2007–08 Iraqi Premier League

The 2007–08 Iraqi Premier League season started on 26 November 2007 and ended on 24 August 2008. The season saw Erbil crowned as champions for the second time in a row, beating Al-Zawraa 1–0 after extra time in the final.

Iraqi Premier League

Season	2007–08
Champions	Erbil (2nd title)
Relegated	Al-Furat Sirwan Al-Jaish Al-Shuala Al-Adala Al-Shatra Zakho
AFC Cup	Erbil Al-Zawraa
Arab Champions League	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Top goalscorer	Asaad Abdul-Nabi (14 goals)
Biggest home win	Karbala 5–0 Al-Furat (7 December 2007)
Biggest away win	Al-Jaish 1–8 Al-Kahrabaa (15 December 2007) Al-Shuala 0–7 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (18 December 2007)
Highest scoring	Al-Ramadi 2–7 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (8 December 2007) Al-Jaish 1–8 Al-Kahrabaa (15 December 2007) Al-Shuala 0–7 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (18 December 2007) Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 6–3 Kirkuk (17 July 2008)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

For security reasons, the league was divided into three groups: South, North and Central. The top six clubs from the Central Group and the top four clubs from the North and South Groups qualified for the Elite Stage. The Elite Stage consisted of three groups, of which the winners and one runner-up qualified for the Golden Stage, a knockout contest. The Golden Stage matches were held at Al-Shaab Stadium in Baghdad.

The champions and runners-up qualified for the 2009 AFC Cup, while third-placed Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya qualified for the 2008–09 Arab Champions League.^[1]

New rule

The Iraq Football Association introduced a new rule that allowed clubs to make four substitutions instead of three.

Group stage

North Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Erbil	14	9	4	1	21	5	+16	31	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Duhok	14	9	3	2	16	6	+10	30
3	Peris	14	6	4	4	20	16	+4	22
4	Kirkuk	14	6	3	5	18	17	+1	21
5	Sulaymaniya	14	4	7	3	16	17	−1	19
6	Samarra	14	3	5	6	10	16	−6	14
7	Sirwan	14	2	4	8	9	14	−5	10	Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League
8	Zakho	14	0	4	10	5	24	−19	4

Source: Goalzz

Note: Al-Mosul withdrew from the league.

Results

Home \ Away	ERB	DUH	KRK	PER	SMR	SIR	SUL	ZKO
Erbil		0–1	2–0	1–0	4–1	1–0	4–0	0–0
Duhok	1–2		0–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–0
Kirkuk	0–2	0–1		2–3	1–0	3–1	2–2	2–0
Peris	1–1	0–2	1–1		2–0	0–0	3–3	3–0[a]
Samarra	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–0		0–2	1–1	3–2
Sirwan	0–0	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–1		1–2	3–0
Sulaymaniya	0–0	0–0	3–1	1–3	0–0	2–0		1–0
Zakho	0–2	0–3[a]	1–3	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–0

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

1. Zakho's matches with Peris (1–1) and Duhok (0–0) were both awarded as 3–0 defeats for Zakho as a penalty for using an ineligible player.

Central Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Al-Shorta	22	13	8	1	40	14	+26	47	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	22	14	4	4	42	13	+29	46
3	Al-Kahrabaa	22	10	8	4	30	10	+20	38
4	Al-Zawraa	22	10	7	5	24	12	+12	37
5	Al-Talaba	22	9	9	4	25	17	+8	36
6	Al-Sinaa	22	9	8	5	24	16	+8	35
7	Al-Bareed	22	8	6	8	25	29	−4	30
8	Al-Naft	22	6	9	7	18	24	−6	27
9	Al-Ramadi	22	5	6	11	26	42	−16	21
10	Al-Jaish	22	3	6	13	14	39	−25	15	Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League
11	Al-Shuala	22	3	4	15	14	44	−30	13
12	Al-Adala	22	3	3	16	11	33	−22	12

