# 2002–03 Iraqi First Division League

The 2002–03 Iraqi First Division League was the 29th season of the top-tier Iraqi national football league since its establishment in 1974. Organised by the Iraq Football Association (IFA), the league's name was changed to Iraqi First Division League, and it started on 6 September 2002.
27 rounds of the league were played before the 2003 invasion of Iraq began on 20 March 2003. Despite the outbreak of the Iraq War, matches continued with free entry for spectators, and games from rounds 28 and 29 were played in the midst of the conflict. The last matches were played on 28 March before the league stopped and Saddam Hussein's government was overthrown, leading to the formation of a new IFA committee.
The IFA revealed on 6 May that it was considering holding a play-off between the top four Baghdad clubs to decide who would qualify for the 2003 Arab Unified Club Championship. However, the IFA then announced on 30 May that Al-Shorta had been chosen to participate as they were leading the league table at the end of round 27 before the outbreak of war. The IFA later announced that the 2002–03 league competition had been cancelled and that the league table at the end of round 27 would also be used to determine the clubs that qualified for the Baghdad Championship and the AFC Champions League.

## League table used to determine qualifications

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Al-Shorta | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 61 | 23 | +38 | 65 | 2004 AFC Champions League and 2003 Arab Unified Club Championship |
| 2 | Al-Najaf | 26 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 44 | 12 | +32 | 62 | |
| 3 | Al-Zawraa | 27 | 17 | 8 | 2 | 59 | 16 | +43 | 59 | 2003–04 Arab Champions League |
| 4 | Al-Talaba | 24 | 19 | 2 | 3 | 56 | 15 | +41 | 59 | 2003–04 Arab Champions League |
| 5 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 49 | 30 | +19 | 55 | 2004 AFC Champions League |
| 6 | Al-Minaa | 27 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 30 | 23 | +7 | 45 | |
| 7 | Al-Mosul | 27 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 38 | |
| 8 | Erbil | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 37 | |
| 9 | Al-Karkh | 27 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 37 | |
| 10 | Zakho | 27 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 36 | |
| 11 | Duhok | 27 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 34 | |
| 12 | Al-Difaa Al-Jawi | 27 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 27 | 37 | −10 | 29 | |
| 13 | Samarra | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 28 | |
| 14 | Al-Nasiriya | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 27 | 55 | −28 | 27 | |
| 15 | Al-Jaish | 27 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 26 | |
| 16 | Al-Sinaa | 26 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 17 | 29 | −12 | 23 | |
| 17 | Al-Naft | 27 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 21 | 37 | −16 | 22 | |
| 18 | Al-Samawa | 27 | 5 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 52 | −30 | 22 | |
| 19 | Kirkuk | 27 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 48 | −34 | 15 | |
| 20 | Al-Basra | 27 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 14 | 45 | −31 | 14 | |
* ↑ The IFA initially planned to admit Al-Najaf into the AFC Champions League, but Al-Najaf were not ready to participate and the IFA thus gave the slot to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, the next highest-placed team in the table that had not already been admitted into a continental or regional competition. When informed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) that participation in the AFC Champions League should be for the league champions and the FA Cup winners (Al-Talaba), the IFA asked the AFC to give it freedom in choosing its participating clubs due to the league not being completed. The AFC agreed to the IFA's request and therefore Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya entered the competition alongside Al-Shorta.

## Results

| Home \ Away | BSR | DIF | JSH | KAR | MIN | MSL | NFT | NJF | NAS | QWJ | SMA | SHR | SIN | TLB | ZWR | DUH | ERB | KIR | SMR | ZAK |
| Al-Basra | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | | | | 0–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–1 | – | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
| Al-Difaa Al-Jawi | | | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–4 | | 1–1 | | – | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Al-Jaish | 1–0 | | | 1–1 | | | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | – | | | | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 1–1 |
| Al-Karkh | | 0–2 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 6–1 | | 0–0 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Al-Minaa | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | | 4–1 | | 1–0 |
| Al-Mosul | | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 1–4 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | |
| Al-Naft | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | | | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | | 1–5 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Al-Najaf | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | | |
| Al-Nasiriya | 2–0 | 0–4 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | | 0–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | – | 3–1 | | 3–2 | | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | |
| Al-Samawa | | 1–1 | 3–2 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | | | | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | |
| Al-Shorta | 4–1 | – | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 8–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | |
| Al-Sinaa | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–2 | | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | | | 1–2 | | 0–1 | | | | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Al-Talaba | 3–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | | | 1–1 | 2–1 | | | 4–0 | 0–1 |
| Al-Zawraa | 4–0 | 4–2 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 5–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | | 2–0 | | 5–1 | – | 4–0 |
| Duhok | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | | | | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| Erbil | 3–0 | 3–2 | | 0–0 | 5–0 | | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–2 | | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 6–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Kirkuk | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | | | | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | |
| Samarra | 2–1 | | 0–0 | | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 4–1 | | 1–0 |
| Zakho | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | | | 2–0 | | 1–2 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Match results from rounds 28 and 29 (played after the outbreak of war) were not considered in the league table that was used to determine qualifications to other tournaments. This includes the following results: Al-Basra 1–1 Al-Zawraa Al-Karkh 2–1 Al-Mosul Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 Al-Najaf Al-Shorta 6–3 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 7–2 Kirkuk Al-Jaish 0–0 Al-Sinaa Al-Zawraa 3–0 Samarra

## Season statistics
### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ahmed Khalaf | Duhok | Al-Mosul | 4–1 | 6 September 2002 |
| Younis Mahmoud | Al-Talaba | Al-Basra | 3–1 | 26 September 2002 |
| Ihsan Hadi | Al-Minaa | Al-Samawa | 3–0 | 10 October 2002 |
| Hamid Qasim$^4$ | Erbil | Al-Naft | 5–1 | 11 October 2002 |
| Nashat Akram | Al-Shorta | Duhok | 8–0 | 18 October 2002 |
| Hussam Fawzi | Al-Zawraa | Al-Basra | 4–0 | 1 November 2002 |
| Amin Abbas | Duhok | Samarra | 4–1 | 15 November 2002 |
| Ahmed Ibrahim | Samarra | Al-Nasiriya | 3–1 | 22 November 2002 |
| Ahmed Mnajed | Al-Shorta | Al-Samawa | 3–0 | 29 November 2002 |
| Mohammed Nasser | Erbil | Al-Minaa | 5–0 | 20 December 2002 |
| Husham Mohammed | Al-Zawraa | Kirkuk | 5–1 | 23 December 2002 |
| Basim Hamoud | Al-Jaish | Al-Shorta | 4–1 | 20 February 2003 |
| Salim Khanjar | Zakho | Al-Nasiriya | 6–1 | 7 March 2003 |
| Husham Mohammed | Al-Zawraa | Kirkuk | 4–1 | 7 March 2003 |
| Muayad Judi | Al-Sinaa | Samarra | 3–2 | 7 March 2003 |

#### Notes

$^4$ Player scored 4 goals