Football in Iraq

The sport of football in the country of Iraq is run by the Iraq Football Association. The association administers the national football team as well as the Iraqi football league system. Football is the most popular sport in Iraq. Approximately 35% of the people in Iraq are considered football fans.https://countrycassette.com/rankings-sports-football-fans-by-country/

National teams

The national team have qualified for the final tournament of the World Cup twice in 1986 and 2026. 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.

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.

As of 18 July 2024 the men's team were ranked 55th in the world while the women's team are ranked 172nd

Football stadiums in Iraq 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.

Club tournaments Aliyat Al-Shorta reached the final of the Asian Club Championship, 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, and Erbil lost the final of Asia's second-tier tournament, the AFC Cup, twice in 2012 and 2014. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won the AFC Cup three consecutive times in 2016, 2017 and 2018, while Duhok won the 2024–25 edition of the GFF Gulf Club Champions League.

Domestic league titles won by club

Attendances

The 2024–25 Iraq Stars League clubs by average home league attendance:

No. Club Average attendance 1 Duhok SC 17,948 2 Zakho SC 16,247 3 Newroz SC 12,983 4 Erbil SC 12,609 5 Al-Zawraa SC 11,028 6 Al-Karma 10,905 7 Al-Najaf FC 7,983 8 Al-Shorta SC 7,712 9 Al-Mina'a SC 7,584 10 Karbala'a FC 4,463 11 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 4,352 12 Al-Qasim SC 2,508 13 Naft Missan 2,183 14 Al-Talaba SC 1,914 15 Diyala SC 1,449 16 Al-Kahrbaa Club 1,356 17 Al-Naft SC 936 18 Al-Hedod SC 758 19 Naft Al-Basra SC 435 20 Al-Karkh SC 400 League average 6,288

Football in Iraq

Bron en licentie