Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla

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Poster

Established
1912 (114 years old)

First Recorded Event
2020-06-13

Current Season
2026

Current Round
9

Level Above

Level Below
Icelandic 1 deild karla

Sport
Sport Icon

Soccer

Location
Iceland

Gender
Male

TV Rights
Stöð 2 Sport
Eleven Sports
OneFootball

Logo

		Upcoming
14 Jun 26	KeflavíkKeflavík	5:00pm	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur
14 Jun 26	Þór AkurÞór Akureyri	5:00pm	ÍBV VestÍBV Vestmannaeyjar
15 Jun 26	KA AkureKA Akureyri	6:00pm	Fram ReyFram Reykjavík
16 Jun 26	ÍA AkranÍA Akranes	7:15pm	ValurValur
16 Jun 26	StjarnanStjarnan	7:15pm	BreiðablBreiðablik
16 Jun 26	VíkingurVíkingur Reykjavík	7:15pm	KR ReykjKR Reykjavík
21 Jun 26	BreiðablBreiðablik	6:00pm	KA AkureKA Akureyri
21 Jun 26	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur	6:00pm	Þór AkurÞór Akureyri
21 Jun 26	ValurValur	6:00pm	KeflavíkKeflavík
21 Jun 26	ÍBV VestÍBV Vestmannaeyjar	6:00pm	StjarnanStjarnan

		Results
31 May 26	ValurValur	1 - 5	Víkingur Víkingur Reykjavík
31 May 26	ÍBV VestmÍBV Vestmannaeyjar	6 - 1	KeflavíkKeflavík
31 May 26	Þór AkureÞór Akureyri	1 - 3	StjarnanStjarnan
31 May 26	KR ReykjaKR Reykjavík	5 - 3	KA AkureyKA Akureyri
29 May 26	FH HafnarFH Hafnarfjordur	0 - 1	ÍA AkraneÍA Akranes
29 May 26	Fram ReykFram Reykjavík	4 - 3	BreiðabliBreiðablik
26 May 26	KR ReykjaKR Reykjavík	3 - 1	ValurValur
26 May 26	StjarnanStjarnan	1 - 3	Víkingur Víkingur Reykjavík
22 May 26	BreiðabliBreiðablik	6 - 3	KR ReykjaKR Reykjavík
22 May 26	Víkingur Víkingur Reykjavík	5 - 0	FH HafnarFH Hafnarfjordur

Description

The Besta deild karla (lit. 'Men's Best Division') is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer (April to September). It is governed by the Football Association of Iceland (KSÍ) and has 12 teams. By the end of the 2022–23 season, UEFA ranked the league No. 48 in Europe.

It was previously known as Úrvalsdeild karla.

From 27 April 2009 to 2022, the league had an active agreement on the league's name rights with Ölgerðin, the Icelandic franchisee for Pepsi. From the 2019 season to the end of the 2021 season, the league was popularly referred to as Pepsi Max deildin (The Pepsi Max League). On 24 February 2022, the league was rebranded as Besta deild karla.

The clubs play each other home and away. At the end of each season, the two teams with the fewest points are relegated to 1. deild karla (First Division), from which two top point teams promote to the higher tier. The winner of the league enters the European national competition UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. The second, third and fourth placed teams qualify for the UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round.

An effort by KSÍ to strengthen Icelandic football had only one team relegated in the 2007 season to the First Division and three clubs promoted to the premier division, bringing the top flight to the number of clubs it contains currently.

Championship title counts are: KR with 27, Valur with 23, and ÍA and Fram Reykjavík each with 18. FH has 8 and Víkingur has 7. The 2024 title holder is Breiðablik.

Seasons