The 2026–27 season is Al-Minaa's fourth season in the Iraq Stars League since its establishment, and the club's 50th season in the top tier of Iraqi football.
Review Background Al-Minaa has experienced prolonged administrative instability for several years, a situation that has significantly affected the club's performances in recent seasons. In the previous league campaign, the team finished 15th in the league standings. The team was consistently affected by changes in the club's management, in addition to the uncertainty over whether the head coach and his technical staff would remain with the team. At times, the head coach led the team; at other times, the assistant coach took charge; and on other occasions, the entire coaching staff resigned. This situation cast a dark shadow over the team's condition. Furthermore, the club experienced administrative problems throughout the previous season, which had a number of repercussions. Financial support declined, causing some players to boycott matches, forcing the team to play its final eight matches with a squad of young players. Despite all these difficulties, the team ultimately managed to remain in the Professional League, though only with great difficulty. On 26 May 2026, the Iraqi Olympic Committee appointed a temporary administrative board for the club for the ninth time in recent years, pending elections to select a new permanent board of directors. The decision was opposed by the GCPI, the club's official sponsor, which argued that the appointment conflicted with the will of Al-Minaa's General Assembly. The company stated that it had been formally authorized by the General Assembly to oversee the matter and challenge the decision through the applicable legal procedures. On 21 June 2026, the club's temporary administrative board renewed the contract of head coach Hussein Abdul-Wahid and announced that he would oversee the club's player recruitment and transfer activities in preparation for the 2026–27 season. On 8 July 2026, the club announced its coaching staff, consisting of Osama Ali and Hussam Ibrahim as assistant coaches, Ibrahim Salim as goalkeeping coach, and Mazin Abdul Sattar as fitness coach.
Summer transfer window On 14 June 2026, the Iraqi Football Association announced the registration and transfer windows for clubs participating in the 2026–27 Iraq Stars League season. The summer transfer window was scheduled to open on 20 June 2026 and close on 31 August 2026. On 13 June 2026, Al-Minaa began reshaping its squad for the upcoming season by terminating the contracts of five foreign players as part of a technical overhaul aimed at strengthening the team with new signings following a comprehensive review of the squad's needs. The released players were Clech Loufilou, Tuisila Kisinda, Iyayi Atiemwen, Ibrahima Conté, and Reda Majji. On 14 June 2026, Al-Minaa announced its first signing of the summer transfer window, securing the services of forward Mohammed Dawood from Duhok. On 15 June 2026, Al-Minaa announced the signings of veteran defender Saad Natiq from Duhok and defensive midfielder Hassan Ali Barhi from Al-Karkh. On 19 June 2026, Al-Minaa officially announced the signings of goalkeeper Ridha Abdulaziz from Newroz and Tunisian defender Malek Miladi from US Monastir. Later that day, the club announced the signing of Armenian defensive midfielder Solomon Udo from Al-Arabi, a club competing in the Saudi First Division League. On 20 June 2026, the club renewed the contract of highly rated young winger Karrar Jaafar, one of the club's brightest emerging talents. On 25 June 2026, Al-Minaa officially re-signed former defensive midfielder Haider Salem from Amanat Baghdad, marking his return to the club. On 29 June 2026, the club signed Syrian attacking midfielder Fahd Youssef from Al-Shorta. On 1 July 2026, the club signed Nigerian winger Aminu Umar from Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. On the same day, the club also renewed the contract of Syrian forward Yassin Samia for another season. On 2 July 2026, the club signed right-back Ahmed Abdul-Hussein and Angolan attacking midfielder Pneu Flávio, both from Amanat Baghdad. The club also announced the return of Tunisian defender Dhiaeddine Jouini on a new contract after his previous deal had been terminated during the previous season due to injury. On July 8, 2026, the club announced the signing of Abdul-Razzaq Qasim on a one-season loan from Al-Shorta. On 20 July, the club announced the mutual termination of the contract of its newly signed Algerian forward Karim Aribi, after the player was unable to travel to Iraq due to the security situation in the region. On the same day, the club strengthened its squad by signing Tunisian winger Houssem Habbassi, who joined from Kuwaiti club Al Nasr. On 31 July 2026, the club announced the signing of Syrian left-back Khaled Kourdoghli.
Pre-season Al-Minaa began their preparations for the new season on 10 July 2026. On 18 July, the team played their first preparatory friendly match against the Iraq national under-20 football team at the Basra Sports City training pitches, which ended in a 1–0 victory for Al-Minaa. Later, the team held a training camp in Erbil from July 27 to August 6, where they played four friendly test matches: losing to Al-Mosul 2–1, defeating Naft Maysan 3–1, and drawing with Al-Naft 1–1 and Diyala 2–2.
Return of administrative problems On August 18, the Iraqi Sports Settlement and Arbitration Center decided to dissolve the temporary administrative body of Al-Minaa SC and requested the Iraqi Olympic Committee to form a new temporary committee to run the club, which triggered a major financial crisis. The primary cause of the crisis was the GCPI—the club's official sponsor—failing to disburse the club's financial dues, alongside unfulfilled promises made by the Governor of Basra, Asaad Al Eidani to support the team and resolve its financial troubles. This sparked widespread discontent among the players, who decided to boycott training sessions until practical solutions were found to guarantee the payment of their delayed dues and restore stability to the team. Prior to this, head coach Hussein Abdul-Wahid appealed to the local government in Basra Governorate to intervene and save the club before the crisis worsened, pointing out that the lack of funding also negatively affected the condition of the Al-Minaa Olympic Stadium pitch, which appeared to be in poor shape despite being considered one of the newest stadiums in Iraq. Later, on August 22, dozens of the club's fans staged a sit-in in front of the Basra Governorate headquarters to demand the rescue of the team and the provision of necessary support. On August 29, 2026, a new temporary administrative body was formed for the club, headed by the Governor of Basra, Asaad Al Eidani.
