2023 Besta deild karla

The 2023 Besta deild karla was the 112th season of top-flight Icelandic football. It was the second season of the league after it was rebranded as Besta deild karla.^[1]

2023 Besta deild karla

Season	2023
Dates	10 April – 8 October 2023
Champions	Víkingur Reykjavík
Relegated	ÍBV Keflavík
Champions League	Víkingur Reykjavík
Conference League	Breiðablik Stjarnan Valur
Matches played	119
Goals scored	404 (3.39 per match)
Top goalscorer	Emil Atlason (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Víkingur Reykjavík 6–0 ÍBV (7 May 2023)
Biggest away win	Fylkir 1–6 Valur (3 May 2023)
Highest scoring	Stjarnan 5–4 HK (24 April 2023) Breiðablik 5–4 Fram (28 April 2023)
Longest winning run	8 matches Víkingur Reykjavík
Longest unbeaten run	11 matches Víkingur Reykjavík
Longest winless run	19 matches Keflavík
Longest losing run	5 matches KR ÍBV
← 2022 2024 → All statistics correct as of 24 August 2023.

The winners (Víkingur Reykjavík) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The second, third, and fourth-placed teams (Breiðablik, Stjarnan, and Valur) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The bottom two teams (ÍBV and Keflavík) were relegated to the 2024 1. deild karla.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top ten teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from 1. deild karla. Breiðablik entered the season as defending champions.^[2]

Team changes

Promoted from 2022 1. deild karla	Relegated to 2023 1. deild karla
Fylkir HK	ÍA Leiknir Reykjavík

Stadia and locations

ÍBV KA Capital region Keflavík Capital region clubs: Reykjavík:Fram Fylkir KR Valur Víkingur Reykjavík Kópavogur:Breiðablik HK Hafnarfjörður:FH Garðabær:Stjarnan Locations of the 2023 Besta deild karla teams Team Location Stadium Capacity Breiðablik Kópavogur Kópavogsvöllur 3,009[3] FH Hafnarfjörður Kaplakriki 6,450[4] Fram Reykjavík Laugardalsvöllur 9,800 Fylkir Reykjavík Floridana völlurinn 1,854[5] HK Kópavogur Kórinn 1,452[6] ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar Hásteinsvöllur 2,300 (534 seated) KA Akureyri Akureyrarvöllur[a] 1,645[7] Keflavík Reykjanesbær Keflavíkurvöllur 5,200 KR Reykjavík Alvogenvöllurinn 3,333[8] Stjarnan Garðabær Samsung völlurinn 1,440 Valur Reykjavík Valsvöllur 2,465[9] Víkingur Reykjavík Reykjavík Víkingsvöllur 2,023[10] Notes Due to pitch issues, KA held home games at Dalvíkurvöllur in Dalvík.

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Víkingur Reykjavík	22	19	2	1	65	20	+45	59	Qualification for the Championship Round
2	Valur	22	14	3	5	53	25	+28	45
3	Breiðablik	22	11	5	6	44	36	+8	38
4	Stjarnan	22	10	4	8	45	25	+20	34
5	FH	22	10	4	8	41	44	−3	34
6	KR	22	9	5	8	29	36	−7	32
7	KA	22	8	5	9	31	39	−8	29	Qualification for the Relegation Round
8	HK	22	6	7	9	37	48	−11	25
9	Fylkir	22	5	6	11	29	45	−16	21
10	Fram	22	5	4	13	32	47	−15	19
11	ÍBV	22	5	4	13	24	43	−19	19
12	Keflavík	22	1	9	12	20	42	−22	12

Source: KSI (in Icelandic), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.^[11]

Results

Each team plays each other twice (22 matches each), once at home and once away.^[12]

Home \ Away	BRE	FH	FRA	FYL	HK	ÍBV	KA	KEF	KR	STJ	VAL	VÍK
Breiðablik	—	0–2	5–4	5–1	3–4	3–1	2–0	2–1	3–4	1–1	1–0	2–2
FH	2–2	—	4–0	2–4	4–3	2–1	0–3	2–1	3–0	1–0	3–2	1–3
Fram	0–1	2–2	—	1–1	3–2	3–1	2–1	4–1	1–2	2–1	1–3	2–3
Fylkir	1–2	4–2	3–1	—	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	3–3	0–4	1–6	1–3
HK	5–2	2–2	1–1	1–0	—	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–5	1–2
ÍBV	2–1	2–3	1–0	0–1	3–0	—	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	0–3	0–1
KA	1–1	4–2	4–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	—	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–4	0–4
Keflavík	0–0	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–3	3–4	—	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
KR	0–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	—	1–0	0–4	1–2
Stjarnan	0–2	5–0	4–0	2–2	5–4	4–0	4–0	3–0	3–1	—	2–0	0–2
Valur	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–1	4–2	0–0	5–0	3–2	—	0–4
Víkingur Reykjavík	5–3	2–0	3–1	2–0	6–1	6–0	1–0	4–1	3–0	2–0	2–3	—

Source: KSI (in Icelandic), Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship Round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Víkingur Reykjavík (C)	27	21	3	3	76	30	+46	66	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Valur	27	17	4	6	66	35	+31	55	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round[a]
3	Stjarnan	27	14	4	9	55	29	+26	46
4	Breiðablik	27	12	5	10	52	49	+3	41
5	FH	27	12	4	11	49	54	−5	40
6	KR	27	10	7	10	38	48	−10	37

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.^[13]
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. The 2023 Icelandic Cup winners also qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. Since the cup winners (Víkingur Reykjavík) qualified based on league position, the Conference League spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.

Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.

Home \ Away	BRE	FH	KR	STJ	VAL	VÍK
Breiðablik	—	0–2	—	0–2	—	3–1
FH	—	—	3–1	1–3	—	—
KR	4–3	—	—	—	2–2	—
Stjarnan	—	—	2–0	—	—	3–1
Valur	4–2	4–1	—	2–0	—	—
Víkingur Reykjavík	—	2–1	2–2	—	5–1	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation Round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	KA	27	12	5	10	42	45	−3	41
2	Fylkir	27	7	8	12	43	55	−12	29
3	HK	27	6	9	12	41	55	−14	27
4	Fram	27	7	6	14	40	56	−16	27
5	ÍBV (R)	27	6	7	14	31	50	−19	25	Relegation to 1. deild karla
6	Keflavík (R)	27	2	10	15	27	54	−27	16

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.^[14]
(R) Relegated

Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.

Home \ Away	FRA	FYL	HK	ÍBV	KA	KEF
Fram	—	—	—	—	1–0	3–1
Fylkir	5–1	—	—	2–2	2–4	—
HK	1–1	2–2	—	0–1	—	—
ÍBV	2–2	—	—	—	—	1–1
KA	—	—	1–0	2–1	—	4–2
Keflavík	—	1–3	2–1	—	—	—

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of 20 August 2023^[15]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson	Valur	11
2	Birnir Snær Ingason	Víkingur Reykjavik	10
	Nikolaj Hansen	Víkingur Reykjavik
	Stefán Ingi Sigurðarson	Breiðablik
5	Emil Atlason	Stjarnan	9
6	Adam Pálsson	Valur	8
	Fred Saraiva	Fram
	Kjartan Finnbogason	FH
9	Danijel Djuric	Víkingur Reykjavik	7
	Gísli Eyjólfsson	Breiðablik
	Ulfur Björnsson	FH