May 2023
Al-Naft	Mohammed Jassim	End of interim spell	30 May 2023	18th	Basim Qasim[90][91]	30 May 2023

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Shorta (C)	38	25	7	6	63	24	+39	82
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	38	23	9	6	62	26	+36	78	Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage[a]
3	Al-Zawraa	38	18	14	6	50	32	+18	68	Qualification for the AFC Cup group stage[b]
4	Al-Talaba	38	19	9	10	52	39	+13	66
5	Al-Kahrabaa	38	17	11	10	51	38	+13	62	Qualification for the AFC Cup group stage[b]
6	Erbil	38	16	10	12	44	39	+5	58
7	Al-Najaf	38	15	11	12	46	41	+5	56[c]
8	Karbala	38	15	11	12	39	34	+5	56[c]
9	Duhok	38	12	16	10	37	39	−2	52
10	Newroz	38	14	9	15	45	43	+2	51[d]
11	Naft Maysan	38	13	12	13	42	54	−12	51[d]
12	Al-Karkh	38	13	12	13	40	36	+4	51[d]
13	Al-Hudood	38	10	19	9	40	37	+3	49
14	Zakho	38	10	14	14	40	40	0	44
15	Naft Al-Basra	38	9	15	14	32	41	−9	42
16	Al-Naft	38	9	13	16	39	50	−11	40
17	Al-Qasim	38	9	12	17	31	43	−12	39
18	Naft Al-Wasat	38	5	21	12	26	34	−8	36
19	Al-Sinaa (R)	38	7	7	24	26	54	−28	28	Relegation to the Iraqi First Division League
20	Al-Diwaniya (R)	38	2	6	30	25	86	−61	12

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

1. Al-Shorta were not granted an AFC license, therefore their AFC Champions League spot was passed to the league runners-up and Iraq FA Cup winners Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.^[92]
2. As Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (league runners-up and Iraq FA Cup winners) entered the AFC Champions League, the two AFC Cup spots were passed down to Iraq's only other licensed clubs, Al-Zawraa and Al-Kahrabaa.^[92]
3. Al-Najaf finished ahead of Karbala on head-to-head points: Al-Najaf 3–2 Karbala, Karbala 0–3 Al-Najaf.
4. Newroz and Naft Maysan finished ahead of Al-Karkh on head-to-head points: Newroz 7, Naft Maysan 7, Al-Karkh 2. Newroz finished ahead of Naft Maysan on goal difference: Newroz +2, Naft Maysan –12.

Results

Home \ Away	DIW	HUD	KAH	KKH	NFT	NJF	QSM	QWJ	SHR	SIN	TLB	ZWR	DHK	ERB	KRB	NFB	NFW	NFM	NRZ	ZAK
Al-Diwaniya		1–3	0–2	0–3	2–2	1–2	1–0	0–3	0–3	2–1	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–3	0–4	0–2	0–1	1–3	1–5
Al-Hudood	1–0		1–1	1–1	4–1	0–0	0–0	0–2	2–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–4	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–1
Al-Kahrabaa	5–0	1–0		2–1	0–1	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–3	2–0	0–2	0–0	3–0	1–3	0–1	2–2	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–0
Al-Karkh	1–1	1–2	3–1		0–1	0–0	2–1	1–2	2–3	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	1–0
Al-Naft	1–1	1–2	0–3	3–2		0–0	2–0	0–2	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–2	4–0	0–2	1–0	1–2	3–3	1–2	1–1	1–1
Al-Najaf	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–3	1–2		0–0	0–2	0–5	2–0	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–3	3–2	1–1	3–1	5–2	2–1	3–1
Al-Qasim	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–1		1–2	0–2	0–1	0–2	1–1	0–3[a]	0–0	3–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1	0–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	9–2	0–0	2–3	2–1	0–0	2–0	3–4		1–0	4–0	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1
Al-Shorta	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–0		4–0	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	3–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	1–0	1–0
Al-Sinaa	3–2	0–1	0–2	1–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–2	0–1		0–1	0–2	1–3	1–2	0–0	1–0	1–2	3–2	0–1	0–0
Al-Talaba	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–2	0–3	2–1		1–0	2–0	3–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	2–1	0–1
Al-Zawraa	1–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–1		1–1	3–1	1–0	2–2	1–0	1–2	3–1	2–1
Duhok	2–0	0–2	2–2	0–2	1–0	2–4	2–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	0–2	1–1		0–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	3–1	1–0	1–1
Erbil	3–2	1–1	0–1	0–0	2–0	1–0	3–0[b]	2–0	1–0	0–4	0–2	0–1	1–0		1–0	1–1	0–0	3–1	0–0	2–1
Karbala	3–1	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–3[c]	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	3–1	1–1	0–1	2–1		0–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–0
Naft Al-Basra	1–1	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–3	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–3	0–1		1–0	2–1	1–0	3–2
Naft Al-Wasat	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–0		0–0	0–2	0–1
Naft Maysan	1–0	1–0	2–2	0–0	1–0	1–0	3–1	0–4	0–3	0–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0		2–1	2–2
Newroz	3–1	3–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–1	0–3	0–1	2–2	3–0	1–1	2–4	2–1	2–1	0–1	1–0	2–0	2–1		2–1
Zakho	2–1	2–2	2–0	1–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	0–0	3–0[d]	2–1	0–0	0–2

Source: IPFL
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:

1. The Al-Qasim–Duhok match originally ended in a 0–0 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Duhok as Al-Qasim failed to ensure an ambulance was present within the first 15 minutes of the match, which violated league rules.^[93]
2. The Erbil–Al-Qasim match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Erbil, as Al-Qasim did not turn up for the game.^[94]
3. The Karbala–Al-Najaf match originally ended in a 2–1 win for Karbala but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Najaf due to Karbala fielding the ineligible player Ahmed Mohammed Hussein, who had been suspended for receiving three yellow cards in previous matches.^[95][96][97]
4. The Zakho–Naft Al-Basra match originally ended in a 2–2 draw but was changed to a 3–0 win for Zakho due to Naft Al-Basra fielding three ineligible players (Ahmed Zamel, Hussein Ammar and Haider Abdul-Rahim), who had all been suspended for receiving three yellow cards in previous matches.^[98]

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mohannad Abdul-Raheem	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	18
2	Mouhamed Soueid	Al-Hudood	17
3	Denny Antwi	Al-Naft	16
4	Muhaimen Salim	Al-Kahrabaa	15
5	Cláudio Maradona	Newroz	12
	Alaa Abdul-Zahra	Al-Shorta

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Nasser Al-Gahwashi	Naft Al-Wasat	Al-Naft	3–3 (A)[99]	29 November 2022
Husham Ahmed	Al-Sinaa	Erbil	4–0 (A)[100]	6 February 2023
Aso Rostam	Al-Shorta	Naft Maysan	3–0 (H)[101]	23 February 2023
Denny Antwi	Al-Naft	Al-Karkh	3–2 (H)[102]	30 May 2023
Muhaimen Salim4	Al-Kahrabaa	Al-Diwaniya	5–0 (H)[103]	15 July 2023

Notes

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

Awards

Award	Winner[104]	Club
Soccer Iraq Goal of the Season	Ameer Sabah	Al-Shorta