First-team squad
No. Name Position(s) Date of birth (age) Signed from Goalkeepers1Abed Saleem GKAl-Karkh 67 012Ridha AbdulazizGK Newroz 0 033Abdullah Ghazi GKAl-Samawa 0 0 Defenders4Saad NatiqCBDuhok 3 05Malek MiladiCB US Monastir 3 015Hassan Ali BarhiCB / DMAl-Karkh 0 024Faisal JassimRB / CB Al-Shorta 50 028Ahmed Abdul-HusseinRB Amanat Baghdad 3 170Khaled KourdoghliLB Duhok 3 077Rasool FadhilRBAl-Zawraa 1 0 Midfielders6Haider SalemDM / CBAmanat Baghdad 83 27Mohammed SalehCMAl-Quwa Al-Jawiya 3 018Solomon UdoDM / CMAl-Arabi 2 025Abdulrazzaq QasimDMAl-Shorta 3 130Fahd Youssef CM / AM Al-Shorta 3 0 Forwards3Pneu FlávioLW / LWBAmanat Baghdad 3 19Yassin SamiaST Al-Karamah 19 910Karrar JaafarLW / ST / RWAl-Minaa Academy 112 1720Houssem HabbassiRWAl Nasr 3 023Aymen LuaySTAl-Najaf 1 029Mohammed DawoodRW / ST Duhok 3 071Hussein Abdul WahedRW / AM Al-Gharraf 102 5
New contracts and transfers
New contracts DateNameLW Karrar JaafarST Yassin Samia
Transfers in DateNameFromFeeRW Mohammed Dawood Duhok—CB Hassan Ali Barhi Al-Karkh—CB Saad Natiq Duhok—CB Malek Miladi US Monastir—GK Ridha Abdulaziz Newroz—DM Solomon Udo Al-Arabi—DM Haidar Salem Amanat BaghdadRB Rasool Fadhil Al-ZawraaLoanST Aymen Luay Al-Najaf—CM Mohammed Saleh Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya—RB Ahmed Abdul-Hussein Amanat Baghdad—DM Abdulrazzaq Qasim Al-ShortaLoanAM Fahd Youssef Al-Shorta —AM Pneu Flávio Amanat Baghdad —RW Houssem Habbassi Al Nasr—LB Khaled Kourdoghli Duhok—RW Hussein Abdul Wahed Al-Gharraf—
Transfers out DateNameToFeeLB Muslim Mousa Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya—ST Mohannad Abdul-Raheem Al-Kahrabaa—RB Haider Ahmed Naft Maysan—LW Reda Majji Duhok—ST Mohammed Nassif Al-Mosul—DM Ali Al-Sajjad Sabah UnattachedReleasedCB Najm ShwanUnattachedReleasedCB Mohammed Ghaleb Zakho—RW Tuisila Kisinda Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya—RB Mujtaba Ali Ghaz Al-Shamal—AM Ahamad Azzawi Newroz—CM Murtadha Ali Malas Al-Gharraf—CB Ibrahima Conté Zakho—GK Ali Ibadi Karbala—LW Iyayi Atiemwen Karbala—LB Abbas Yas Al-Karkh—DM Clech Loufilou Al-Jandal—ST Mahmoud Khalil Al-Ramadi—DM Ali Mohsin Al-Nasiriya—
Personnel Technical staff Position Name Manager Miodrag Radulović Assistant coach Hussam Ibrahim Srđan Kljajević Goalkeeping coach Oday TalebFitness coach Petar Grbić Sports physiotherapist Faris Abdullah Team supervisor Ali Fadhel Hassan
Kits
Supplier: Jako
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overview
Iraq Stars League
League table
Summary table
Results by matchday
Matches The league fixtures were announced on 7 August 2026.
Squad statistics
No.Pos.Nat.NameLeagueFA CupTotalDiscipline1GKAbed Saleem 3000003000003MFPneu Flávio 0+3110000+3110004DFSaad Natiq 3000003000005DFMalek Miladi 3000003001006MFHaider Salem 0+3000000+3000007MFMohammed Saleh 3000003000009FWYassin Samia 31000031000010MFKarrar Jaafar 1+2100001+21000012GKRidha Abdulaziz 00000000000015DFHassan Ali Barhi 00000000000018MFSolomon Udo 0+2000000+20000020MFHoussem Habbassi 30100030100023FWAymen Luay 0+1000000+10000024DFFaisal Jassim 20000020000025MFAbdulrazzaq Qasim 31100031110028DFAhmed Abdul-Hussein 1+2100001+21010029FWMohammed Dawood 2+1000002+10010030MFFahd Youssef 30100030110033GKAbdullah Ghazi 00000000000070DFKhaled Kourdoghli 30000030000077DFRasool Fadhil 0+1000000+100000
External links 2026–27 Al-Mina'a SC season at Soccerway
References