| Season | 2020–21 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 25 October 2020 – 28 July 2021 |
| Champions | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (7th title) |
| Relegated | Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya Al-Hudood Al-Samawa |
| AFC Champions League | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Zawraa |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 773 (2.03 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Aymen Hussein (22 goals) |
| Biggest home win | Al-Shorta 7–0Al-Samawa (2 April 2021) |
| Biggest away win | Naft Maysan 0–4Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (16 May 2021) |
| Highest scoring | Al-Shorta 7–0Al-Samawa (2 April 2021) Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 3–4Al-Najaf (12 May 2021) |
| Longest winning run | 6 matches Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| Longest unbeaten run | 15 matches Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| Longest winless run | 20 matches Al-Hudood |
| Longest losing run | 6 matches Al-Talaba |
2021–22 → | |
The2020–21 Iraqi Premier League was the 47th season of theIraqi Premier League since its establishment in 1974. The season started on 25 October 2020 and ended on 28 July 2021, with the relegation play-off held on 30 July 2021.[1]
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya sealed their seventh Premier League title with three matches to spare, finishing ahead ofAl-Zawraa andAl-Najaf. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya also won theIraq FA Cup to become the first Iraqi club since the 2001–02 season to win thedouble. Their managerAyoub Odisho became the most successful coach in Premier League history with four titles.[2][3][4]
For the first time in theIraqi Premier League, theIraq Football Association decided to use head-to-head points as the first tiebreaker for teams level on points, followed by head-to-head goal difference, total goal difference, total number of wins and total goals scored. Also, the maximum number of substitutions in a game for each team was increased from four to five.[5]
Twenty teams competed in the league – the top eighteen teams from the2018–19 season and the two promoted teams from the2018–19 Iraqi First Division League.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya(C) | 38 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 68 | 29 | +39 | 83 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al-Zawraa | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 46 | 19 | +27 | 75 | Qualification for theAFC Champions League play-off round |
| 3 | Al-Najaf[a] | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 74 | |
| 4 | Al-Shorta | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 72 | |
| 5 | Naft Al-Wasat | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 46 | 31 | +15 | 63 | |
| 6 | Al-Naft | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 53 | |
| 7 | Amanat Baghdad | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 30 | 32 | −2 | 50 | |
| 8 | Al-Minaa | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 49 | |
| 9 | Zakho | 38 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 46 | |
| 10 | Al-Karkh | 38 | 11 | 12 | 15 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 45 | |
| 11 | Naft Al-Basra | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 44[b] | |
| 12 | Erbil | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 39 | 41 | −2 | 44[b] | |
| 13 | Naft Maysan | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 43 | |
| 14 | Al-Kahrabaa | 38 | 8 | 17 | 13 | 36 | 39 | −3 | 41[c] | |
| 15 | Al-Qasim | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 41[c] | |
| 16 | Al-Diwaniya | 38 | 7 | 20 | 11 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 41[c] | |
| 17 | Al-Talaba | 38 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 36 | 47 | −11 | 39 | |
| 18 | Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya(R) | 38 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 27 | 39 | −12 | 37 | Qualification for therelegation play-off |
| 19 | Al-Hudood(R) | 38 | 4 | 19 | 15 | 32 | 48 | −16 | 31 | Relegation to theIraqi First Division League |
| 20 | Al-Samawa(R) | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 22 | 58 | −36 | 26 |
| Home \ Away | DIW | HUD | KAH | KAR | MIN | NFT | NJF | QSM | QWJ | SMA | SHR | SNK | TLB | ZWR | AMN | ERB | NFB | NFW | NFM | ZAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Diwaniya | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
| Al-Hudood | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | |
| Al-Kahrabaa | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
| Al-Karkh | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Al-Minaa | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | |
| Al-Naft | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | |
| Al-Najaf | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3[a] | 0–0 | 1–1 | |
| Al-Qasim | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 4–1 | |
| Al-Samawa | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | |
| Al-Shorta | 5–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | |
| Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
| Al-Talaba | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Al-Zawraa | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | |
| Amanat Baghdad | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
| Erbil | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Naft Al-Basra | 0–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | |
| Naft Al-Wasat | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Naft Maysan | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | |
| Zakho | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
Samarra are promoted to the Iraqi Premier League, while Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya are relegated to the Iraqi First Division League.
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals[6] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 22 | |
| 2 | Al-Hudood | 15 | |
| 3 | Al-Talaba | 14 | |
| Al-Najaf | |||
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Naft | Al-Samawa | 3–1 (H)[7] | 12 December 2020 | |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Naft | 4–1 (H)[8] | 31 January 2021 | |
| Al-Talaba | Al-Minaa | 4–2 (H)[9] | 4 July 2021 |
(H) – Home team
| Award | Winner[10] | Club |
|---|---|---|
| Soccer Iraq Goal of the Season | Al-Hudood |
On 23 October 2020,Umbro announced their official partnership withIraq Football Association to manufacture the official match ball for theIraqi Premier League.[11][12] The official match ball is namedNeo Toba.[13] The design was conceived in such a way as to reflect the colours of the Iraqi flag and the patterns represent symbols of ancient Mesopotamian civilization.[14] The termToba is taken from the Iraqi dialect (Arabic:طوبة) which means "ball" in common parlance.[15]