# 2022–23 Qatar Stars League

The 2022–23 Stars League, or the QSL, also called QNB Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is scheduled to be the 49th edition of top-level football championship in Qatar. The league will kick off in August 1, 2022 and is expected to end in March 2023. Al-Sadd are the defending champion.
This season had an extended break due to 2022 FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar.

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

In August and September clubs played their matches in the 2022 FIFA World Cup venues. Beside that, some clubs play in multiple stadiums throughout the season.
| Club | City/Town | Stadium | Capacity |
| Al-Ahli | Doha | Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al-Arabi | Doha | Grand Hamad Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al-Duhail | Doha | Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium | 10,000 |
| Al-Gharafa | Doha | Thani bin Jassim Stadium | 21,872 |
| Al-Markhiya | Doha | various |
| Al-Rayyan | Doha | various |
| Al-Sadd | Doha | Jassim bin Hamad Stadium | 13,030 |
| Al-Sailiya | Doha | Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium | 12,000 |
| Al-Shamal | Doha | various |
| Al-Wakrah | Al Wakrah | Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium | 12,000 |
| Qatar SC | Doha | various |
| Umm Salal | Doha | various |

### Personnel and kits

| Club | Coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Al-Ahli | Nebojša Jovović | Ali Qadry | Nike | Regency Group Holding |
| Al-Arabi | Younes Ali | Ahmed Fatehi | Puma | Doha Bank Sharq Insurance Snoonu |
| Al-Duhail | Hernán Crespo | Almoez Ali | Puma | Al Rayan Bank |
| Al-Gharafa | Pedro Martins | Qasem Burhan | Erreà | N/A |
| Al-Markhiya | Abdullah Mubarak | Talal Al-Shila | Joma | N/A |
| Al-Rayyan | Nicolás Córdova | Dame Traore | Kelme | Baladna Mall of Qatar |
| Al-Sadd | Juan Manuel Lillo | Hassan Al-Haydos | New Balance | Qatar Airways |
| Al-Sailiya | Sami Trabelsi | Majdi Siddiq | Zat Outfit | N/A |
| Al-Shamal | Hicham Jadrane | Baha' Faisal | Zat Outfit | N/A |
| Al-Wakrah | Tintín Márquez | Ahmed Fadhel | Puma | N/A |
| Qatar SC | Youssef Safri | Sebastián Soria | Erreà | N/A |
| Umm Salal | Wesam Rizik | Jonathan Kodjia | Jako | N/A |

### Foreign players

All teams could register as many foreign players as they want, but only five professional players could be included in match roster.
* Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
* Players in italics were out of squad or left club within the season after pre-season transfer window or in the mid-season transfer window and at least had one appearance.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | AFC Player | UAFA Player | Former Players |
| Al-Ahli | Sofiane Hanni | Shojae Khalilzadeh | Nikola Vukčević | Hossein Kanaanizadegan | Yazan Al-Naimat | |
| Al-Arabi | Aron Gunnarsson | Marc Muniesa | Rafinha | Omar Al Somah | Youssef Msakni | Aaron Boupendza Mehrdad Mohammadi |
| Al-Duhail | Federico Fernández | Michael Olunga | Rúben Semedo | Nam Tae-hee | Ferjani Sassi | Adlène Guédioura Edmilson Junior |
| Al-Gharafa | Yacine Brahimi | Ishak Belfodil | Farid Boulaya | Islom Tukhtakhujaev | Mehdi Tahrat | |
| Al-Markhiya | Ayoub Azzi | Zé Turbo | Ayoub Assal | Jameel Al-Yahmadi | Driss Fettouhi | Jugurtha Hamroun Aymen Hussein |
| Al-Rayyan | Yohan Boli | Steven Nzonzi | Jeisson Vargas | Shogo Taniguchi | Sofiane Boufal | James Rodríguez Yaser Hamed |
| Al-Sadd | Santi Cazorla | Guilherme | Ayoub El Kaabi | Jung Woo-young | Baghdad Bounedjah | André Ayew |
| Al-Sailiya | Sergio Vittor | Carlos Strandberg | Mohamed Diamé | Mehrdad Mohammadi | Ismail Khafi | Bilel Saidani Giannis Fetfatzidis Mohanad Ali |
| Al-Shamal | Matías Nani | Ali Olwan | Loïck Landre | Amjad Attwan | Yacine Bammou | |
| Al-Wakrah | Lucas Mendes | Gelson Dala | Trent Sainsbury | Omid Ebrahimi | Mohamed Benyettou | Adlène Guédioura |
| Qatar SC | Javi Martínez | Javier Pastore | Nabil Bahoui | Bashar Resan | Badr Benoun | Matheus Jussa Ben Malango Anthony Okpotu |
| Umm Salal | Adil Rhaili | Vinícius Araújo | Aleksa Vukanović | Yaseen Al-Bakhit | Abdellah Khafifi | Jonathan Kodjia Dries Saddiki Valentino Yuel Sardor Rashidov João Carlos Teixeira |

