7th Umm al-Ma'arik Championship

The 7th Umm al-Ma'arik Championship (Arabic: بطولة أم المعارك السابعة) was the seventh occurrence of the Baghdad Championship, organised by the Iraq Football Association. The top eight teams of the 1996–97 Iraqi Premier League competed in the tournament. In the final, held at Al-Shaab Stadium, Al-Najaf defeated Al-Shorta 4–0.^[1][2][3]

Umm al-Ma'arik Championship

Tournament details
Country	Iraq
Dates	September 1997 – 6 February 1998
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	Al-Najaf
Runners-up	Al-Shorta
Third place	Al-Zawraa
Fourth place	Al-Talaba
Tournament statistics
Top goal scorer(s)	Mahmoud Majeed Salman Hussein Waleed Dhahid (4 goals each)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Group stage

Group 1

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Al-Najaf	3	2	1	0	5	0	+5	7
Al-Zawraa	3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7
Al-Minaa	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1
Al-Mosul	3	0	1	2	3	7	−4	1

Al-Zawraa	3–1	Al-Minaa
S. Abbas Saddam (pen.)

Al-Najaf	3–0	Al-Mosul

Al-Mosul	1–2	Al-Zawraa
		Mohammed H. Abbas

Al-Najaf	2–0	Al-Minaa

Al-Najaf	0–0	Al-Zawraa

Al-Mosul	2–2	Al-Minaa

Group 2

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Al-Shorta	3	2	1	0	14	7	+7	7
Al-Talaba	3	2	1	0	6	4	+2	7
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3	1	0	2	8	9	−1	3
Samarra	3	0	0	3	2	10	−8	0

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–1	Al-Talaba
		Chathir

Al-Shorta	4–0	Samarra

Al-Talaba	3–3	Al-Shorta
		Majeed Qais 89', 95' (pen.)

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	4–1	Samarra

Samarra	1–2	Al-Talaba

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	4–7	Al-Shorta
Dhahid (pen.) Omran Mezher		Majeed Assem Qais Al-Hail

Semifinals

1998

Al-Shorta	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Zawraa
		Fawzi
Penalties
Majeed Abdul-Sattar Rahim	3–1	Saddam Hamad Fawzi Qassim

1998

Al-Najaf	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Al-Talaba
Penalties
	3–1

Third place match

1998

Al-Zawraa	7–0	Al-Talaba
Hamad Mahdi Karim Qassim Hussein Abdul-Jabar (pen.)

Final

6 February 1998^[1]

Al-Najaf	4–0	Al-Shorta
Hassan 60' Hussein 65', 72' Najim 75'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Referee: Hazem Hussein

Al-Najaf

Al-Shorta

GK 1 Ahmed Ali Hussein DF 13 Falah Hassan DF 21 Haider Hameed DF 3 Munir Jaber DF 24 Kadhim Hussein MF 17 Ali Hashim MF 12 Basim Mohammed MF 16 Hamid Raheem MF 23 Salem Hussein FW 9 Haidar Najim FW 10 Salman Hussein Manager: Najih Humoud

GK 1 Ayad Khudhor DF 5 Salam Touma DF 19 Sadiq Saadoun DF 12 Adil Ogla DF 23 Mazin Abdul-Sattar MF 13 Abbas Rahim MF 6 Ayad Abbas MF 28 Abdul-Hussein Jawad MF 11 Saad Qais FW 18 Mahmoud Majeed FW 10 Mufeed Assem Substitutions: MF Kadhim Hussein Shahima FW 26 Ahmed Jadiea Managers: Abdelilah Abdul-Hameed Ayoub Odisho

Assistant referees: Falah Hassan Raad Saleem Shaker Mahmoud

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of golden goal extra time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes, of which up to three may be used.

Umm al-Ma'arik Championship 1997–98 winner
Al-Najaf 1st title