The 2024–25 season was Al-Minaa's second season in the newly-formed Iraq Stars League, and their 48th season in the top division of Iraq football.
Review Background After Al-Minaa Club entered into an administrative crisis last season, as FIFA imposed a ban on contracting players, it was forced to play with the academy players. Despite all the difficulties, it was able to ensure its survival in the Iraq Stars League since the 35th round and finished the league in 12th place, which was considered a football miracle. However, coach Hassan Ahmed apologized for continuing with the team and withdrew after the end of the season. So the club's newly elected management began contracting with Spanish coach Pablo Grandes on 29 July to prepare a team that would compete for the league.
Summer transfer window The Iraq Stars League summer transfer window runs from 2 August to 2 September 2024. Al-Minaa announced from the first day the renewal of the contract of right back Hameed Ali Hameed.
On 5 August, Al-Minaa announced the signing of three professional players and the renewal of two local players. The club signed 22-year-old Tunisian attacking midfielder Abdallah Amri from Tunisian club CS Sfaxien, 25-year-old Gabonese international defensive midfielder Clech Loufilou from Omani club Sur, and 23-year-old Swedish left winger of Iraqi origin Hamid Abdulla from Swedish club Rosengård. The club also renewed the contracts of goalkeeper Jaafar Shenaishil and midfielder Ayad Abed Farhan.
On 7 August, the club renewed the contract of the team's goalkeeper and the U-17 national team, Ammar Ali, and on 8 August, it renewed the contract of the right winger, Sajjad Alaa, and announced the signing of the 24-year-old Congolese right winger, Tuisila Kisinda, coming from the Moroccan club, RS Berkane. On 9 August, the club renewed the contract of defensive midfielder Haidar Salem.
On 10 August, coach Pablo Grandes arrived in Basra from Spain with his assistant Iván McCarroll to officially lead the Al-Minaa team. He was introduced to the media as the coach of Al-Minaa, and he said in the press conference that he wanted to compete for advanced positions in the league and that he chose Al-Minaa because it is the oldest club among the Iraqi clubs and that he would work to create a competitive team.
On 12 August, the club announced the signing of 31-year-old Spanish striker Lolo Plá from Spanish club, Talavera. The contract of central midfielder Mohammed Khudhair was also renewed, as was the contract of centre back Hussein Amer after his return from a loan to Naft Maysan.
On 13 August, the club announced the signing of 29-year-old Zimbabwean international centre back Gerald Takwara from Saudi club Ohod. Centre back Mohammed Ghaleb's contract was also renewed, as was goalkeeper Abed Saleem's contract after he returned from loan to Amanat Baghdad. On August 15, 16 and 17, the contracts of defenders Mojtaba Ali and Abbas Yas and striker Salem Ahmed were renewed. On 18 August, the club renewed the contracts of left-back Muslim Mousa and left-winger Karrar Jaafar, and a day later announced the signing of 23-year-old midfielder Amir Ahmed from Al-Naft. On 21 August, the club renewed the contract of right-back Karrar Al-Amir Ali.
On 26 August, the club announced the signing of 30-year-old striker Mohannad Abdul-Raheem from Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. It also announced the signing of 24-year-old Spanish right-back Raúl Parra from Portuguese club Estoril. Thus, the club announced the completion of the six professional players, according to the IFA regulations, which requires that the number of professional players not exceed six players.
On 27 August, the club announced the signing of 36-year-old striker Alaa Abdul-Zahra from Al-Shorta. On 28 August, the club announced the signing of 28-year-old Swedish defensive midfielder of Iraqi origin, Sumar Almadjed, from the Swedish club Helsingborgs IF. On 30 August, the club announced the signing of 24-year-old Swedish defensive midfielder of Iraqi origin, André Alsanati, from the Swedish club IK Sirius.
Pre-season The 2024 WAFF U-16 Championship took place in Jordan from 2 to 11 September. Two Al-Minaa first-team players were named in squads for the tournament, Ammar Ali and Zain Al-Abidin Jassim. They played in the starting lineup in the first match against Lebanon on 4 September, and Jassim scored two goals.
