The Iraqi Super Cup (Arabic: كأس السوبر العراقي), previously called Perseverance Cup (Arabic: كأس المثابرة), is Iraqi football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Iraqi Premier League season and the holders of the Iraq FA Cup at Al-Shaab Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition. Generally ranked below the Iraq FA Cup and the now-defunct Iraqi Elite Cup in terms of importance, the fixture is a recognised football super cup.[1] Extra-time is not played in the case of a draw; the game goes straight to penalties instead.
Al-Zawraa are the current holders of the cup, having beaten Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 3–0 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in 2017 to win the cup for a record fourth time.
History
It was founded in 1997, and the first two editions of the tournament were played at the end of the season, to bring a close to the campaign. But from 1999 onwards, the cup was played before the start of the following Premier League season as a 'curtain-raiser' to the new league campaign. The tournament was cancelled in 2003 due to the Iraq War making it too difficult to hold the game. From then up until 2016, the Iraq FA Cup was either not played or not completed, meaning the cup could not be played. In 2016, the Iraq FA Cup was finally completed, and the newly-named 2016 Iraqi Super Cup was scheduled to be played in August 2016, but was eventually cancelled due to scheduling difficulties. Finally, the tournament was played for the first time in 15 years in 2017, with Al-Zawraa extending their record number of wins to 4.
2017 Iraqi Super Cup
Iraq
