Besta deild karla

This article is about the men's football league. For the women's football league, see Besta deild kvenna.
Besta deild karla
Founded1912; 112 years ago (1912)
CountryIceland
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toLengjudeildin
Domestic cup(s)Mjólkurbikarinn
League Cup
Super Cup
International cup(s)UEFA Champions League
UEFA Conference League
Current championsBreiðablik (3rd title)
(2024)
Most championshipsKR (27)
Top goalscorerIceland Tryggvi Guðmundsson (131 goals)
TV partnersDomestic:
Stöð 2 Sport[1]
International:
Eleven Sports
OneFootball
Websiteksi.is
Current: 2024 Besta deild karla

The Besta deild karla (lit. 'Men's Best Division') is the top level men's football league in Iceland.[2] The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship.[3] 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.[4]

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).[5][6] On 24 February 2022, the league was rebranded as Besta deild karla.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9][10]

  1. ^ "Stefnt á að sýna alla leiki í Pepsi-deild karla beint - Pepsi-deildin á Stöð 2 Sport til 2021". Archived from the original on 2018-10-01. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  2. ^ "Icelandic Premier League – Úrvalsdeild / Pepsi Max deildin (Review)". Fieldo Blog. March 19, 2014. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. ^ "Iceland coming in from the cold". UEFA. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  4. ^ UEFA Country Ranking 2023 Archived 2021-11-02 at the Wayback Machine UEFA rankings for club competitions, accessed on June 18, 2023.
  5. ^ Pepsi-deildin í knattspyrnu 2009 Archived 2015-06-09 at the Wayback Machine KSÍ's official site, accessed on 28 April 2009.
  6. ^ "Pepsi-deildin til næstu þriggja ára". Ölgerðin. Archived from the original on 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  7. ^ Helga Margrét Höskuldsdóttir (24 February 2022). "Nýtt vörumerki með rætur íslenskri knattspyrnusögu". RÚV (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 24 February 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Reglugerðir - Knattspyrnusamband Íslands". www.ksi.is (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-05-01.
  9. ^ "Íslandsmeistarar meistaraflokks karla". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2017-04-30.
  10. ^ "Archive - Úrvalsdeild - Iceland - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 2018-05-01. Retrieved 2018-04-30.