Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla

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Poster

Established
1912 (113 years old)

First Recorded Event
2020-06-13

Current Season
2025

Level Below
Icelandic 1 deild karla

Sport
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Soccer

Location
Iceland

Gender
Male

TV Rights
Stöð 2 Sport
Eleven Sports
OneFootball

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Upcoming
18 May	Fram Reyk	2:00pm	Vestri
18 May	ÍBV Vest	2:00pm	KA Akureyr
18 May	Stjarnan	7:15pm	Víkingur
18 May	Aftureldi	7:15pm	KR Reykjav
19 May	Breiðabl	7:15pm	Valur
19 May	ÍA Akran	7:15pm	FH Hafnarf
24 May	Víkingur	7:15pm	ÍA Akrane
24 May	Vestri	7:15pm	Stjarnan
24 May	KA Akurey	5:00pm	Aftureldin
24 May	Valur	5:00pm	ÍBV Vestm
Results
11 May	Víkingur	3 - 1	FH Hafnarf
11 May	KA Akurey	0 - 1	Breiðabli
10 May	Valur	6 - 1	ÍA Akrane
10 May	Stjarnan	2 - 0	Fram Reykj
10 May	Vestri	2 - 0	Aftureldin
10 May	KR Reykja	4 - 1	ÍBV Vestm
05 May	Breiðabl	3 - 3	KR Reykjav
05 May	Víkingur	3 - 2	Fram Reykj
05 May	Aftureldi	3 - 0	Stjarnan
04 May	ÍBV Vest	0 - 2	Vestri

Description

The Besta deild karla (lit. 'Men's Best Division') is the top level men's football league in Iceland. 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.

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 2023 title holder is Víkingur.

Seasons