The Kuwaiti Premier League (), known as Zain Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Kuwait holds the best record in the competition, having won 21 times.

Premier League 2026–27 Clubs Al-Arabi Fahaheel Al-Jahra Kazma Kuwait Al-Nasr Al-Sahel Al-Salmiya Al-Shabab Sulaibikhat Qadsia Al-Tadhamon

History The Kuwaiti Premier League officially began in the 1961–62 season, after playing unofficially for eight years (played with group of clubs: "Ahli - Al-Jazeera - Arabism - Gulf - Solidarity - Al-Qubali, Al-Nahda, Al-Sharqai, Al-Merqab, Al-Mawalim and Al-Taawon). National companies and ministries were club's first sponsors.

1960s In the 1961–62 season, several new clubs joined (Al-Arabi, Qadsia, Kuwait, Kifan High School, Shuwaikh Secondary School, Industrial College and Police Team). Al-Arabi won the league title without losing, and winning 7 points ahead of Qadsia, scoring 42 goals and conceding 10.

In the following season, the number of teams was reduced to 7. Al-Arabi managed to win the second title in a row after winning 18 points ahead of Qadsia, scoring 45 goals and conceding 6.

The third season of the league almost witnessed the end of Al-Arabi monopoly, after fierce competition from Qadsia and other teams. Al-Arabi and Qadsia were equal on points before the decisive match. Al-Arabi managed to maintain the title after defeating Qadsia 2-0, scoring overall 42 goals and conceding nine.

In the fourth season, school teams were removed from participating and league saw participation of 3 new clubs (Al-Salmiya, Fahaheel and Al-Shabab). Kuwait managed to end the Al-Arabi monopoly to achieve its first title, after winning the competition without any defeat.

The 1960s witnessed a sweep of Al-Arabi when it won six titles against two titles for Kuwait and a title for Qadsia.

1970s The 1970 era began with Qadsia winning the 1970–71 season for the second time in its history. Al-Arabi lost its championship in a strange way during ten years. They did not win any title during this period until the end of the 1979–80 season.

1980s The eighties witnessed three new league champions, namely Al-Salmiya who won its first title in the 1980–81 season, and Kazma club which won the titles of 1985–86 and 1986–87, as well as Al-Jahra, which ended the 1980s by winning the title in the 1989–90 season.

1990s The league championship was not held in the 1990–91 season because of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Competition began again in the 1991–92 season, which was held as group system with qualification. Old format returned with participation of 14 teams in the 1994–95 season. Era of the nineties witnessed a parity between clubs, with both Al-Arabi and Al-Salmiya winning 3 titles, and Qadsia and Kazma winning two.

2000s At the beginning of a new millennium, Kuwait achieved the league championship after a long absence of 22 years. The most dominant team in this decade were Qadsia winning 5, followed be Kuwait winning 4, and Al-Arabi winning in the 2001–02 season

2010s This decades titles were split between Kuwait and Qadsia. with Kuwait winning 6 and Qadsia winning 4. Qadsia were able to become the 2nd ever team to win 4 titles in a row by winning the 2011–12 season. Kuwait were also able to win 4 titles in a row between 2016–17 and 2019–20.

2020s (until 2025–26) This decade started with Al-Arabi winning the 2020–21 season, followed by Kuwait winning another 5 titles in a row between 2021–22 and 2025–26 making Kuwait the only Kuwaiti Club to win 5 titles in a row.