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	ADL	BRD	JSH	KAH	NFT	JAW	RAM	SHO	SHL	SIN	TAL	ZAW
Al-Adala		2–1	0–2	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	2–3	1–1
Al-Bareed	2–0		1–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	3–3	1–4	1–1	3–2	0–0	2–2
Al-Jaish	1–0	0–1		1–8	2–2	0–3	1–3	0–3	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–2
Al-Kahrabaa	1–1	4–2	2–0		0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0	0–0
Al-Naft	2–1	1–0	2–2	0–0		0–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–2	1–2
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	2–0		3–1	1–1	3–0[a]	2–0	1–1	1–0
Al-Ramadi	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–4	2–2	2–7		1–1	1–2	0–2	0–1	0–0
Al-Shorta	3–1	2–0	4–1	0–0	3–0	2–0	4–2		2–1	0–0	1–2	1–0
Al-Shuala	1–2	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	0–7	2–3	0–3		1–3	1–3	0–5
Al-Sinaa	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	3–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	1–1		2–2	1–0
Al-Talaba	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	3–0	0–0		0–1
Al-Zawraa	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–3	2–0	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–0

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

1. The Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya–Al-Shuala match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, as Al-Shuala did not turn up for the game.

South Group

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Karbala	16	12	2	2	27	12	+15	38	Qualified to Elite Stage
2	Al-Najaf	16	9	5	2	23	9	+14	32
3	Al-Minaa	16	8	6	2	19	10	+9	30
4	Naft Al-Junoob	16	5	6	5	16	14	+2	21
5	Maysan	16	4	7	5	16	17	−1	19
6	Al-Kufa	16	4	5	7	13	15	−2	17
7	Al-Samawa	16	3	7	6	11	18	−7	16
8	Al-Furat	16	4	2	10	17	33	−16	14	Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League
9	Al-Shatra	16	2	2	12	12	26	−14	8

Source: Goalzz

Results

Home \ Away	FUR	KUF	MIN	NJF	SAM	SHT	KRB	MAY	NFJ
Al-Furat		1–4	1–0	1–2	3–0	2–1	2–4	1–3	0–2
Al-Kufa	0–0		0–1	0–1	1–0	3–2	1–2	2–2	1–0
Al-Minaa	2–0	2–0		0–0	2–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	3–3
Al-Najaf	3–1	0–0	0–1		2–0	1–0	2–1	4–1	3–0
Al-Samawa	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1		1–0	0–0	1–1	1–1
Al-Shatra	2–3	1–0	1–1	1–3	2–2		1–2	0–2	0–1
Karbala	5–0	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–0	1–0		1–0	2–1
Maysan	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–1		1–0
Naft Al-Junoob	2–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–2	0–0

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

Elite stage

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ERB	JAW	KRK	MIN	SIN
1	Erbil	8	4	2	2	9	5	+4	14	Qualified to Semi-finals			1–0	1–0	2–2	1–0
2	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	8	4	1	3	10	8	+2	13	Qualified to Semi-final playoff		2–1		6–3	1–0	1–0
3	Kirkuk	8	3	1	4	8	9	−1	10			1–0	2–0		2–0	0–0
4	Al-Minaa	8	2	3	3	6	8	−2	9			0–0	1–0	1–0		1–1
5	Al-Sinaa	8	2	3	3	4	7	−3	9			0–3	0–0	1–0	2–1

Source: Goalzz

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		DUH	KRB	TAL	NFJ	KAH
1	Duhok	8	5	3	0	12	3	+9	18	Qualified to Semi-finals			0–0	2–0	1–0	2–2
2	Karbala	8	4	4	0	9	4	+5	16	Qualified to Semi-final playoff		0–0		1–1	2–0	2–1
3	Al-Talaba	8	1	4	3	4	7	−3	7			0–1	0–0		0–1	2–2
4	Naft Al-Junoob	8	2	1	5	6	11	−5	7			1–2	1–2	0–0		2–1
5	Al-Kahrabaa	8	1	2	5	10	16	−6	5			0–4	1–2	0–1	3–1

Source: Goalzz

Group 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		ZAW	NJF	SHO	PER
1	Al-Zawraa	6	4	1	1	11	5	+6	13	Qualified to Semi-finals			0–1	1–1	2–0
2	Al-Najaf	6	3	2	1	7	4	+3	11	Qualified to Semi-final playoff		2–3		3–1	0–0
3	Al-Shorta	6	1	2	3	5	9	−4	5			1–3	0–1		2–1
4	Peris	6	0	3	3	1	6	−5	3			0–2	0–0	0–0