The Iraqi U-20 team left for China on 1 September to play two friendly matches against China in preparation for the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification. The travelling delegation was joined by three Al-Minaa first-team players who had previously been named in the squad: Karrar Jaafar, Muslim Mousa and Mohammed Ghaleb.
Gerald Takwara (Zimbabwe) was called up to respective country' senior squads for international fixtures in September.
On 1 September, Al-Minaa announced a pre-season tour to Antalya, and the following day it was also announced that Spanish match analyst Daniel Casas Trillo had joined the coaching staff, as he joined the team in Antalya with player Raúl Parra.
On 5 September, Al-Minaa took on Süper Lig club Antalyaspor. Sajjad Alaa gave Al-Minaa an early lead. Alaa Abdul-Zahra scored a second goal. In the second half, Lolo Plá scored the third goal, helping Al-Minaa win 3–0.
On 7 September, Tunisian Abdallah Amri and Gabonese Clech Loufilou joined the team's training in Antalya, along with 20-year-old goalkeeper Abbas Karim, who officially signed Al-Minaa from Al-Shorta.
On 10 September, Al-Minaa played against the Iraq Stars League club Al-Zawraa in their second friendly match. Sajjad Alaa gave Al-Minaa an early lead. Lolo Plá scored a second goal, while Ibrahim Ghazi scored for Al-Zawraa. In the second half, Hasan Abdulkareem scored for Al-Zawraa to end the match 2–2.
On 14 September, Al-Minaa played their third friendly match against Turkish Regional Amateur League club Kumluca Belediye Spor, with Hameed Ali Hameed scoring the only goal of the match in the second half to help Al-Minaa win 1–0, and with that the team ended their 14-day pre-season tour in Turkey and returned to Iraq the following day.
September
Grandes's side kicked off their Iraqi Star League campaign with a 2–1 win over Al-Hudood at home on 22 September. Al-Hudood's Hussein Jabbar in a 19th-minute opener with an own goal after Parra's free kick hit Jabbar's head and changed direction, deceiving the goalkeeper. Almadjed added the second goal in the 51st minute after an assist from Lolo, while Atheer Saleh scored the only goal for the visiting team after three minutes from a free kick. Four players from the first team were missed from the match, Mohannad Abdul-Raheem due to injury, and three players, namely Muslim Musa, Mohammed Ghaleb and Karrar Jaafar, were selected by the coach of the U-20, Emad Mohammed, to participate in the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup qualification in Thailand, which will be played from September 25 to 29. They played in the starting lineup in the first match against Brunei and Karrar Jaafar scored two goals in this match.
Al-Minaa travelled to the capital to face Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya at Al-Shaab Stadium in second round. Lolo opened the scoring from long range in the 23th minute. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya drew level with a penalty kick scored by Saad Abdul-Amir on 88 minutes. Mustafa Saadoon completed the turnaround for Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the extra time. The 2–1 loss left the Al-Minaa sitting eighth in the league table.
October Al-Minaa announced on 2 October that the arrival of André Alsanati’s international card, and that he is now ready to participate with the team in the upcoming match. The team also regained its three players Muslim Musa, Mohammed Ghaleb and Karrar Jaafar, from the U-20 team, and they are also ready to participate with the team.