Previous winners

Source:

By season

1961–62 : Al-Arabi 1962–63 : Al-Arabi 1963–64 : Al-Arabi 1964–65 : Kuwait 1965–66 : Al-Arabi 1966–67 : Al-Arabi 1967–68 : Kuwait 1968–69 : Qadsia 1969–70 : Al-Arabi 1970–71 : Qadsia 1971–72 : Kuwait 1972–73 : Qadsia 1973–74 : Kuwait 1974–75 : Qadsia 1975–76 : Qadsia 1976–77 : Kuwait 1977–78 : Qadsia 1978–79 : Kuwait 1979–80 : Al-Arabi 1980–81 : Al-Salmiya 1981–82 : Al-Arabi 1982–83 : Al-Arabi 1983–84 : Al-Arabi 1984–85 : Al-Arabi 1985–86 : Kazma 1986–87 : Kazma 1987–88 : Al-Arabi 1988–89 : Al-Arabi 1989–90 : Al-Jahra 1990–91 : Not held due to Gulf War 1991–92 : Qadsia 1992–93 : Al-Arabi 1993–94 : Kazma 1994–95 : Al-Salmiya 1995–96 : Kazma 1996–97 : Al-Arabi 1997–98 : Al-Salmiya 1998–99 : Qadsia 1999–2000 : Al-Salmiya 2000–01 : Kuwait 2001–02 : Al-Arabi 2002–03 : Qadsia 2003–04 : Qadsia 2004–05 : Qadsia 2005–06 : Kuwait 2006–07 : Kuwait 2007–08 : Kuwait 2008–09 : Qadsia 2009–10 : Qadsia 2010–11 : Qadsia 2011–12 : Qadsia 2012–13 : Kuwait 2013–14 : Qadsia 2014–15 : Kuwait 2015–16 : Qadsia 2016–17 : Kuwait 2017–18 : Kuwait 2018–19 : Kuwait 2019–20 : Kuwait 2020–21 : Al-Arabi 2021–22 : Kuwait 2022–23 : Kuwait 2023–24 : Kuwait 2024–25 : Kuwait 2025–26 : Kuwait 2026–27 : TBD

Most titles

ClubTitlesSeasonsKuwait1964–65, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26Al-Arabi1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1979–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2020–21 Qadsia1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1991–92, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16Kazma1985–86, 1986–87, 1993–94, 1995–96Al-Salmiya1980–81, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1999–00Al-Jahra1989–90

Total titles won by Governorate

Governorate Number of titles Clubs Al Asimah Kuwait (21), Al-Arabi (17), Kazma (4) Hawalli Qadsia (17), Al-Salmiya (4) Jahra Al-Jahra (1)

Topscorers All-time top scorers

RankPlayersGoalsClub(s)1 Bader Al-Mutawa179Qadsia2 Firas Al-Khatib162Al-Nasr, Al-Arabi, Qadsia, Al-Salmiya, Kuwait3 Jasem Yaqoub146Qadsia4 Faisal Al-Dakhil141Qadsia5 Yussef Al-Suwayed137Kazma6 Patrick Fabiano133Al-Nasr, Kazma, Al-Salmiya, Kuwait7 Yousef Naser117Kazma, Qadsia, Kuwait8 Ali Marwi111Al-Salmiya9 Abdulrahman Al-Dawla105Al-Arabi10 Bashar Abdullah104Al Salmiya, Kuwait

