# 2005–06 Iraqi Premier League

The 2005–06 Iraqi Premier League kicked off on October 28, 2005. The 28 teams were split into four groups of seven. At the end of the group stage, the top three teams from each group (a total of 12 teams) advanced to the Elite Stage. In the Elite Stage, these 12 teams were split into four groups of three, with teams playing home and away against each team in their group respectively. The top team in each of the four groups moved on to the semi-finals, followed by a third place match and the final. Al-Zawraa won the league without losing a match.

## Group stage
### North Group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | TLB | DHK | ERB | SRW | KRK | ARR | ZKH |
| 1 | Al-Talaba | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 5 | +17 | 24 | Qualified to Elite Stage | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Duhok | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 20 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 |
| 3 | Erbil | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 17 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| 4 | Sirwan | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 17 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| 5 | Kirkuk | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 13 | | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| 6 | Ararat | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 18 | −12 | 11 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| 7 | Zakho | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −6 | 10 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | |

### Central Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | ZWR | SMR | NJF | NFT | KHR | KDH | AMN |
| 1 | Al-Zawraa | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 9 | +20 | 30 | Qualified to Elite Stage | | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Samarra | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 19 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 1–4 | | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| 3 | Al-Najaf | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 18 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| 4 | Al-Naft | 12 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 15 | −1 | 18 | | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Al-Kahrabaa | 12 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 12 | +2 | 15 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| 6 | Al-Kadhimiya | 12 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 15 | −9 | 7 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | | 2–2 |
| 7 | Al-Amana | 12 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 21 | −18 | 3 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | |

### Central Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | SHR | QWJ | JSH | SIN | DYL | KKH | SLK |
| 1 | Al-Shorta | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 30 | Qualified to Elite Stage | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 |
| 2 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 10 | +9 | 22 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 4–1 |
| 3 | Al-Jaish | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 18 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| 4 | Al-Sinaa | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 14 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| 5 | Diyala | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 13 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| 6 | Al-Karkh | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 12 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 0–0 |
| 7 | Al-Sulaikh | 12 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 21 | −16 | 4 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | |

### South Group

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | MIN | KRB | MYS | NFJ | SHT | SMW | KUT |
| 1 | Al-Minaa | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 27 | Qualified to Elite Stage | | 4–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Karbala | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 27 | 15 | +12 | 26 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 2–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| 3 | Maysan | 12 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 17 | Qualified to Elite Stage | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| 4 | Naft Al-Junoob | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 14 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 5 | Al-Shatra | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 15 | −6 | 14 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| 6 | Al-Samawa | 12 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 13 | −2 | 9 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | | 2–2 |
| 7 | Al-Kut | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 25 | −17 | 6 | Relegated to the Iraqi First Division League | 0–0 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ The Naft Al-Junoob–Al-Kut match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Naft Al-Junoob after Al-Kut's players left the field during the match.

## Elite stage
### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ERB | SMR | MIN |
| 1 | Erbil | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 7 | Qualified to Semi-finals | | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Samarra | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 | | 2–1 | | 1–0 |
| 3 | Al-Minaa | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | −3 | 4 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ZWR | DHK | JSH |
| 1 | Al-Zawraa | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | +8 | 10 | Qualified to Semi-finals | | 3–0 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Duhok | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 4 | | 0–0 | | 2–0 |
| 3 | Al-Jaish | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 3 | | 0–3 | 2–1 | |
* ↑ The Al-Zawraa–Duhok match was awarded as a 3–0 win to Al-Zawraa, as Duhok turned up late to the game.

### Group 3

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NJF | KRB | SHR |
| 1 | Al-Najaf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 7 | Qualified to Semi-finals | | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| 2 | Karbala | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 | −3 | 6 | | 1–0 | | 1–4 |
| 3 | Al-Shorta | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | | 0–0 | 1–2 | |

### Group 4

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | QWJ | TLB | MYS |
| 1 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 7 | Qualified to Semi-finals | | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Al-Talaba | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 7 | | 1–3 | | 4–2 |
| 3 | Maysan | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | −5 | 2 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | |

