The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (April to September). It is governed by the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ) and has 12 teams. By the end of the 2022–23 season, UEFA ranked the league No. 48 in Europe.UEFA Country Ranking 2023 UEFA rankings for club competitions, accessed on June 18, 2023.
It was previously known as Úrvalsdeild karla.
From 27 April 2009 to 2022, the league had an active agreement on the league's name rights with Ölgerðin, the Icelandic franchisee for Pepsi. From the 2019 season to the end of the 2021 season, the league was popularly referred to as Pepsi Max deildin (The Pepsi Max League).Pepsi-deildin í knattspyrnu 2009 KSÍ's official site, accessed on 28 April 2009. On 24 February 2022, the league was rebranded as Besta deild karla.
The clubs play each other home and away. At the end of each season, the two teams with the fewest points are relegated to 1. deild karla (First Division), from which two top point teams promote to the higher tier. The winner of the league enters the European national competition UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. The second, third and fourth placed teams qualify for the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round.
An effort by KSÍ to strengthen Icelandic football had only one team relegated in the 2007 season to the First Division and three clubs promoted to the premier division, bringing the top flight to the number of clubs it contains currently.
Championship title counts are: KR with 27, Valur with 23, and ÍA and Fram Reykjavík each with 18. FH and Víkingur have 8, Keflavík has 4, IBV and Breiðablik have 3, and KA and Stjarnan with 1.
The current title holders are Víkingur who repeated as champions in 2026.
Current clubs (2025) ClubLocationPositionin 2024First season inBesta deildSeasonsin Besta deildFirst season ofcurrent spell inBesta deildBesta deildtitlesFirstBesta deild titleLastBesta deild titleAftureldingMosfellsbær202512025 0 - -BreiðablikKópavogur1st (champions)1971402006320102024FHHafnarfjörður6th1975412001820042016FramReykjavík (Grafarholt)9th191210220221819131990ÍAAkranes 5th 1946 71 2024 18 1951 2001ÍBVVestmannaeyjar1912542025319791998KAAkureyri7th1929262017119891989KRReykjavík (Vesturbær)8th191211119792719122019StjarnanGarðabær4th1990232009120142014ValurReykjavík (Hlíðar/Miðborg)3rd191510520052319302020VestriÍsafjörður 10th2024220240 - -VíkingurReykjavík (Fossvogur, Háaleiti og Bústaðir)2nd1918742014719202023
Source:
History
Championship history The Icelandic league title has been won in its over 100 years existence by 11 teams. KR has the most titles, with 27. Stjarnan are the latest team to join the list, winning their first title in 2014.
The league has been dominated by teams from the Capital Region which contains nearly two thirds of Iceland's population. Only four teams from outside that region have ever won the league: Keflavík, ÍA, ÍBV, and KA. ÍBV (Vestmannaeyjar) and KA (Akureyri) have won four titles between them; these are the clubs farthest from the capital.
Single round 1912: KR (Reykjavík) 1913: Fram (Reykjavík)* 1914: Fram (Reykjavík)* 1915: Fram (Reykjavík) 1916: Fram (Reykjavík) 1917: Fram (Reykjavík) 1918: Fram (Reykjavík) 1919: KR (Reykjavík) 1920: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 1921: Fram (Reykjavík) 1922: Fram (Reykjavík) 1923: Fram (Reykjavík) 1924: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 1925: Fram (Reykjavík) 1926: KR (Reykjavík) 1927: KR (Reykjavík) 1928: KR (Reykjavík) 1929: KR (Reykjavík) 1930: Valur (Reykjavík) 1931: KR (Reykjavík) 1932: KR (Reykjavík) 1933: Valur (Reykjavík) 1934: KR (Reykjavík) 1935: Valur (Reykjavík) 1936: Valur (Reykjavík) 1937: Valur (Reykjavík) 1938: Valur (Reykjavík) 