The Baghdad derbies are a series of derby matches between four Baghdad -based football clubs: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya , Al-Shorta , Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa , collectively known as the 'Popular Teams'. They are the four most successful teams in the history of Iraqi football , and league games between the clubs are usually played at the neutral venue of Al-Shaab Stadium to accommodate more spectators. The match between Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Zawraa is often referred to as the Iraqi El Clásico .
32-580: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were the first to be founded in 1931, and Al-Shorta were founded in 1932, with these two sides developing a strong rivalry during the Iraq Central FA Premier League era. Al-Zawraa and Al-Talaba were founded in 1969, and with the foundation of the Iraqi National Clubs League (now known as Iraq Stars League ), a four-way rivalry soon developed in the capital city. None of the four teams have ever been relegated from
64-519: A new sports club named Al-Rasheed. The team was put straight into the second division of Iraqi football by Uday. A few days after their foundation, they played their first match in the second division (Baghdad Group) and it was against Al-Karkh , the team that would replace them in the top-flight seven years later; Al-Rasheed won the game 4–0. They were promoted to what is now known as the Iraq Stars League in their first ever season, after achieving
96-527: A number of teams representing different Iraqi institutions. Al-Rasheed Al-Rasheed Sports Club ( Arabic : نادي الرشيد الرياضي ) was an Iraqi sports club based in Karkh , Baghdad . Its professional football team played in what is now known as the Iraq Stars League , the top tier of the Iraqi football , from 1984 until 1990. The club's home stadium was Al-Rasheed Stadium . Founded in 1983 by Uday Hussein ,
128-458: A row. The 2008–09 season was the biggest testimony to the shift in power in Iraqi football as none of the four Baghdad rivals finished in the top four places of the league. This remains the only time in history that this has occurred. The trend continued in the 2009–10 season as a different Northern team became champions, this time Duhok . Al-Zawraa briefly brought the title back to Baghdad by winning
160-475: Is that they reached the 2nd place of the 1988–89 Asian Club Championship , after losing by the away goal rule to Al Sadd . They were the first Iraqi team to reach the final of Asia's main club competition since Aliyat Al-Shorta in 1971 . In the next edition of the Asian Club Championship in 1989–90 , Al-Rasheed were very close to reaching the final again, but they failed to. They also failed to win
192-620: The 1962–63 league title. In August 1974, the Iraq Football Association decided to form the Iraqi National Clubs League, later known as the Iraqi Premier League and now known as the Iraq Stars League , the country's first nationwide league of clubs. The very first season of the Premier League in 1974–75 was won by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (under the name Al-Tayaran), while Al-Shorta finished in fifth. Meanwhile, Al-Zawraa won
224-540: The 1974–75 second-tier title and were promoted to the Premier League along with Al-Jamiea (now known as Al-Talaba) for the 1975–76 season. Since then, the four teams have been ever-present in the Stars League and have never been relegated (Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Shorta remain the only two teams to have played in every single season of the Iraq Stars League). Despite being newly promoted, Al-Zawraa became one of
256-469: The 1986–87 season, along with the Iraq FA Cup , after beating Al-Jaish . In the 1987 Asian Club Championship they were knocked out in the final group stage. Another double success came under the management of Jamal Salih in the 1987–88 season. In the 1988–89 season, Al-Rasheed achieved the league to be their last ever achievement. Al-Rasheed became the first team to win the league three times in
288-549: The 2010–11 title but the Northern teams were back to dominating in the 2011–12 season as Erbil won the title with only one defeat in 38 games with Duhok finishing as runners-up. A main reason for the rise of the Northern sides was the poor security situation and economic instability in Baghdad following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, meaning the top players preferred to move to the north of
320-528: The 2015–16 Iraqi Premier League and Erbil had to withdraw from the 2016–17 Iraqi Premier League , meaning both teams were relegated to the Iraqi First Division League , the country's second-tier. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya also won Asia's second-tier club competition, the AFC Cup , in 2016 , 2017 and 2018 . In the 2021–22 season, Al-Shorta became the first club to win all Baghdad derbies home and away in