Topscorers by season + Table key Record number of goals Year Top scorers Team Goals1961–62 Khalifa Al-ShattiQadsia21 Saleh ZakariaAl-Kuliya Al-Sanaya1962–63 Abdulrahman Al-Dawla Al-Arabi 151963–64 Othman Al-OssimiQadsia 171964–65 Abdulrahman Al-Dawla Al-Arabi 161965–66 Abdulrahman Al-Dawla Al-Arabi 221966–67 Abdulrahman Al-Dawla Al-Arabi 121967–68 Mohamed YusifAl-Salmiya61968–69 Mohamed Al-MisudQadsia6 Ali Hasiz ArtiAl-Arabi1969–70 Hassan ShehataKazma71970–71 Hassan ShehataKazma91971–72 Mohamed Al MisudQadsia7 Hassan ShehataKazma1972–73 Ali Al-MaliAl-Arabi161973–74 Jasem YaqoubQadsia101974–75 Jasem YaqoubQadsia251975–76 Jasem YaqoubQadsia161976–77 Faisal Al-DakhilQadsia12 Jasem YaqoubQadsia1977–78 Saud BuhamadQadsia101978–79 Ali Al-MaliAl-Arabi101979–80 Jasem YaqoubQadsia311980–81 Faisal Al-DakhilQadsia19 Ahmad KhalafAl-Arabi1981–82 Tariq NajmKazma161982–83 Talib HasinSulaibikhat231983–84 Yussef Al-SuwayedKazma261984–85 Faisal Al-DakhilQadsia221985–86 Salah Al-MasnadKazma91986–87 Nassir Al-GhanemKazma91987–88 Faisal Al-DakhilQadsia111988–89 Bader Al-AnbariKazma81989–90 Khaled Al-NasrAl-Arabi81991–92 Jassem Al Houwaidi Al-Salmiya 101992–93 Ali MarwiAl-Salmiya101993–94 Hamad Al SalahQadsia12 Nawaf JadidAl-Jahra1994–95 Roman Hanus Kazma 131995–96 Luiz Carlos Kazma 141996–97 Luiz Carlos Kazma 111997–98 Ali MarwiAl-Salmiya281998–99 Ali MarwiAl-Salmiya221999–2000 Bashar Abdullah Al-Salmiya 112000–01 Faraj LaheebKuwait10 Bashar AbdullahAl-Salmiya2001–02 Malek John Kazma 102002–03 Dênis Marques Kuwait 92003–04 Khalaf Al Salamah Qadsia 122004–05 Firas Al Khatib Al-Arabi 132005–06 Hamad Al Harbi Fahaheel 222006–07 Bashar Abdullah Kuwait 102007–08 Ahmad Ajab Qadsia 142008–09 Careca Kuwait 132009–10 Ismail Al Ajmi Kuwait 132010–11 Firas Al Khatib Qadsia 142011–12 Vinícius Lopes Al-Jahra 92012–13 Rogerinho Kuwait 112013–14 Omar Al Soma Qadsia 232014–15 Patrick Fabiano Kazma 222015–16 Firas Al Khatib Al-Arabi 232016–17 David da Silva Qadsia 142017–18 Faisal Ajab Al-Tadhamon 152018–19 Hussain Al-Musawi Al-Arabi 172019–20 Yousef NasserKuwait14 Patrick FabianoAl-Salmiya2020–21 Oday Dabbagh Al-Arabi 132021–22 Shabaib Al-Khaldi Kazma 112022–23 Taha Yassine Khenissi Kuwait 202023–24 Hamza Khabba Al-Arabi 212024–25 Vitor Vieira Fahaheel 222025–26 Yousef Nasser Kuwait 14

Participation by the years

PeriodNumber of clubs1961–6271962–63 to 1970–7161971–72 to 1973–7471974–75 to 1978–7981979–80 to 1984–8514*1985–8671986–87 to 1989–9081990–91N/A Not held due to Gulf War1991–9214*1992–93 to 1993–9481994–9514*1995–966*

PeriodNumber of clubs1996–9713*1997–98 to 1999–2000142000–01 to 2002–0382003–04 to 2005–06142006–0782007–0892008–09 to 2012–1382013–14 to 2014–1514*2015–1613*2016–17152017–1882018–19 to 2025–26102026–27-present12

Notes: 1979–80 to 1984–85: Kuwaiti Division One was Stopped. 1991–92: all Clubs participated after the Gulf War 1994–95: Kuwaiti Division One was Stopped. 1996–97: Qadsia Withdrew. 2013–14 to 2014–15: Kuwaiti Division One was Stopped. 2015–16: Al-Tadhamon Withdrew.

See also Kuwait Division One Kuwait Emir Cup Kuwait Crown Prince Cup Kuwait Super Cup

References

External links Kuwait: VIVA Premier League Fixtures and Results at FIFA (archived) xscores.com Kuwait Premier League goalzz.com – Kuwaiti League Kuwait-fa.org/