## Golden stage

| Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Final | Final | Final |
| Al-Najaf | Al-Najaf | 4 | 1 | 5 | | | |
| Erbil | Erbil | 1 | 1 | 2 | | | |
| Erbil | Erbil | 1 | 1 | 2 | Al-Zawraa (p) | Al-Zawraa (p) | 0 (4) |
| | | | | | Al-Najaf | Al-Najaf | 0 (3) |
| Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 1 | 0 | 1 | Al-Najaf | Al-Najaf | 0 (3) |
| Al-Zawraa | Al-Zawraa | 1 | 2 | 3 | Third place match | Third place match | Third place match |
| | | | | | Erbil (w/o) | Erbil (w/o) | 3 |
| | | | | | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 0 |

### Semi-finals
#### Second legs

Al-Najaf won 5–2 on aggregate
Al-Zawraa won 3–1 on aggregate

### Final

| Al-Zawraa | Al-Najaf |
Sarmad Rasheed :
| DF | 2 | Haidar Mahmoud (c) |
| DF | 3 | Yassir Raad |
| DF | 28 | Khaldoun Ibrahim | 87' |
| DF | 14 | Haidar Abdul-Amir | 71' |
| MF | 18 | Haitham Kadhim |
| MF | 16 | Mohannad Nassir | 49' | 72' |
| MF | 13 | Haidar Sabah | 53' |
| MF | 24 | Wissam Zaki | | 100' |
| FW | 12 | Alaa Abdul-Zahra | | 67' |
| FW | 8 | Husham Mohammed |
| Substitutions: ||||
| FW | 15 | Hussam Fawzi | | 67' |
| MF | 5 | Ahmed Abid Ali | | 72' |
| FW | 10 | Muslim Mubarak | | 100' |
| Manager: ||||
| Salih Radhi ||||
Jassim Mohammed Hamad :
| DF | 3 | Uday Omran |
| DF | 4 | Haidar Aboodi |
| DF | 5 | Nabeel Abbas |
| DF | 7 | Chasib Sultan |
| MF | 25 | Hatim Sahib | | 78' |
| MF | 18 | Dhia Faleh | 43' |
| MF | 6 | Karrar Jassim | 69' |
| MF | 22 | Saeed Mohsen |
| FW | 13 | Falah Hassan (c) |
| FW | 17 | Yassir Abdul-Razzaq | | 95' |
| Substitutions: ||||
| FW | 29 | Ali Mohammed | | 78' 118' |
| DF | 12 | Qais Essa | | 95' |
| DF | 18 | Zaman Jawad | 119' | 118' |
| Manager: ||||
| Abdul-Ghani Shahad ||||

## Season statistics
### Top four positions

| Pos | Team | Pld | Pts | Eff | Qualification |
| 1 | Al-Zawraa | 19 | 45 | 78.9% | 2007 AFC Champions League |
| 2 | Al-Najaf | 19 | 30 | 52.6% | 2007 AFC Champions League |
| 3 | Erbil | 19 | 28 | 49.1% | 2006–07 Arab Champions League |
| 4 | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 19 | 30 | 52.6% |

### Top scorers

| Pos | Scorer | Goals | Team |
| 1 | Sahib Abbas | 17 | Karbala |
| 2 | Mustafa Karim | 14 | Al-Shorta |
| 3 | Husham Mohammed | 9 | Al-Zawraa |
| 4 | Ahmed Ali Kareem | 7 | Al-Samawa |
| 4 | Alaa Kalaf | 7 | Al-Talaba |
| 4 | Yassir Abdul-Razzaq | 7 | Al-Najaf |
| 4 | Alaa Kadhim | 7 | Al-Talaba |
| 4 | Nawaf Falah | 7 | Al-Minaa |
| 4 | Qusay Abdul-Wahid | 7 | Erbil |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ahmed Salah | Al-Talaba | Kirkuk | 3–0 | 1 November 2005 |
| Alaa Kadhim | Al-Talaba | Zakho | 4–0 | 15 November 2005 |
| Sahib Abbas | Karbala | Al-Kut | 4–2 | 9 December 2005 |
| Sahib Abbas | Karbala | Al-Kut | 5–0 | 3 March 2006 |
| Alaa Kalaf | Al-Talaba | Ararat | 6–0 | 4 March 2006 |
| Karrar Jassim | Al-Najaf | Karbala | 3–1 | 21 April 2006 |