#### Notes
## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Al-Duhail (C) | 22 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 50 | 26 | +24 | 51 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Al-Arabi | 22 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 43 | 23 | +20 | 49 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 3 | Al-Sadd | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 44 | Qualification for AFC Champions League group stage |
| 4 | Al-Wakrah | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 44 | 24 | +20 | 39 | Qualification for AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 5 | Qatar SC | 22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 28 | 30 | −2 | 36 | |
| 6 | Al-Gharafa | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 32 | |
| 7 | Al-Markhiya | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 24 | |
| 8 | Al-Ahli | 22 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 32 | 45 | −13 | 24 | |
| 9 | Al-Rayyan | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 29 | 33 | −4 | 20 | |
| 10 | Umm Salal | 22 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 34 | −16 | 18 | |
| 11 | Al-Shamal (O) | 22 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 22 | 41 | −19 | 18 | Qualification for Relegation play-off |
| 12 | Al-Sailiya (R) | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 28 | 45 | −17 | 16 | Relegation to Qatargas League |
* ↑ Team is registered in Al Rayyan.
* ↑ Team is registered in Al Shamal.
* ↑ Qualified as 2021-22 champions.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AHL | ARA | DUH | GHA | MAR | RAY | SAD | SAI | SHA | WAK | QAT | UMM |
| Al-Ahli | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–1 |
| Al-Arabi | 4–3 | — | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Al-Duhail | 2–1 | 3–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Al-Gharafa | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 |
| Al-Markhiya | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–3 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 4–0 | 2–3 |
| Al-Rayyan | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–4 | 4–1 | 1–2 | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Al-Sadd | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | — | 4–0 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Al-Sailiya | 1–2 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Al-Shamal | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–5 | — | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Al-Wakrah | 5–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 5–1 | — | 1–2 | 4–0 |
| Qatar SC | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | — | 4–1 |
| Umm Salal | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    As of 8 May 2023
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
| 1 | Michael Olunga | Al-Duhail | 22 |
| 2 | Omar Al Somah | Al-Arabi | 19 |
| 3 | Gelson Dala | Al-Wakrah | 15 |
| 4 | Youssef Msakni | Al-Arabi | 13 |
| 4 | Yohan Boli | Al-Rayyan | 13 |
| 7 | Baghdad Bounedjah | Al-Sadd | 12 |
| 8 | Carlos Strandberg | Al-Sailiya | 11 |
| 9 | Akram Afif | Al-Sadd | 10 |
| 9 | Driss Fettouhi | Al-Markhiya | 9 |
| 9 | Mohamed Benyettou | Al-Wakrah | 9 |
| 9 | Mehrdad Mohammadi | Al-Sailiya | 9 |
| 12 | Yazan Al-Naimat | Al-Ahli | 8 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Score | Date |
| Ben Malango | Qatar SC | Al-Gharafa | 5-0 | 11 January 2023 |
| Michael Olunga$^4$ | Al–Duhail | Al-Shamal | 2–5 | 8 May 2023 |

## Attendances

| # | Football club | Average attendance |
| 1 | Al-Gharafa SC | 1,147 |
| 2 | Al-Sadd SC | 1,044 |
| 3 | Al-Wakrah SC | 980 |
| 4 | Umm-Salal SC | 844 |
| 5 | Al-Duhail SC | 794 |
| 6 | Al-Rayyan SC | 730 |
| 7 | Al-Arabi SC | 728 |
| 8 | Al-Ahli SC | 680 |
| 9 | Qatar SC | 368 |
| 10 | Al-Shamal SC | 354 |
| 11 | Al-Sailiya SC | 168 |
| 12 | Al-Markhiya SC | 164 |