First-team squad
No. Name Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed from Goalkeepers1Abed SaleemGKAl-Karkh 36 021Abbas Karim GK Al-Shorta 1 022Jaafar ShenaishilGK Al-Minaa Academy 40 0 Defenders4Mujtaba AliCB / RB / LB Al-Minaa Academy 47 35Hussein AmerCBAl-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya 18 017Muslim MousaLB / LWBAl-Minaa Academy 57 418Hameed Ali HameedRB / RWBAl-Minaa Academy 57 231Gerald TakwaraCB Ohod 30 133Abbas YasLB / CB / DMAl-Minaa Academy 150 440Mohammed GhalebCBAl-Minaa Academy 26 0 Midfielders6Haider SalemDM / CBNaft Al-Basra 80 215Osama AnbarCM Al-Kahrabaa 11 025Amir AhmedDM / CM / CBAl-Naft 7 027Ousseynou ThiouneDM Anorthosis Famagusta 15 079Clech LoufilouDM / CMSur 35 0 Forwards9Salem AhmedSTAl-Minaa Academy 116 2510Alaa Abdul-ZahraST / AMAl-Shorta 30 1111Karrar JaafarLW / ST / RWAl-Minaa Academy 80 1519Hamid AbdullaLW / AMRosengård 35 220André AlsanatiRW / AMIK Sirius 21 226Sajjad AlaaRW / STAl-Minaa Academy 72 1429Tuisila KisindaRW / RWBRS Berkane 36 288Mohannad Abdul-RaheemST / RW / AMAl-Quwa Al-Jawiya 28 590Waziri ShentemboSTKinondoni 6 0 Players transferred out during this season2Raúl ParraRB / CBEstoril 8 07Lolo PláSTTalavera 18 48Sumar AlmadjedDM / CMHelsingborgs IF 13 1 13Abdallah AmriAM / CMCS Sfaxien 7 0
New contracts and transfers
New contracts DateName18RB Hameed Ali Hameed22GK Jaafar Shenaishil7AM Ayad Abed Farhan32GK Ammar Ali26RW Sajjad Alaa 6DM Haider Salem15CM Mohammed Khudhair5CB Hussein Amer40CB Mohammed Ghaleb1GK Abed Saleem 4CB Mujtaba Ali33LB Abbas Yas9ST Salem Ahmed 11LW Karrar Jaafar17LB Muslim Mousa29RB Karrar Al-Amir Ali
Transfers in DateNameFromFeeAM Abdallah Amri CS SfaxienFree transferDM Clech Loufilou SurFree transferLW Hamid Abdulla RosengårdFree transferRW Tuisila Kisinda RS BerkaneFree transferST Lolo Plá TalaveraFree transferCB Gerald Takwara OhodFree transferDM Amir Ahmed Al-NaftFree transferST Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaFree transferRB Raúl Parra EstorilFree transferST Alaa Abdul-Zahra Al-ShortaFree transfer DM Sumar Almadjed Helsingborgs IFFree transfer RW André Alsanati IK SiriusLoanGK Abbas Karim Al-ShortaLoanDM Ousseynou Thioune Anorthosis FamagustaFree transfer CM Osama Anbar Al-KahrabaaFree transfer ST Waziri Shentembo KinondoniFree transfer
Transfers out DateNameToFeeDM Dare Olatunji Naft Maysan Free transferST William Jebor KarbalaaFree transferCB Habib Omar Fofana DiyalaFree transferDM Yusuf Touré Stade TunisienFree transferST Mohammed ShokanUnattachedReleasedCM Hamza Hadi AhmedGK Mohammed Saadoun Masafi Al-Janoob Free transferAM Ayad Abed Farhan Newroz Free transferRB Karrar Al-Amir Ali Al-Bahri Free transferLB Hassan Odah Al-Bahri Free transferRW Hatim Aysar Al-Bahri Free transferCB Muntadhar Hassan Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya Free transferAM Ahmed Mohsin Ashour Al-Nasiriya Free transferGK Mohammed Sabah Al-Gharraf Free transferCB Abdullah Mohsin Masafi Al-Janoob Free transferCB Emad Yousef Al-Samawa Free transferRB Raúl Parra EldenseFree transferAM Abdallah AmriUnattachedReleasedDM Sumar Almadjed Högaborgs BK ST Lolo PláUnattached
Personnel Technical staff Position Name Manager Hussam Al Sayed Assistant coach Ahmed Rahim Nasser Talla Dahilan Goalkeeping coach Amer Abdul-WahabFitness coach Majed Abdul Hameed Team supervisor Adel Nasser
Kits Adidas were announced as Al-Minaa's kit supplier as of the start of the season.
Supplier: Adidas
Pre-season and friendlies On 3 September 2024, Al-Minaa arrived in Antalya to pre-season tour, which it started with a friendly against Süper Lig club Antalyaspor.
Competitions
Overview
Iraq Stars League
League table
Summary table
Results by matchday
Matches The league fixtures were announced on 17 September 2024.
FA Cup
Statistics
Appearances thirty-five players made their appearances for Al-Minaa's first team during the season.
Player#: Player who was registered as an Al-Minaa U21, U19 or U17 player during the season.
Includes all competitions for senior teams.