Football in Iraq

Country| Iraq
Governing body| Iraq Football Association
National team(s)| men's national team

National competitions

* FIFA World Cup
* AFC Asian Cup

Club competitions

List

*     * League:
Iraq Stars League
Iraqi Premier Division League
Iraqi First Division League
Iraqi Second Division League
* Cups:
Iraq FA Cup
Iraqi Super Cup

International competitions

* AFC Champions League
* AFC Cup
* Arab Club Champions Cup

The sport of football in the country of Iraq is run by the Iraq Football Association.[1][2] The association administers the national football team as well as the Iraq Stars League.[3][4][5][6][7] Football is the most popular sport in Iraq.[8]

## National teams[edit]

Bashar Resan with Iraq

The national team have qualified for the final tournament of the World Cup once in 1986 which was held in Mexico. Success in the Asian Cup has been more widespread, winning the tournament in 2007 and finishing fourth in 1976 and 2015. As of 2015 the women's national team have not entered either of these competitions.[citation needed]

The under-23 side has had success at the Asian Games winning silver at the 2006 edition in Qatar and bronze in the 2014 tournament, held in South Korea. Their best placing in Olympic football has been fourth at Athens in 2004.[citation needed]

As of 11 June 2020 the men's team were ranked 70th in the world[9] while the women's team were not ranked due to being inactive.[10]

## Football Stadiums in Iraq[edit]

The Ministry of Youth and Sports developed plans to drastically improve sports infrastructure and have decided to build big stadiums in every governorate of Iraq. The government gave them a $2.5bn package for this cause, and plans have been drawn up to build most of the stadiums below. They have also used some of this budget to improve football on a local level in areas of the country. Most stadiums listed below have been funded by this package, unless they are one of the older stadiums, or the proposed Baghdad Sports City, which will be funded by the Saudi king, King Salman.[citation needed]

Major football stadiums in Iraq

Image  | Stadium  | Capacity  | Location
| Basra International Stadium | 65,000  | Basra
| Al-Shaab Stadium | 35,700  | Baghdad
| Al-Madina Stadium | 32,000  | Baghdad
| Karbala International Stadium | 30,000  | Karbala
| Al-Najaf International Stadium | 30,000  | Najaf
| Franso Hariri Stadium | 25,000  | Erbil
| Duhok Stadium | 20,000  | Duhok
| Zakho International Stadium | 20,000  | Zakho, Duhok
| Al-Kut Olympic Stadium | 20,000  | Kut, Wasit
| Maysan Olympic Stadium | 20,000  | Amarah, Maysan
| Kirkuk Olympic Stadium | 20,000  | Kirkuk
Major future stadiums in Iraq

Image  | Stadium  | Capacity  | Location  | Stage
| Baghdad Sports City  | 85,000  | Baghdad | Proposed
| Tajiat Olympic Stadium | 60,000  | Baghdad | On hold
| Ammo Baba International Stadium | 31,200  | Baghdad | Under Construction
| Minaa Stadium | 30,000  | Basra | Under Construction
| Al Sunbula Stadium | 30,000  | Al Diwaniyah, Al-Qadisiyyah | On hold
| Salah Al Din Stadium | 30,000  | Tikrit, Saladin | Under Construction
| Babil Stadium | 30,000  | Hillah, Babil | On hold
| Al-Anbar Stadium  | 30,000  | Ramadi, Al Anbar | Under Construction
| Mosul International Stadium | 30,000  | Mosul, Nineveh | Under Construction
| Diyala Stadium  | 30,000  | Baqubah, Diyala | Under Construction
| Nasiriyah Stadium | 30,000  | Nasiriyah, Dhi Qar | On hold
| New Samawah Stadium  | 25,000  | Samawah, Muthanna | Under Construction
| Newroz International Stadium | 20,000  | Sulaymaniyah | Under Construction

## Club tournaments[edit]

Aliyat Al-Shorta reached the final of the AFC Champions League, the biggest tournament in Asian football, in 1971 but withdrew from the final due to it being against an Israeli team. Al-Rasheed also reached the final in 1989 but lost on away goals. Al-Shorta won the first ever edition of the Arab Club Champions Cup in 1982 with Al-Rasheed winning that competition three times in a row (1985, 1986, 1987). Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa both lost the final of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup in 1995 and 2000 respectively, before Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won Asia's second-tier tournament, the AFC Cup, three consecutive times in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

## Domestic league titles won by club[edit]

Main article: List of Iraqi football champions § Total titles won

## See also[edit]

* Iraq portal
* Association football portal

* Women's football in Iraq
* Iraq Football Association (IFA)
* Iraq national football team
* Iraqi football league system
* Iraq Stars League
* List of Iraqi football champions

## References[edit]

1. ^ "When Saturday Comes - War games". Wsc.co.uk. 2012-07-09. Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
2. ^ "State Of Football In Iraq | Football & Sport". Sabotage Times. Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
3. ^ "Nation & World | Soccer title brings rare gift: Iraq unity | Seattle Times Newspaper". Seattletimes.com. 2007-07-30. Archived from the original on 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
4. ^ BBC's Sally Nugent (2010-09-17). "BBC Sport - Football - Iraqi team helping people unite". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
5. ^ Arun, Neil (2009-07-11). "Middle East | When football came home to Iraq". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
6. ^ Nordland, Rod; Al-Izzi, Sa'ad (2009-11-24). "Soccer in Iraq: Another Field for Argument". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-06-17. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
7. ^ Lucinda, Hannah. "Should Iraq's leaders be more like their football players? - BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-11-23. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
8. ^ "Most popular sport in each country". Imgur. 26 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
9. ^ "FIFA rankings". fifa.com. 2020-06-11. Archived from the original on 2018-07-15. Retrieved 2020-06-27.
10. ^ "FIFA rankings". fifa.com. 2020-06-11. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2020-06-27.

## External links[edit]

* Iraq Football Association

* v
* t
* e

Football in Iraq

* Iraq Football Association
* Iraqi Pro League Association

National teams|

| Men|

* National team
* Olympic (U-23)
* U20
* U17
* Futsal
* Beach

|

Women|

* National team
* U17
* Futsal

League competitions|

| Level 1|

* Iraq Stars League

|

Levels 2–4|

* Iraqi Premier Division League
* Iraqi First Division League
* Iraqi Second Division League

Women|

Iraqi Women's Football League

Defunct (men)|

* Iraqi National First Division
* Iraq Central FA Premier League
* Iraq FA Basra Premier League
* Iraq FA Kirkuk Premier League

Cup competitions|

| FA cups|

* Iraq FA Cup
* Iraqi Super Cup

|

Defunct (men)|

* Umm al-Ma'arik Championship
* Iraq FA Baghdad Cup
* Independent Baghdad Tournament
* Iraq Central FA Perseverance Cup

Lists|

* Champions
* Clubs
* Honours won
* Clubs in Asian competitions
* Stadiums by capacity

* Men's clubs
* Men's players
* Expatriate players
* Managers
* Referees
* Venues
* Asian Cup record
* World Cup record
* Records and statistics
* Results

* v
* t
* e

Football in Asia

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* Vietnam
* Yemen

States with
limited recognition|

* Abkhazia
* Northern Cyprus
* Palestine
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* Taiwan

Dependencies and
other territories|

* British Indian Ocean Territory
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* Category
* Asia portal

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