2016–17 Iraq FA Cup


The 2016–17 Iraq FA Cup was the 29th edition of the Iraqi knockout football cup competition, the main domestic cup in Iraqi football. A total of 19 teams from the Iraqi Premier League and 41 teams from the Iraq Division One participated. It started on 2 December 2016 and the final was played at the Al-Sinaa Stadium in Baghdad on 22 August 2017. It was the second Iraq FA Cup final to be held outside Al-Shaab Stadium, with the first being in 2003.
The winners of the competition were Al-Zawraa, who extended their record number of cup wins to 15 with a 1–0 victory over Naft Al-Wasat in the final thanks to a stoppage time goal by Alaa Abdul-Zahra.

Format

Participation

The cup started with the first round, consisting of the 41 teams from the Iraq Division One, 40 of which played against each other and 1 of which automatically proceeded to the next round. The second round consisted of the 21 qualified teams from the first round, 18 of which played against each other and 3 of which automatically proceeded to the Round of 32. The 20 Iraqi Premier League clubs were to join the 12 qualified teams from the second round to form the Round of 32, but Erbil withdrew from the tournament and therefore Division One side Al-Jinsiya were admitted into the Round of 32 to replace them despite already being knocked out.
The last cup competition saw almost half of the Premier League clubs withdraw from the tournament. To avoid this happening again, the Iraq FA announced that any Premier League team that withdrew would be fined and also deducted three points in the league. However, the Premier League had already finished by the time the Round of 16 came around, so teams who withdrew from that stage onwards faced no sanctions.

Cards

If a player received a second yellow card, they would be banned from the next cup match. If a player received a red card, they would be banned a minimum of one match, but more could be added by the Iraq Football Association.

No extra-time

The Iraq Football Association decided that from the Round of 16 onwards, there would not be an extra time period for matches that end in a draw; instead the game would go straight to a penalty shootout.

Participating clubs

The following 60 teams participated in the competition:
Iraqi Premier League
19 clubs from the 2016–17 season		Iraq Division One
41 clubs from the 2016–17 season

  • Abu Ghraib
  • Al-Alam
  • Al-Atheer
  • Al-Difaa Al-Madani
  • Al-Diwan
  • Al-Eskan
  • Al-Etisalat
  • Al-Ghadhriya
  • Al-Hurr
  • Al-Iraq
  • Al-Jaish
  • Al-Jamahir
  • Al-Jinsiya
  • Al-Kadhimiya
  • Al-Khutoot
  • Al-Kufa
  • Al-Maslaha
  • Al-Mohandessin
  • Al-Najda
  • Al-Rusafa
  • Al-Saha
  • Al-Shabab
  • Al-Sinaa
  • Al-Sinaat Al-Kahrabaiya
  • Al-Siyaha
  • Al-Taji
  • Al-Tarmiya
  • Al-Tuz
  • Badr Al-Iraq
  • Balad
  • Beladi
  • Brayati
  • Ghaz Al-Shamal
  • Haifa
  • Jisr Diyala
  • Peshmerga Al-Sulaymaniya
  • Salahaddin
  • Samaraa
  • Shabab Al-Adil
  • Shabab Al-Dawr
  • Shabab Al-Mushahada
  • Bold indicates the team is still in the competition.

    Schedule

    • The rounds of the 2016–17 competition were scheduled as follows:
    RoundDraw date and timeMatches dates
    First round8 November 20162–5 December 2016
    Second round8 November 20169–11 December 2016
    Round of 327 March 201726–31 March 2017
    Round of 167 March 201714 August 2017
    Quarter-finals7 March 201717 August 2017
    Semi-finals7 March 201720 August 2017
    Final7 March 201722 August 2017

    Matches

    First round

    40 teams from the Iraq Division One compete in this round, and 1 Division One team is automatically placed into the second round.

    Second round

    18 of the 21 qualified teams from the previous round compete in this round, while 4 teams are automatically placed into the Round of 32. Although Al-Jinsiya were knocked out in the first round, they were chosen to replace Erbil who withdrew from the tournament.

    Round of 32

    Round of 16

    Quarter-finals

    Semi-finals

    Final

    Bracket

    From the Round of 32 onwards: