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Qatar Stars League

Qatari association football league

Field	Value
logo	Qatar Stars League logo.svg
upright	0.6
country	Qatar
confed	Asian Football Confederation
founded
teams	12
relegation	Qatari Second Division
levels	1
domest_cup
confed_cup
champions	Al-Sadd (18th title)
season	2024–25
most successful club	Al-Sadd (18 titles)
tv	beIN Sports
Alkass Sports
website
current	2025–26 Qatar Stars League
sponsor	Doha Bank

Alkass Sports

The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Doha Bank Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Qatari Second Division (QSD), with the lowest ranked club at the end of the QSL season being demoted to make room for the promotion of the highest ranked QSD club of the season. The QSL season usually runs from September to April. The league's first season was played in 1963, although the first official season occurred in 1972.

The Qatari league system provides 5 domestic cups that various clubs can compete for: the Emir of Qatar Cup, open to all teams in both the first and second divisions; the Qatar Crown Prince Cup, a postseason tournament played by the top four first division teams; the Sheikh Jassem Cup, a prelude to the first division regular season; the Qatari Stars Cup, a round-robin tournament played midseason; and the Qatar FA Cup, where the bottom 8 teams from the QSL and the entire QSD participate. The league title has been officially won by 7 clubs since its inception. The club that has won the most championships is Al-Sadd, with 18 titles.

League structure

There are two divisions in the Qatari football structure and the league has previously seen one club promoted and relegated each year, except in expansion seasons. The Qatar Stars League, previously known as the Q-League currently features 12 teams, with the second division featuring eight teams. The top four clubs at the end of the regular league system participate in the Qatar Crown Prince Cup, which was formed in the 1994/95 season.

The Qatar Stars League has slowly expanded since the turn of the decade, moving from nine clubs to ten clubs, and then latest setup of 12 clubs for the Qatari League 2009-10 campaign. It was announced that in the 2013-14 season, the number of clubs in the top division would increase to 14, whereas the second division would increase to 18 clubs which includes the reserve teams of the top division clubs.

It was announced on 15 April 2009 that no clubs would be relegated from the top flight the 2008–09 Qatar Stars League season, due to expansion reasons, however the announcement was made with only one game remaining. That year, the top league expanded to 12 clubs. In May 2013, the QFA again expanded the league by two more teams, bringing the total number of clubs in the first division to 14. In 2017 the number of teams moved back to 12.

There are currently four official amateur football leagues in Qatar. Three amateur leagues are under the jurisdiction of the Qatar Community Football League (QCFL), established by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy, and the fourth, known as the Qatar Amateur League (QAL) is recognized by the QFA. Inaugurated in November 2013, the QAL has 14 teams, all of which were established through the country's government, political and social sectors.

History

Early history

The first unofficial season of the Qatar Stars League was the 1963–64 season, three years after the formation of the QFA. Similarly, a second division was also created during this time. For many years, there was no promotion or relegation system. Al-Maref, a club representing the Ministry of Education, was dissolved in 1966-67 by decision of the QFA and its players distributed to other clubs.

First official season

In 1972–73, the first official season was played. Al Esteqlal, now known as Qatar SC, won the first championship.

The first time there was a playoff for the championship was in 1980, between Al Sadd and Al Arabi. Al Sadd won the match 1–0.

Although a second division had been in place for some time, there was no relegation or promotion system. However, in 1981, such a system was put in place for the first time. Five clubs participated in the second division that year.

In 1984–85, there was no relegation or promotion due to a lack of players, as members of the Qatar national football team were preparing for the qualification rounds of the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

In 1994, for one season, the QFA launched a new system where matches ending in draws would end in a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. This was put in place in an effort to improve attendance.

Three second division clubs were dissolved in the 1990 season: Al Nasr, Al Tadamon, and Al Nahda. Many of their players were distributed to first division clubs and became prominent players in Qatari football history, such as Fahad Al Kuwari, Ahmed Al Kuwari and Hamad Al Khalifa. After the dissolution of these clubs, there was no longer any relegation or promotion for five years. In 1995/96, the second division was brought back with five clubs, while there were ten clubs participating in the first division.

The 2003 money influx from QFA

A successful method the QFA used to develop the league was allocating each Q-League club with a sum of $10,000,000 to buy big-name foreign players in order to increase popularity, in the summer of 2003. The attempt brought in players such as Ronald and Frank de Boer, Romário, Pep Guardiola, Fernando Hierro, Marcel Desailly, Stefan Effenberg, Claudio Caniggia and Gabriel Batistuta, who soon appeared and shone in the league.

In addition, in 2004, the Aspire Academy was formed, which provides training facilities to young people in order to improve the footballing standard not only in Qatar, but internationally. Many notable players have graduated from the academy, including Abdelkarim Hassan, Saad Al Sheeb, and Ibrahim Majid.

