Icelandic Úrvalsdeild karla

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Poster

Established
1912 (114 years old)

First Recorded Event
2020-06-13

Current Season
2026

Current Round
8

Level Above

Level Below
Icelandic 1 deild karla

Sport
Sport Icon

Soccer

Location
Iceland

Gender
Male

TV Rights
Stöð 2 Sport
Eleven Sports
OneFootball

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Upcoming
26 May	StjarnanStjarnan	7:15pm	VíkinguVíkingur Reykjavík
26 May	KR ReykjKR Reykjavík	7:15pm	ValurValur
29 May	Fram ReyFram Reykjavík	7:15pm	BreiðabBreiðablik
29 May	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur	7:15pm	ÍA AkraÍA Akranes
31 May	KR ReykjKR Reykjavík	5:00pm	KA AkureKA Akureyri
31 May	Þór AkÞór Akureyri	5:00pm	StjarnanStjarnan
31 May	ÍBV VesÍBV Vestmannaeyjar	5:00pm	KeflavíKeflavík
31 May	ValurValur	7:15pm	VíkinguVíkingur Reykjavík
14 Jun	ÍA AkraÍA Akranes	5:00pm	ValurValur
14 Jun	KeflavíKeflavík	5:00pm	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur
Results
22 May	BreiðabBreiðablik	6 - 3	KR ReykjKR Reykjavík
22 May	VíkinguVíkingur Reykjavík	5 - 0	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur
22 May	StjarnanStjarnan	0 - 1	Fram ReyFram Reykjavík
22 May	KeflavíKeflavík	1 - 0	Þór AkÞór Akureyri
22 May	KA AkureKA Akureyri	0 - 1	ValurValur
21 May	ÍA AkraÍA Akranes	2 - 2	ÍBV VesÍBV Vestmannaeyjar
17 May	ValurValur	3 - 2	BreiðabBreiðablik
17 May	KR ReykjKR Reykjavík	2 - 2	Fram ReyFram Reykjavík
17 May	KeflavíKeflavík	1 - 1	StjarnanStjarnan
17 May	FH HafnaFH Hafnarfjordur	1 - 2	KA AkureKA Akureyri

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