352-777: The Basra , Kirkuk and Mosul leagues. The last champions of the competition were Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya , who won the title in the 1972–73 season. The regional leagues folded in 1973 and were replaced by the Iraqi National First Division , before the Iraqi National Clubs League was established in 1974. The competition has since often been referred to as the League of the Institutes ( Arabic : دوري المؤسسات , romanized : Dawri Al-Muassasat ) due to containing
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#1733115987234384-475: The Iraq Stars League . It is believed that the decision to dissolve the club was made by Saddam Hussein , due to Saddam being fed up that the club was very unpopular among supporters and players, and fans often chanted against the team. In 1984, Al-Rasheed took over the Al-Karkh Stadium and turned it into theirs after renovating it and allowing shops to be opened around it. In the dissolving of Al-Rasheed,
416-420: The 1930s, the decade where both of the teams were founded. They first faced off on 2 January 1933 in the 1932–33 Prince Ghazi Cup. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Malakiya won the match 1–0 through an own goal in the 15th minute and went on to win the trophy that year, as well as winning it in the following two years. The two sides went on to face each other in two cup finals that decade, the 1938 Taha Al-Hashimi Cup final and
448-478: The 1939 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Cup final, and Al-Shorta won both, 1–0 and 2–0 respectively, to win the first two trophies in their history. With the foundation of the Iraq Central FA Premier League , a league for teams from Baghdad and its neighbouring cities, the rivalry grew significantly. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Malakiya were awarded a walkover win against Al-Shorta Select XI in the final of the 1957–58 season, while Al-Shorta Select XI beat Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 to clinch
480-455: The 2nd Division title by beating Al-Najaf 1–0 in their final game. Uday Hussein brought most of the Iraq national team players into the club, managed by Ammo Baba , the head coach of the national team at the time. The most popular of them were Ahmed Radhi , Adnan Dirjal , Samir Shaker , Haris Mohammed , Habib Jafar , and Laith Hussein . Many of them, including Ahmed Radhi, were forced to join
512-715: The Iraq Stars League. Al-Shorta won the Arab Club Champions Cup in 1982 , while Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya won the 2016 , 2017 and 2018 editions of the AFC Cup , Asia's second-tier continental tournament. Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa both previously finished runners-up of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup and fourth place at the Asian Club Championship . The rivalry first developed between Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Malakiya (Royal Air Force) and Al-Shorta (Police) in
544-522: The Iraqi football from the club's foundation until its dissolving. In their first season in the top-flight, the 1984–85 season, Al-Rasheed were in 1st place, at 43 points, but because of the league being abandoned, no champions were announced. After the abandonment of the league, Al-Rasheed set up the Al-Rasheed Cup which contained 12 of the 14 Iraqi League teams as well as four lower division teams. Al-Rasheed won this tournament by beating Al-Zawra'a in
576-446: The club and had no choice in the matter. Uday Hussein was also known to punish players who did not perform up to standards by ordering his guards to beat them, and often forced them to completely shave their heads before matches to embarrass them in public. The club's taking of most of Iraq's best players as well as the fact that they made domestic football much less competitive made the team very unpopular among fans. Al-Rasheed dominated
608-566: The country, thus diminishing the impact of the Baghdad derbies on the league title race. Al-Shorta and Al-Talaba were almost relegated in the 2010–11 season, surviving on goal difference and by one point respectively. The dominance of the Northern clubs was ended in the 2012–13 season when Al-Shorta won the league title. All league titles since the 2015–16 season have been won by either Al-Zawraa, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya or Al-Shorta. The two most prominent Northern clubs, Erbil and Duhok, both fell into severe financial difficulty; Duhok had to withdraw from
640-405: The double again in the latter campaign. Al-Shorta won the 1979–80 title and Al-Talaba were crowned champions in the 1980–81 season, meaning that after seven seasons of the Premier League era, all four teams had won the league title. Al-Talaba went on to retain their title, with Al-Zawraa winning a further two FA Cups and Al-Shorta becoming the first ever winners of the Arab Club Champions Cup as
672-463: The final of the 1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup and Al-Zawraa reached the final of the 1999–2000 edition of the same tournament, but both sides were defeated by Japanese clubs. The 2006–07 Iraqi Premier League made history as Erbil became the first team from outside of Baghdad to win the league since the 1982–83 season. Erbil also won the league the next two seasons as well, becoming the first team from outside Baghdad to win three league titles in