2009: Changing name to Qatar Stars League

In 2009, no clubs were relegated from the top division. Due to the recent formation of Lekhwiya and El Jaish, this meant that the second division would lose two clubs while two more clubs would enter the first division, bringing the total number of clubs in the first division to 12, and the second division to six. As part of the expansion campaign, the Q-League changed its name to what it is currently known as the Qatar Stars League, and inaugurated a new domestic cup, the Qatari Stars Cup.

Clubs

Champions

Al Sadd are the most successful team in the league

Club	Wins	Winning years
Al Sadd	18	1971–72, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24, 2024–25
Al Duhail	8	2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2022–23
Al-Rayyan	8	1975–76, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1994–95, 2015–16
Qatar SC	8	1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1976–77, 2002–03
Al-Arabi	7	1982–83, 1984–85, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1996–97
Al-Gharafa	7	1991–92, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
Al-Maaref	3	1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66
Al-Wakrah	2	1998–99, 2000–01

Total titles won by region

Region	Number of titles	Clubs
Doha		Al-Sadd SC (18), Qatar SC (8), Al-Duhail (8), Al-Arabi (7), Al-Maaref (3)
Al Rayyan		Al-Rayyan (8), Al-Gharafa (7)
Al Wakrah		Al-Wakrah (2)

Media coverage

Qatar

In 2012, Alkass Sports Channels signed a deal for the rights to broadcast the Stars League in English. beIN Sports also bought rights to broadcast the Stars League.

Seasons	Channel
2012–present	Alkass Sports
beIN Sports

International

Seasons	Countries	Channel
2023–present		SPOTV

Post-season awards

An award system was developed in 2006 in which the best player and coach of the footballing season are selected by a panel of journalists. Each award winner receives $100,000. There are also awards for youth players and club staff.

Year	Best Player	Club	Best Player U23	Club	Best Coach	Club
2006	QAT Sebastián Soria	Al Gharafa	Not held		URU Jorge Fossati	Al Sadd
2007	QAT Emerson Sheik	Al Sadd	Not held		URU Jorge Fossati	Al Sadd
2008	MAR Aziz Ben Askar	Umm Salal	QAT Hassan Al Haydos	Al Sadd	BRA Marcos Paquetá	Al Gharafa
2009	ARG Leonardo Pisculichi	Al Arabi	Not held		BRA Sebastião Lazaroni	Qatar SC
2010	BRA Juninho Pernambucano	Al Gharafa	Not held		BRA Caio Júnior	Al Gharafa
2011	CIV Bakari Koné	Lekhwiya	Not held		QAT Abdullah Mubarak	Al Ahli
2012	BRA Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan	Not held		URU Diego Aguirre	Al-Rayyan
2013	QAT Khalfan Ibrahim	Al Sadd	Not held		MAR Hussein Amotta	Al Sadd
2014	Algeria Nadir Belhadj	Al Sadd	Not held		Tunisia Sami Trabelsi	Al-Sailiya
2015	QAT Hassan Al-Haydos	Al Sadd	QAT Abdurahman Al-Harazi	Al-Sailiya	DEN Michael Laudrup	Lekhwiya
2016	QAT Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan	QAT Abdelkarim Hassan	Al Sadd	URU Jorge Fossati	Al-Rayyan
2017	KOR Nam Tae-hee	Lekhwiya	QAT Almoez Ali	Lekhwiya	POR Jesualdo Ferreira	Al Sadd
2018	TUN Youssef Msakni	Al-Duhail	QAT Almoez Ali	Lekhwiya	Algeria Djamel Belmadi	Al-Duhail
2019	QAT Akram Afif	Al Sadd	QAT Bassam Al-Rawi	Al-Duhail	POR Jesualdo Ferreira	Al Sadd
2020	QAT Akram Afif	Al Sadd	QATTarek Salman	Al Sadd	URU Diego Aguirre	Al-Rayyan
2021	ESP Santi Cazorla	Al Sadd	QAT Homam Ahmed	Lekhwiya	ESP Xavi	Al-Sadd
2022	QAT Akram Afif	Al Sadd	QAT Homam Ahmed	Al Gharafa	ESP Tintín Márquez	Al-Wakrah
2023	TUN Youssef Msakni	Al Arabi	QAT Osama Al Tairy	Al-Rayyan	QAT Younes Ali	Al Arabi
2024	QAT Akram Afif	Al Sadd	QAT Jassem Gaber	Al Arabi	POR Pedro Martins	Al-Gharafa

Top goalscorers

Main article: Qatar National First Division top scorers

Source:

Year	Best scorers	Team	Goals
1972–73	QAT	Awad Hassan	Al-Esteqlal
1973–74	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1974–75	Not held
1975–76	QAT	Jamal Al-Khatib	Al-Esteqlal
1976–77	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1977–78	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1978–79	QAT	Hassan Mattar	Al Sadd
1979–80	EGY
QAT
QAT
QAT	Sharif Abdul-Hamed
Badr Bilal
Hamdan Hamed
Mansour Muftah
Qatar SC
Al Sadd
Al Ahli
Al-Rayyan
1980–81	QAT	Hassan Mattar	Al Sadd
1981–82	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1982–83	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1983–84	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1984–85	QAT	Ahmed Yaqoub	Al-Arabi
1985–86	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan
1986–87	QAT	Hassan Sabela	Al Ahli
1987–88	QAT	Hassan Jawhar	Al Sadd
1988–89	IRN	Farshad Pious	Al Ahli
1989–90	BRA	Marquinho Carioca	Al-Arabi
1990–91	QAT
QAT
QAT	Adel Khamis
Hassan Sabela
Mahmoud Soufi	Al-Ittihad
Al Ahli
Al-Ittihad
1991–92	ALG
QAT	Rabah Madjer
Mubarak Mustafa	Qatar SC
Al-Arabi
1992–93	QAT	Mubarak Mustafa	Al-Arabi
1993–94	IRQ	Ahmed Radhi	Al-Wakra
1994–95	QAT	Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	Al-Rayyan
1995–96	NGA	Ricky Owubokiri	Al-Arabi
1996–97	QAT
SEN	Mubarak Mustafa
Alboury Lah	Al-Arabi
Al Ahli
1997–98	BRA
MAR
SEN	Cláudio Prates
Hussein Ammouta
Alboury Lah	Al-Shamal
Al Sadd
Al Ahli
1998–99	ANG	Akwá	Al-Wakrah
1999–2000	QAT	Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	Al-Rayyan
2000–01	SEN	Mamoun Diop	Al-Wakrah
2001–02	ALG	Rachid Amrane	Al-Ittihad
2002–03	MAR	Rachid Rokki	Al-Khor
2003–04	ARG	Gabriel Batistuta	Al-Arabi
2004–05	BRA	Sonny Anderson	Al-Rayyan
2005–06	ECU	Carlos Tenorio	Al Sadd
2006–07	IRQ	Younis Mahmoud	Al-Gharafa
2007–08	BRA	Clemerson	Al-Gharafa
2008–09	BRA	Magno Alves	Umm Salal
2009–10	BRA
IRQ	Caboré
Younis Mahmoud	Al-Arabi
Al-Gharafa
2010–11	IRQ	Younis Mahmoud	Al-Gharafa
2011–12	BRA	Adriano	El Jaish
2012–13	QAT	Sebastián Soria	Lekhwiya
2013–14	DRC	Dioko Kaluyituka	Al Ahli
2014–15	DRC	Dioko Kaluyituka	Al Ahli
2015–16	MAR
QAT	Abderrazak Hamdallah
Rodrigo Tabata	El Jaish
Al-Rayyan
2016–17	MAR	Youssef El-Arabi	Lekhwiya
2017–18		MAR	Youssef El-Arabi	Al-Duhail
2018–19		ALG	Baghdad Bounedjah	Al Sadd
2019–20		ALG
QAT		Yacine Brahimi
Akram Afif		Al-Rayyan
Al Sadd
2020–21		ALG	Baghdad Bounedjah	Al Sadd
2021–22		KEN	Michael Olunga	Al-Duhail
2022–23		KEN	Michael Olunga	Al-Duhail
2023–24		QAT	Akram Afif	Al Sadd
2024–25		BRA	Róger Guedes	Al-Rayyan

By player

Rank	Player	Titles	Seasons
1	Mansour Muftah	7	1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86
2	Mubarak Mustafa	3	1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97
2	Younis Mahmoud	3	2006–07, 2009–10, 2010–11
4	Hassan Mattar	2	1977–78, 1980–81
4	Hassan Sabela	2	1986–87, 1990–91
4	Marquinho Carioca	2	1989–90, 1993–94
4	Mahmoud Soufi	2	1990–91, 1993–94
4	Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi	2	1994–95, 1999–2000
4	Alboury Lah	2	1996–97, 1997–98
4	Dioko Kaluyituka	2	2013–14, 2014–15
4	Youssef El-Arabi	2	2016–17, 2017–18
4	Baghdad Bounedjah	2	2018–19, 2020–21
4	Akram Afif	2	2019–20, 2023–24
4	Michael Olunga	2	2021–22, 2022–23