Source: Goalzz

Semi-final playoff

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		JAW	NJF	KRB
1	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3	Qualified to Semi-finals				0–1
2	Al-Najaf	2	1	0	1	3	3	0	3			2–3 (a.e.t.)[a]
3	Karbala	2	1	0	1	1	1	0	3				0–1

Source: Goalzz
Notes:

1. After 90 minutes, the result was 2–1 to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. As Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Najaf were equal on points, goal difference and goals scored, a 30-minute period of extra time was played. The final score after extra time was 3–2 to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, which meant the two teams were still tied. A penalty shootout was therefore held to determine group position. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won 8–7 on penalties.

Golden stage

	Semi-finals				Final
	20 August 2008
	Al-Zawraa	1
					24 August 2008
	Duhok	0
					Al-Zawraa	0
	21 August 2008
					Erbil (a.e.t.)	1
	Erbil	2
	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0
					Third place
					23 August 2008
					Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3
					Duhok	0

Semi-finals

20 August 2008

14:00 GMT

Al-Zawraa	1–0	Duhok
Abboud 75' (pen.)

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

21 August 2008

14:05 GMT

Erbil	2–0	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
L. Salah 28' A. Salah 53'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Referee: Alaa Abdul-Qadir

Third place match

23 August 2008

14:00 GMT

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3–0	Duhok
Radhi 5' Khalid 42' Zwaid 82'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Final

24 August 2008

16:30 GMT

Al-Zawraa	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Erbil
		A. Salah 99'

Al-Shaab Stadium, Baghdad

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Sabah Abid

Al-Zawraa

Erbil

GK 31 Ahmad Ali DF 3 Ahmed Attiya  36' DF 15 Ghaith Abdul-Ghani (c)  120+2' DF 6 Ous Ibrahim DF 29 Waleed Khalid MF 16 Mohannad Nassir MF 19 Salar Abdul-Jabbar  95' MF 26 Thamir Fuad  115' MF 7 Ali Yousef  48' MF 28 Sajjad Hussein  46' FW 10 Abdul-Salam Abboud  97' Substitutions: FW 23 Mustafa Ahmad  46' MF 12 Hussein Saddam  77' FW 11 Alaa Sattar  95' MF 27 Naseem Jassim  115' Manager: Radhi Shenaishil

GK 21 Sarhang Muhsin DF 2 Samal Saeed  109' DF 3 Yassir Raad DF 31 Salam Shakir MF 55 Osama Ali  32'  53' MF 24 Wissam Zaki  26' MF 14 Khaldoun Ibrahim MF 23 Shirzad Mohammed  33' FW 10 Muslim Mubarak  71' FW 17 Ahmed Salah (c) FW 11 Luay Salah  108' Substitutions: MF 77 Alaa Nayrouz  33' DF 4 Rafid Badr Al-Deen  53' MF 18 Haidar Qaraman  71' MF 8 Haidar Sabah  108' Manager: Thair Ahmed

Match officials Assistant referees: Hussein Turki Mohammed Arab Fourth official: Kadhim Awda

Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shootout if scores still level.

Season statistics

Top four positions

Pos	Team	Pld	Pts	Eff	Qualification
1	Erbil	24	51	70.8%	2009 AFC Cup
2	Al-Zawraa	30	53	58.9%	2009 AFC Cup
3	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	34	65	63.7%	2008–09 Arab Champions League
4	Duhok	24	48	66.7%

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Asaad Abdul-Nabi	Al-Kahrabaa	14
2	Taiseer Abdul-Hussein	Al-Shorta	12
	Hussam Saeed	Al-Bareed / Al-Zawraa
4	Yassir Abdul-Mohsen	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	11
	Abdul-Salam Abboud	Al-Zawraa

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks

Player[2]	For	Against	Result	Date
Akram Hashim	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shuala	7–0	18 December 2007
Yassir Abdul-Mohsen	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Al-Shuala	7–0	18 December 2007
Ali Mansoor4	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	Kirkuk	6–3	17 July 2008
Younis Shakor	Kirkuk	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	3–6	17 July 2008

Notes

⁴ Player scored 4 goals