Iraqi Super Cup
| Organising body | Iraq Football Association |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Region | Iraq |
| Number of teams | 2 (until 2022) 6 (2025–present) |
| Current champions | Al-Shorta (2nd title) |
| Most successful club(s) | Al-Zawraa (5 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | Al-Iraqiya Sports |
| 2025 Iraqi Super Cup | |
The Iraqi Super Cup (Arabic: كأس السوبر العراقي), previously called Iraqi Perseverance Cup (Arabic: كأس المثابرة العراقي), is a super cup tournament in Iraqi football. Founded in 1986 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by six teams: the top four teams from the Iraq Stars League and the winners and runners-up of the Iraq FA Cup.
The six teams are split into two groups, with the group winners facing each other in the final and the group runners-up competing in a third place play-off.
Al-Zawraa are the most successful club with five titles. The current holders are Al-Shorta, who defeated Al-Karkh 1–0 in the 2022 final.
History
Before 1973, league tournaments in Iraq were played at a regional level and there was a cup called the Iraq Central FA Perseverance Cup played between the winners and runners-up of the Iraq Central FA Premier League. Twelve years after the foundation of the Iraqi National Clubs League, the Perseverance Cup was played as a national tournament for the first time, and it was between Al-Talaba and Al-Rasheed, the winners and runners-up of the 1985–86 Iraqi National League.[1]
It took another eleven years for the tournament to resume, returning in 1997 as a match between the winners of the Iraqi Premier League and the Iraq FA Cup. The 1997 and 1998 editions were played at the end of the season to bring a close to the campaign, but from 1999 onwards, the cup was played before the start of the following league season as a 'curtain-raiser' to the new league campaign.[2]
From the 2003–04 season until the 2014–15 season, the Iraq FA Cup was either not played or not completed. It was finally completed in 2015–16, and therefore the Iraqi Perseverance Cup under the new name of Iraqi Super Cup was scheduled to be played in August 2016, but it was cancelled due to scheduling difficulties. The Iraqi Super Cup eventually returned in 2017 and was held four times until it was stopped after the 2022 edition.[3]
On 24 May 2025, it was announced that the tournament would return for the following season with a new six-team format featuring the top four teams from the Stars League and the top two teams from the FA Cup. If one of the FA Cup finalists finish in the league's top four, the fifth-placed team in the league enters the Super Cup, while if both FA Cup finalists finish in the league's top four, the fifth and sixth-placed teams in the league enter the Super Cup. The six teams are split into two groups of three, with each team facing the other teams in their group once. The group winners qualify for the final, while the group runners-up compete in a third place play-off.[4]
Finals by year
Two-team format
| Year | Winner | Result | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iraqi Perseverance Cup | |||
| 1986 | Al-Rasheed | 2–1 | Al-Talaba |
| 1987–1996 | Not held | ||
| 1997 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3–1 | Al-Zawraa |
| 1998 | Al-Zawraa | 1–0 | Al-Shorta |
| 1999 | Al-Zawraa | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–4 p) |
Al-Talaba |
| 2000 | Al-Zawraa | 1–0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2001 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 1–0 | Al-Zawraa |
| 2002 | Al-Talaba | 2–1 (g.g.) | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| Iraqi Super Cup | |||
| 2016 | Cancelled[5] | ||
| 2017 | Al-Zawraa | 1–1 (3–0 p) |
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2018 | Not held | ||
| 2019 | Al-Shorta | 1–1 (4–3 p) |
Al-Zawraa |
| 2020 | Not held | ||
| 2021 | Al-Zawraa | 1–0 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2022 | Al-Shorta | 1–0 | Al-Karkh |
Six-team format
| Year | Final | Third place playoff | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | |
| 2025 | TBD | TBD | ||||
Titles by club
| Team | Winners | Runners-up | Years won | Years runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Al-Zawraa | 5 | 3 | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2017, 2021 | 1997, 2001, 2019 |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 2 | 4 | 1997, 2001 | 2000, 2002, 2017, 2021 |
| Al-Shorta | 2 | 1 | 2019, 2022 | 1998 |
| Al-Talaba | 1 | 2 | 2002 | 1986, 1999 |
| Al-Rasheed | 1 | 0 | 1986 | — |
| Al-Karkh | 0 | 1 | — | 2022 |
List of winning managers
| Year | Nationality | Winning manager | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Iraq | Hazem Jassam | Al-Rasheed |
| 1997 | Iraq | Ayoub Odisho | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 1998 | Iraq | Anwar Jassam | Al-Zawraa |
| 1999 | Iraq | Adnan Hamad | Al-Zawraa |
| 2000 | Iraq | Adnan Hamad | Al-Zawraa |
| 2001 | Iraq | Abdelilah Abdul-Hameed | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
| 2002 | Iraq | Thair Ahmed | Al-Talaba |
| 2017 | Iraq | Ayoub Odisho | Al-Zawraa |
| 2019 | Serbia | Aleksandar Ilić | Al-Shorta |
| 2021 | Iraq | Essam Hamad | Al-Zawraa |
| 2022 | Egypt | Moamen Soliman | Al-Shorta |
References
- ^ Al-Nahi, Rawan; Mahmoud, Shukri (September 14, 2019). "Iraqi Perseverance Cup Matches".
- ^ Refel Hashim, Hassanin Mubarak and Mohammed Qayed. "Iraq - List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
- ^ "إلغاء السوبر العراقي بين الشرطة والقوة الجوية" (in Arabic). Iraqi News. 22 October 2023.
- ^ "اول 4 فرق من دوري نجوم و اصحاب المراكز الاول والثاني من كأس العراق هم الفرق المشاركة في كأس السوبر العراقي" (in Arabic). Al-Rabiaa Sport. 24 May 2025.
- ^ "اتحاد الكرة يقرر الغاء مباراة كأس السوبر" (in Arabic). Nasiria Electronic. 9 December 2016.