1939: Fram (Reykjavík) 1940: Valur (Reykjavík) 1941: KR (Reykjavík) 1942: Valur (Reykjavík) 1943: Valur (Reykjavík) 1944: Valur (Reykjavík) 1945: Valur (Reykjavík) 1946: Fram (Reykjavík) 1947: Fram (Reykjavík) 1948: KR (Reykjavík) 1949: KR (Reykjavík) 1950: KR (Reykjavík) 1951: ÍA (Akranes) 1952: KR (Reykjavík) 1953: ÍA (Akranes) 1954: ÍA (Akranes) 1955: KR (Reykjavík) 1956: Valur (Reykjavík) 1957: ÍA (Akranes) 1958: ÍA (Akranes) Double round 1959: KR (Reykjavík) 1960: ÍA (Akranes) 1961: KR (Reykjavík) 1962: Fram (Reykjavík) 1963: KR (Reykjavík) 1964: Keflavík (Keflavík) 1965: KR (Reykjavík) 1966: Valur (Reykjavík) 1967: Valur (Reykjavík) 1968: KR (Reykjavík) 1969: Keflavík (Keflavík) 1970: ÍA (Akranes) 1971: Keflavík (Keflavík) 1972: Fram (Reykjavík) 1973: Keflavík (Keflavík) 1974: ÍA (Akranes) 1975: ÍA (Akranes) 1976: Valur (Reykjavík) 1977: ÍA (Akranes) 1978: Valur (Reykjavík) 1979: ÍBV (Vestmannaeyjar) 1980: Valur (Reykjavík) 1981: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 1982: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 1983: ÍA (Akranes) 1984: ÍA (Akranes) 1985: Valur (Reykjavík) 1986: Fram (Reykjavík) 1987: Valur (Reykjavík) 1988: Fram (Reykjavík) 1989: KA (Akureyri) 1990: Fram (Reykjavík) 1991: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 1992: ÍA (Akranes) 1993: ÍA (Akranes) 1994: ÍA (Akranes) 1995: ÍA (Akranes) 1996: ÍA (Akranes) 1997: ÍBV (Vestmannaeyjar) 1998: ÍBV (Vestmannaeyjar) 1999: KR (Reykjavík) 2000: KR (Reykjavík) 2001: ÍA (Akranes) 2002: KR (Reykjavík) 2003: KR (Reykjavík) 2004: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2005: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2006: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2007: Valur (Reykjavík) 2008: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2009: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2010: Breiðablik (Kópavogur) 2011: KR (Reykjavík) 2012: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2013: KR (Reykjavík) 2014: Stjarnan (Garðabær) 2015: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2016: FH (Hafnarfjörður) 2017: Valur (Reykjavík) 2018: Valur (Reykjavík) 2019: KR (Reykjavík) 2020: Valur (Reykjavík)** 2021: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 2022: Breiðablik (Kópavogur) 2023: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 2024: Breiðablik (Kópavogur) 2025: Víkingur (Reykjavík) 2026: Víkingur (Reykjavík)
* There was no competition in 1913 and 1914, and Fram was awarded the title. ** In 2020 the competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Valur was awarded the title because they were at the top of the table when the season ended.
Champions by number of titles
TeamTitlesFirst titleLast titleKR2719122019Valur2319302020Fram1819131990ÍA1819512001Víkingur919202026FH820042016Keflavík419641973ÍBV319791998Breiðablik320102024KA119891989Stjarnan120142014 Clubs in bold are currently playing in the top-tier.
Season by season records
All-time top scorers #Top scorers nameGoalsClub Last season1. Patrick Pedersen133Valur20252. Tryggvi Guðmundsson131ÍBV, KR, FH, Fylkir20133. Ingi Björn Albertsson126Valur, FH1987
Top scorers SeasonTop scorer GoalsClub1980 Matthias Hallgrimsson15Valur1981 Sigurlás Þorleifsson Larus Gudmundsson12ÍBVVíkingur R.1982 Sigurlás Þorleifsson Heimir Karlsson10ÍBVVíkingur R.1983 Ingi Björn Albertsson14Valur1984 Guðmundur Steinsson10Fram1985 Ómar Torfason131986 Gudmundur Torfason191987 Petur Ormslev121988 Sigurjón Kristjánsson13Valur1989 Hörður Magnússon12FH1990131991 Hörður Magnússon Guðmundur Steinsson13FHVíkingur R.1992 Arnar Gunnlaugsson15ÍA1993 Þórður Guðjónsson191994 Mihajlo Biberčić141995 Arnar Gunnlaugsson151996 Ríkharður Daðason14KR1997 Tryggvi Guðmundsson19ÍBV1998 Steingrímur Jóhannesson161999122000 