# 2023 Besta deild karla

The 2023 Besta deild karla was the 112th season of top-flight Icelandic football. It was the second season of the league after it was rebranded as Besta deild karla.
The winners (Víkingur Reykjavík) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The second, third, and fourth-placed teams (Breiðablik, Stjarnan, and Valur) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The bottom two teams (ÍBV and Keflavík) were relegated to the 2024 1. deild karla.

## Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top ten teams from the previous season, and two teams promoted from 1. deild karla. Breiðablik entered the season as defending champions.

### Team changes

| Promoted from 2022 1. deild karla | Relegated to 2023 1. deild karla |
| Fylkir HK | ÍA Leiknir Reykjavík |

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Breiðablik | Kópavogur | Kópavogsvöllur | 3,009 |
| FH | Hafnarfjörður | Kaplakriki | 6,450 |
| Fram | Reykjavík | Laugardalsvöllur | 9,800 |
| Fylkir | Reykjavík | Floridana völlurinn | 1,854 |
| HK | Kópavogur | Kórinn | 1,452 |
| ÍBV | Vestmannaeyjar | Hásteinsvöllur | 2,300 (534 seated) |
| KA | Akureyri | Akureyrarvöllur | 1,645 |
| Keflavík | Reykjanesbær | Keflavíkurvöllur | 5,200 |
| KR | Reykjavík | Alvogenvöllurinn | 3,333 |
| Stjarnan | Garðabær | Samsung völlurinn | 1,440 |
| Valur | Reykjavík | Valsvöllur | 2,465 |
| Víkingur Reykjavík | Reykjavík | Víkingsvöllur | 2,023 |

## Regular season

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Víkingur Reykjavík | 22 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 65 | 20 | +45 | 59 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 2 | Valur | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 53 | 25 | +28 | 45 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 3 | Breiðablik | 22 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 44 | 36 | +8 | 38 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 4 | Stjarnan | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 45 | 25 | +20 | 34 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 5 | FH | 22 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 41 | 44 | −3 | 34 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 6 | KR | 22 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 36 | −7 | 32 | Qualification for the Championship Round |
| 7 | KA | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 31 | 39 | −8 | 29 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 8 | HK | 22 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 9 | Fylkir | 22 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 45 | −16 | 21 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 10 | Fram | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 32 | 47 | −15 | 19 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 11 | ÍBV | 22 | 5 | 4 | 13 | 24 | 43 | −19 | 19 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |
| 12 | Keflavík | 22 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 20 | 42 | −22 | 12 | Qualification for the Relegation Round |

### Results

Each team plays each other twice (22 matches each), once at home and once away.
| Home \ Away | BRE | FH | FRA | FYL | HK | ÍBV | KA | KEF | KR | STJ | VAL | VÍK |
| Breiðablik | — | 0–2 | 5–4 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| FH | 2–2 | — | 4–0 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 |
| Fram | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Fylkir | 1–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–4 | 1–6 | 1–3 |
| HK | 5–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | — | 2–2 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–2 |
| ÍBV | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | — | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| KA | 1–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 0–4 |
| Keflavík | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 3–4 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| KR | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–2 |
| Stjarnan | 0–2 | 5–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 5–4 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | — | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Valur | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | — | 0–4 |
| Víkingur Reykjavík | 5–3 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | — |

## Championship Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Víkingur Reykjavík (C) | 27 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 76 | 30 | +46 | 66 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Valur | 27 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 66 | 35 | +31 | 55 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Stjarnan | 27 | 14 | 4 | 9 | 55 | 29 | +26 | 46 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Breiðablik | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 41 | Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round |
| 5 | FH | 27 | 12 | 4 | 11 | 49 | 54 | −5 | 40 | |
| 6 | KR | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 38 | 48 | −10 | 37 | |
* ↑ The 2023 Icelandic Cup winners also qualified for the Conference League first qualifying round. Since the cup winners (Víkingur Reykjavík) qualified based on league position, the Conference League spot was passed to the fourth-placed team.

### Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.
| Home \ Away | BRE | FH | KR | STJ | VAL | VÍK |
| Breiðablik | — | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | — | 3–1 |
| FH | — | — | 3–1 | 1–3 | — | — |
| KR | 4–3 | — | — | — | 2–2 | — |
| Stjarnan | — | — | 2–0 | — | — | 3–1 |
| Valur | 4–2 | 4–1 | — | 2–0 | — | — |
| Víkingur Reykjavík | — | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 5–1 | — |

## Relegation Round
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | KA | 27 | 12 | 5 | 10 | 42 | 45 | −3 | 41 | |
| 2 | Fylkir | 27 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 43 | 55 | −12 | 29 | |
| 3 | HK | 27 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 41 | 55 | −14 | 27 | |
| 4 | Fram | 27 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 40 | 56 | −16 | 27 | |
| 5 | ÍBV (R) | 27 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 31 | 50 | −19 | 25 | Relegation to 1. deild karla |
| 6 | Keflavík (R) | 27 | 2 | 10 | 15 | 27 | 54 | −27 | 16 | Relegation to 1. deild karla |

### Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.
| Home \ Away | FRA | FYL | HK | ÍBV | KA | KEF |
| Fram | — | — | — | — | 1–0 | 3–1 |
| Fylkir | 5–1 | — | — | 2–2 | 2–4 | — |
| HK | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | — | — |
| ÍBV | 2–2 | — | — | — | — | 1–1 |
| KA | — | — | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 4–2 |
| Keflavík | — | 1–3 | 2–1 | — | — | — |

## Top scorers

    As of 20 August 2023
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson | Valur | 11 |
| 2 | Birnir Snær Ingason | Víkingur Reykjavik | 10 |
| 2 | Nikolaj Hansen | Víkingur Reykjavik | 10 |
| 2 | Stefán Ingi Sigurðarson | Breiðablik | 10 |
| 5 | Emil Atlason | Stjarnan | 9 |
| 6 | Adam Pálsson | Valur | 8 |
| 6 | Fred Saraiva | Fram | 8 |
| 6 | Kjartan Finnbogason | FH | 8 |
| 9 | Danijel Djuric | Víkingur Reykjavik | 7 |
| 9 | Gísli Eyjólfsson | Breiðablik | 7 |
| 9 | Ulfur Björnsson | FH | 7 |