All-time top scorers

Rank	Nat	Name	Club	Years	Goals	Apps	Assists
1	QAT	Sebastián Soria	Al-Gharafa, Qatar SC, Al-Rayyan, Al-Duhail, Al-Arabi	2004–	211	434	58
2	QAT	Mansour Muftah	Al-Rayyan, Al-Wakrah	1973–1998	179	216	20+
3	ALG	Baghdad Bounedjah	Al-Sadd, Al-Shamal	2015–	163	171	46
4	QAT	Rodrigo Tabata	Al-Rayyan, Al-Sadd	2011–	148	282	102
5	IRQ	Younis Mahmoud	Al-Gharafa, Al-Sadd, Al-Arabi, Al-Khor, Al-Wakrah	2004–2013	131	190	4
6	QAT	Meshal Abdullah	Al-Gharafa, Qatar SC, Al-Wakrah, Al-Sailiya, Al-Ahli	1999–2010	123	354	28
7	TUN	Youssef Msakni	Al-Arabi, Al-Duhail	2013–	111	186	60
8	QAT	Akram Afif	Al-Sadd	2018–	107	127	69
9	QAT	Hassan Al-Haydos	Al-Sadd	2007–	102	336	86
10	KOR	Nam Tae-hee	Al-Sadd, Al-Duhail	2012–2023	94	231	75
11	QAT	Mubarak Mustafa	Al-Arabi SC,Al-Khor,Al-Gharafa	1990–2007	91+	179+	42+
12	DRC	Dioko Kaluyituka	Al-Duhail , Al-Gharafa, Al-Kharaitiyat, Muaither, Al-Ahli	2011–2017	84	121	12
13	QAT	Khalfan Ibrahim	Al-Arabi , Al-Sadd, Al-Rayyan	2004–2020	83	241	49
14	MAR	Youssef El-Arabi	Al-Duhail	2016–2019	76	59	13
15	KEN	Michael Olunga	Al-Duhail	2021–	75	80	6
16	BKF	Moumouni Dagano	Al-Sailiya, Qatar SC, Al-Shamal, Al-Duhail, Al-Khor	2008–2015	72	158	20
17	ANG	Akwá	Qatar SC, Al-Gharafa, Al-Wakrah	1998–2006	70	123
18	BRA	Clemerson Araújo	Al-Gharafa	2007–2010	68	84
19	MAR	Rachid Rokki	Al-Khor, Umm Salal	2000–2008	65	118
20	ECU	Carlos Tenorio	Al-Sadd	2003–2008	63	88
21	ARG	Leonardo Pisculichi	Al-Arabi	2007–2012	63	112	15
22	BKF	Yahia Kébé	Al-Kharaitiyat	2009–2016	58	132	21
23	CRO	Wagner Ribeiro	Al-Sailiya, Al-Arabi, El Jaish,Al-Ahli	2009–2018	57	174	29
24	BRA	Cabore	Umm Salal, Al-Arabi	2009–2014	57	90	15
25	QAT	Mirghani Al Zain	Al-Gharafa, Al-Wakrah ,Al-Sailiya	1996–2019	57	420
26	ALG	Yacine Brahimi	Al-Gharafa, Al-Rayyan	2019–	57	101	30
27	BRA	Júlio César	Al-Khor, Al-Ahli	2009–2016	56	117	13
28	QAT	Almoez Ali	Al-Duhail	2016–	56	161
29	QAT	Abdulgadir Ilyas Bakur	Al-Sailiya, Al-Arabi, El Jaish,Umm Salal,Al-Markhiya	2008–	55	184	39
30	OMA	Amad Al-Hosni	Qatar SC,Al-Rayyan	2005–2010	52	100	6
31	QAT	Mohammed Muntari		2012–	52	152
32	CIV	Yannick Sagbo	Umm Salal	2015–2020	51	98	12
33	ALG	Mohamed Benyettou	Al-Wakrah	2019–	51	103
34	QAT	Ali Afif	Al-Sadd ,Al-Duhail	2015–2020	50	286	34
35	QAT	Boualem Khoukhi	Al-Sadd ,Al-Arabi	2009–	50	268	25

References

– hailoosport.com
Qatari Football on Twitter

References

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link
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Ken Salmon. (9 June 2022). "When Effenberg, Batistuta and Guardiola played in Qatar". 90soccer.com.
(December 2014). "Champ magazine, issue 7". Aspire Academy.
Matthias Krug. (29 August 2009). "An Asian armada sets sail for Europe". ESPN FC.
(14 October 2009). "QNB The Exclusive Partner of QATAR STARS CUP". QNB.
(2022-09-21). "Qatar - List of Champions".
(2012-11-13). "'Football is a powerful marketing tool'".
"QFA to name Player of the Year on Sunday". Qatar Football Association.
[https://archive.today/20120728232539/http://www.dohapress.com/portal/index.php/archive/59-all-sports-news/14006-qfa-announce-100000-for-best-player QFA announce $100,000 for best player] Doha Press.
(13 May 2012). "Tabata & Aguirre named season heroes". Qatar Stars League.
(20 May 2013). "Sadd's Khalfan, Raul, Amotta shine at QFA awards gala". Gulf Times.
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