Besta deild karla
The Besta deild karla is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in Iceland, it is generally played in the spring and summer. It is governed by the Football Association of Iceland and has 12 teams. By the end of the 2022–23 season, UEFA ranked the league No. 48 in Europe.
It was previously known as Úrvalsdeild karla.
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. On 24 February 2022, the league was rebranded as Besta deild karla.
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, 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.
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 2024 title holder is Breiðablik.
Current clubs (2025)
Source:History
Championship history
The Icelandic league title has been won in its over 100 years existence by 11 teams. KR has the most titles, with 27. Stjarnan are the latest team to join the list, winning their first title in 2014.The league has been dominated by teams from the Capital Region which contains nearly two thirds of Iceland's population. Only four teams from outside that region have ever won the league: Keflavík, ÍA, ÍBV, and KA. ÍBV and KA have won four titles between them; these are the clubs farthest from the capital.
Single Round
- 1912: KR
- 1913: Fram *
- 1914: Fram *
- 1915: Fram
- 1916: Fram
- 1917: Fram
- 1918: Fram
- 1919: KR
- 1920: Víkingur
- 1921: Fram
- 1922: Fram
- 1923: Fram
- 1924: Víkingur
- 1925: Fram
- 1926: KR
- 1927: KR
- 1928: KR
- 1929: KR
- 1930: Valur
- 1931: KR
- 1932: KR
- 1933: Valur
- 1934: KR
- 1935: Valur
- 1936: Valur
- 1937: Valur
- 1938: Valur
- 1939: Fram
- 1940: Valur
- 1941: KR
- 1942: Valur
- 1943: Valur
- 1944: Valur
- 1945: Valur
- 1946: Fram
- 1947: Fram
- 1948: KR
- 1949: KR
- 1950: KR
- 1951: ÍA
- 1952: KR
- 1953: ÍA
- 1954: ÍA
- 1955: KR
- 1956: Valur
- 1957: ÍA
- 1958: ÍA
- 1959: KR
- 1960: ÍA
- 1961: KR
- 1962: Fram
- 1963: KR
- 1964: Keflavík
- 1965: KR
- 1966: Valur
- 1967: Valur
- 1968: KR
- 1969: Keflavík
- 1970: ÍA
- 1971: Keflavík
- 1972: Fram
- 1973: Keflavík
- 1974: ÍA
- 1975: ÍA
- 1976: Valur
- 1977: ÍA
- 1978: Valur
- 1979: ÍBV
- 1980: Valur
- 1981: Víkingur
- 1982: Víkingur
- 1983: ÍA
- 1984: ÍA
- 1985: Valur
- 1986: Fram
- 1987: Valur
- 1988: Fram
- 1989: KA
- 1990: Fram
- 1991: Víkingur
- 1992: ÍA
- 1993: ÍA
- 1994: ÍA
- 1995: ÍA
- 1996: ÍA
- 1997: ÍBV
- 1998: ÍBV
- 1999: KR
- 2000: KR
- 2001: ÍA
- 2002: KR
- 2003: KR
- 2004: FH
- 2005: FH
- 2006: FH
- 2007: Valur
- 2008: FH
- 2009: FH
- 2010: Breiðablik
- 2011: KR
- 2012: FH
- 2013: KR
- 2014: Stjarnan
- 2015: FH
- 2016: FH
- 2017: Valur
- 2018: Valur
- 2019: KR
- 2020: Valur **
- 2021: Víkingur
- 2022: Breiðablik
- 2023: Víkingur
- 2024: Breiðablik
- 2025: Víkingur
Champions by number of titles
| Team | Titles | First title | Last title |
| KR | 27 | 1912 | 2019 |
| Valur | 23 | 1930 | 2020 |
| Fram | 18 | 1913 | 1990 |
| ÍA | 18 | 1951 | 2001 |
| FH | 8 | 2004 | 2016 |
| Víkingur | 8 | 1920 | 2025 |
| Keflavík | 4 | 1964 | 1973 |
| ÍBV | 3 | 1979 | 1998 |
| Breiðablik | 3 | 2010 | 2024 |
| KA | 1 | 1989 | 1989 |
| Stjarnan | 1 | 2014 | 2014 |
Clubs in bold are currently playing in the top-tier.
Season by season records
All-time top scorers
Top scorers
Player of the Year
Young Player of the Year
Caps correct as of 5 August 2025| Season | Player | Club | International caps | International goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 |  Total seasons in Besta deild by clubA total of 32 teams have played at least one season in the top division.Teams in bold play in 2025 season. Seasons counted up to and including the 2025 season
1 ÍBA stood for "Sports Association of Akureyri", composed of KA and Þór. Disbanded after the 1974 season with KA and Þór fielding their own teams starting from the 1975 season. 2 ÍBH stood for "Sports Association of Hafnarfjörður", composed of FH and Haukar. Disbanded after the 1963 season with FH and Haukar fielding their own teams starting from the 1964 season. 3 ÍBÍ ran into financial trouble and folded after the 1987 season. Most of the players transferred to BÍ which took over as the main football club in Ísafjörður. BÍ is now known as Vestri. 4 Leiftur ran into financial trouble and eventually merged with KS from Siglufjörður before the 2006 season. The teams were disbanded before the 2010 season in favour of forming a new football club for both towns, the new club being called KF. |