Guðmundur Steinarsson Andri Sigþórsson14KeflavíkKR2001 Hjörtur Hjartarson15ÍA2002 Grétar Hjartarson13Grindavík2003 Björgólfur Takefusa10Þróttur R.2004 Gunnar Heiðar Þorvaldsson12ÍBV2005 Tryggvi Guðmundsson16FH2006 Marel Baldvinsson11Breiðablik2007 Jónas Grani Garðarsson13Fram2008 Guðmundur Steinarsson16Keflavík2009 Björgólfur Takefusa16KR2010 Atli Viðar Björnsson Alfreð Finnbogason Gilles Mbang Ondo14FHBreiðablikGrindavík2011 Garðar Jóhannsson15Stjarnan2012 Atli Guðnason12FH2013 Atli Viðar Björnsson Viðar Örn Kjartansson Gary Martin13FHFylkirKR2014 Gary Martin13KR2015 Patrick Pedersen13Valur2016 Garðar Gunnlaugsson14ÍA2017 Andri Rúnar Bjarnason19Grindavík2018 Patrick Pedersen17Valur2019 Gary Martin14Valur/ÍBV2020 Steven Lennon17FH2021 Nikolaj Hansen16Víkingur R.2022 Nökkvi Þeyr Þórisson Guðmundur Magnússon17KAFram2023 Emil Atlason17Stjarnan2024 Benoný Breki Andrésson21KR2025 Patrick Pedersen18Valur
Player of the Year SeasonPlayer of the YearClub1984 Bjarni SigurðssonÍA1985 Guðmundur ÞorbjörnssonValur1986 Guðmundur TorfasonFram1987 Pétur Ormslev1988 Sigurjón KristjánssonValur1989 Þorvaldur ÖrlygssonKA1990 Sævar JónssonValur1991 Guðmundur SteinssonVíkingur R.1992 Lúkas KosticÍA1993 Sigurður Jónsson1994 Sigursteinn Gíslason1995 Ólafur Þórðarson1996 Gunnar OddssonLeiftur1997 Tryggvi GuðmundssonÍBV1998 David WinnieKR1999 Guðmundur Benediktsson2000 Hlynur StefánssonÍBV2001 Gunnlaugur JónssonÍA2002 Finnur KolbeinssonFylkir2003 Allan BorgvardtFH2004 Heimir Guðjónsson2005 Allan Borgvardt2006 Viktor Bjarki ArnarssonVíkingur R.2007 Helgi SigurðssonValur2008 Guðmundur SteinarssonKeflavík2009 Atli GuðnasonFH2010 Alfreð FinnbogasonBreiðablik2011 Hannes Þór HalldórssonKR2012 Atli GuðnasonFH2013 Björn Daníel SverrissonFH2014 Ingvar JónssonStjarnan2015 Emil PálssonFH2016 Kristinn Freyr SigurðssonValur2017 Andri Rúnar BjarnasonGrindavík2018 Patrick PedersenValur2019 Óskar Örn HaukssonKR2020 Steven LennonFH2021 Nikolaj HansenVíkingur R.2022 Nökkvi Þeyr ÞórissonKA2023 Birnir Snær IngasonVíkingur R.2024 Höskuldur GunnlaugssonBreiðablik2025 Patrick PedersenValur
Young Player of the Year Caps correct as of 5 August 2025 Season Player Club International caps International goals1984 Guðni BergssonValur8011985 Halldór ÁskelssonÞór Akureyri2441986 Gauti LaxdalFram01987 Rúnar KristinssonKR10431988 Arnljótur DavíðssonFram301989 Ólafur GottskálkssonÍA91990 Steinar GuðgeirssonFram11991 Arnar GrétarssonBreiðablik7121992 Arnar GunnlaugssonÍA3231993 Þórður Guðjónsson58131994 Eiður GuðjohnsenValur88261995 Tryggvi GuðmundssonÍBV42121996 Bjarni GuðjónssonÍA2311997 Sigurvin ÓlafssonÍBV701998 Ólafur Þór GunnarssonÍR11999 Grétar HjartarsonGrindavík12000 Helgi Valur DaníelssonFylkir332001 Grétar Rafn SteinssonÍA4642002 Gunnar Heiðar ÞorvaldssonÍBV2452003 Ólafur Ingi SkúlasonFylkir3612004 Emil HallfreðssonFH7312005 Hörður SveinssonKeflavik002006 Birkir SævarssonValur10332007 Matthías VilhjálmssonFH1522008 Jóhann Berg GuðmundssonBreiðablik9982009 Alfreð FinnbogasonBreiðablik73182010 Kristinn SteindórssonBreiðablik322011 Þórarinn Ingi ValdimarssonÍBV402012 Jón Daði BöðvarssonSelfoss6442013 Arnór Ingvi TraustasonKeflavík6762014 Elías Már ÓmarssonKeflavík902015 Höskuldur GunnlaugssonBreiðablik82016 Óttar Magnús KarlssonVíkingur R.1122017 Alex Þór HaukssonStjarnan402018 Willum Þór WillumssonBreiðablik182019 Finnur Tómas PálmasonKR12020 Valgeir Lunddal FriðrikssonValur162021 Kristall Máni IngasonVíkingur R.62022 Ísak Andri SigurgeirssonStjarnan02023 Eggert Aron Guðmundsson2024 Benoný Breki AndréssonKR2025 Guðmundur Balvin NökkvasonStjarnan
Total seasons in Besta deild by club A total of 32 teams have played at least one season in the top division. Teams in bold play in 2026 season.
Seasons counted up to and including the 2025 season.