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#1733115987234704-401: The final. They participated in the 1985–86 Asian Club Championship but withdrew from the competition during the qualifiers. They finished 2nd in the 1985–86 Iraqi League , but won the 1986 Saddam International Tournament which contained teams from all around the world including Iraq , Brazil , Kenya , Jordan , Morocco and Kuwait . Being managed by Ammo Baba, they achieved the league in
736-458: The four clubs continued to achieve major honours. The 1984–85 season saw Al-Rasheed play in the Premier League for the first time. The club was founded a year earlier by Uday Hussein , the son of Iraq's president Saddam Hussein . Uday forced many of Iraq's top players to join Al-Rasheed against their will, with Al-Rasheed not only becoming one of Iraq's best clubs, but one of the best clubs in
768-468: The league (under the name Al-Tayaran) and Al-Zawraa win the FA Cup. Al-Rasheed were dissolved in 1990, and their replacements Al-Karkh were not able to replicate Al-Rasheed's success. The 1990s and early 2000s was the greatest era of success for the four clubs and the era where many of the most memorable derby matches were played. Between 1991 and 2006, every edition of the Premier League, FA Cup and Super Cup
800-477: The league title, and they failed to win the cup as they were surprisingly knocked out by lower division team Al-Tijara 3–2 on aggregate. Therefore, they ended the season without winning a trophy. On 18 August 1990, the Iraqi Olympic Committee decided to dissolve Al-Rasheed Sports Club and transfer all of its properties to Al-Karkh Sports Club and replacing Al-Rasheed with Al-Karkh in what is now known as
832-474: The region, winning three consecutive Arab Club Champions Cups in 1985 , 1986 and 1987 and finishing as Asian Club Championship runners-up in 1989 . Al-Talaba won the 1985–86 title ahead of Al-Rasheed, but the next two seasons saw Al-Rasheed win the double both times. Al-Rasheed also won the 1988–89 league title, but Al-Zawraa were the FA Cup winners that year. The 1989–90 season saw Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya win
864-752: The row since it started in 1974. Al-Rasheed also achieved the Arab Champions Cup three times in the row; defeating USM El Harrach in 1985 in Al-Shaab Stadium , ES Tunis in 1986 in Stade El Menzah , and beating Al-Ittihad in the final of 1987 in Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium . Al-Rasheed also finished third in the 1989 Arab Cup Winners' Cup . Al-Rasheed's biggest achievement in AFC competitions
896-546: The same season, conceding just one goal across the six games. The below statistics only include matches from the Iraq Stars League (1974–present). Iraq Central FA Premier League The Iraq Central FA Premier League , also known as the Iraq Central FA First Division and previously named the Iraq FA Baghdad First Division ( Arabic : دوري الاتحاد العراقي لمنطقة بغداد ), was
928-479: The son of Saddam Hussein , Al-Rasheed were promoted to the top tier in their first season of existence and went on to win 3 league titles in a row, 2 FA Cups , 3 Arab Champions Cup titles, and reach the final of the 1988–89 Asian Club Championship . In 1990, the club was dissolved and all its properties as well as its place in the top division were transferred to Al-Karkh SC . Taking the Al-Karkh Stadium as his club's, on 23 November 1983, Uday Hussein founded
960-481: The strongest clubs in Iraq, because another club named Al-Naqil (the runners-up of the league in the 1974–75 season) dissolved due to financial problems and their players joined Al-Zawraa. In their first season in the top-flight, Al-Zawraa won the league and also won the FA Cup , becoming Iraq's first national double winners. They went on to win the league title undefeated in both the 1976–77 and 1978–79 seasons, winning
992-537: The top-level division of football in Baghdad and its neighbouring cities between 1948 and 1973. It was controlled by the Iraq Central Football Association and was played under a variety of different formats including a double-elimination format , a round-robin format and a double round-robin format. It was one of several regional league championships played in Iraq at the time, with others including
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1024-447: Was won by one of the four clubs, and only one edition of the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship was not won by one of them. Al-Zawraa were the most successful team of this era, winning eight league titles, eight FA Cups, three Umm al-Ma'arik Championships and Baghdad Championships, and three Super Cups. Al-Talaba and Al-Zawraa also made their first ever continental final appearances. Al-Talaba reached
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