2023 Iraqi Republic Championship

The 2023 Iraqi Republic Championship was a newly-returned friendly tournament organised by the Iraq Football Association. All 18 governorates of Iraq were represented in this tournament. The tournament started in August 2023, during the off-season of the Iraqi Premier League. This was the tournament's first edition in over 30 years. Salahaddin XI beat Baghdad Karkh XI in the final on 27 September to win the tournament.

Format
All 18 provinces of Iraq were represented in the tournament. Baghdad was represented by two teams from Karkh and Rusafa, the two sides of Baghdad city separated by the Tigris River. Each team, governed by the sub-federation in that province, formed a select team to compete and appointed both the coaching and administrative staff. The coaches then called up players, who play for the province that they are originally from. Each team played at the following stadiums:

Each team initially played against other teams within their own region as qualifiers for the knockout stages. The top two teams from each of the four regions qualified for the next round, joining the Karkh and Rusafa teams in the Baghdad region to make up the 10 teams in the next phase. They were divided into two groups, and the top of each group played against each other in the final of the tournament.

Tie-breakers of groups relied on goals scored rather than goal difference to encourage offensive play in order to make the football played at the tournament more appealing.

Final
