2023 Besta deild karla

2023 Besta deild karla 2023
Season information
Dates	10 April–8 October 2023
Winners	Víkingur Reykjavík
Relegated	ÍBV Keflavík
Continental cup qualifiers
Champions League	Víkingur Reykjavík
Conference League	Breiðablik Stjarnan Valur
Season statistics
Matches played	119
Goals scored	404
Top goalscorer	Emil Atlason (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Víkingur Reykjavík 6–0 ÍBV (7 May 2023)
Biggest away win	Fylkir 1–6 Valur (3 May 2023)
Highest scoring	Stjarnan 5–4 HK (24 April 2023) Breiðablik 5–4 Fram (28 April 2023)
← 2022	2024 →

The 2023 Besta deild karla was the 112th season of top-flight Icelandic football. It was the second season of the league after it was rebranded as Besta deild karla.

Twelve teams contested the league; Breiðablik were the defending champions after winning their second league title during the previous season.

The winners (Víkingur Reykjavík) qualified for the 2024–25 Champions League first qualifying round. The second, third, and fourth-placed teams (Breiðablik, Stjarnan, and Valur) qualified for the 2024–25 Conference League first qualifying round. The bottom two teams (ÍBV and Keflavík) were relegated to the 2024 1. deild karla.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top ten teams in the division during the previous season, and two teams promoted from 1. deild karla.

Team changes

Promoted from 2022 1. deild karla	Relegated to 2023 1. deild karla
Fylkir HK	ÍA Leiknir Reykjavík

Club information

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Breiðablik	Kópavogur	Kópavogsvöllur	3,009
FH	Hafnarfjörður	Kaplakriki	6,450
Fram	Reykjavík	Laugardalsvöllur	9,800
Fylkir	Reykjavík	Floridana völlurinn	1,854
HK	Kópavogur	Kórinn	1,452
ÍBV	Vestmannaeyjar	Hásteinsvöllur	2,300 (534 seated)
KA	Akureyri	Akureyrarvöllur	1,645
Keflavík	Reykjanesbær	Keflavíkurvöllur	5,200
KR	Reykjavík	Alvogenvöllurinn	3,333
Stjarnan	Garðabær	Samsung völlurinn	1,440
Valur	Reykjavík	Valsvöllur	2,465
Víkingur Reykjavík	Reykjavík	Víkingsvöllur	2,023

Regular season

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Víkingur Reykjavík	22	19	2	1	65	20	+45	59	Qualification for the Championship round
2	Valur	22	14	3	5	53	25	+28	45
3	Breiðablik	22	11	5	6	44	36	+8	38
4	Stjarnan	22	10	4	8	45	25	+20	34
5	FH	22	10	4	8	41	44	−3	34
6	KR	22	9	5	8	29	36	−7	32
7	KA	22	8	5	9	31	39	−8	29	Qualification for the Relegation round
8	HK	22	6	7	9	37	48	−11	25
9	Fylkir	22	5	6	11	29	45	−16	21
10	Fram	22	5	4	13	32	47	−15	19
11	ÍBV	22	5	4	13	24	43	−19	19
12	Keflavík	22	1	9	12	20	42	−22	12

Source: KSI (in Icelandic),Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.

Results

Each team plays each other twice (22 matches each), once at home and once away.

Home \ Away	BRE	FH	FRA	FYL	HK	ÍBV	KA	KEF	KR	STJ	VAL	VÍK
Breiðablik	—	0–2	5–4	5–1	3–4	3–1	2–0	2–1	3–4	1–1	1–0	2–2
FH	2–2	—	4–0	2–4	4–3	2–1	0–3	2–1	3–0	1–0	3–2	1–3
Fram	0–1	2–2	—	1–1	3–2	3–1	2–1	4–1	1–2	2–1	1–3	2–3
Fylkir	1–2	4–2	3–1	—	0–0	2–1	1–1	1–2	3–3	0–4	1–6	1–3
HK	5–2	2–2	1–1	1–0	—	2–2	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–5	1–2
ÍBV	2–1	2–3	1–0	0–1	3–0	—	2–0	1–1	2–2	0–2	0–3	0–1
KA	1–1	4–2	4–2	2–1	1–1	3–0	—	0–0	1–1	2–1	0–4	0–4
Keflavík	0–0	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–3	3–4	—	0–2	1–1	1–1	3–3
KR	0–1	1–0	3–2	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	2–0	—	1–0	0–4	1–2
Stjarnan	0–2	5–0	4–0	2–2	5–4	4–0	4–0	3–0	3–1	—	2–0	0–2
Valur	0–2	1–1	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–1	4–2	0–0	5–0	3–2	—	0–4
Víkingur Reykjavík	5–3	2–0	3–1	2–0	6–1	6–0	1–0	4–1	3–0	2–0	2–3	—

Source: KSI (in Icelandic), Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Championship round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Víkingur Reykjavík (C)	27	21	3	3	76	30	+46	66	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Valur	27	17	4	6	66	35	+31	55	Qualification for the Conference League first qualifying round
3	Stjarnan	27	14	4	9	55	29	+26	46
4	Breiðablik	27	12	5	10	52	49	+3	41
5	FH	27	12	4	11	49	54	−5	40
6	KR	27	10	7	10	38	48	−10	37

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.
(C) Champion

Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.

Home \ Away	BRE	FH	KR	STJ	VAL	VÍK
Breiðablik	—	0–2	—	0–2	—	3–1
FH	—	—	3–1	1–3	—	—
KR	4–3	—	—	—	2–2	—
Stjarnan	—	—	2–0	—	—	3–1
Valur	4–2	4–1	—	2–0	—	—
Víkingur Reykjavík	—	2–1	2–2	—	5–1	—

Source: .
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Relegation round

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	KA	27	12	5	10	42	45	−3	41
2	Fylkir	27	7	8	12	43	55	−12	29
3	HK	27	6	9	12	41	55	−14	27
4	Fram	27	7	6	14	40	56	−16	27
5	ÍBV (R)	27	6	7	14	31	50	−19	25	Relegation to 1. deild karla
6	Keflavík (R)	27	2	10	15	27	54	−27	16

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Head-to-head goals scored; 7) Head-to-head away goals scored; 8) Play-off (only for deciding champion); 9) Draw.
(R) Relegated

Results

Each team plays each other once (5 matches), either at home or away.

Home \ Away	FRA	FYL	HK	ÍBV	KA	KEF
Fram	—	—	—	—	1–0	3–1
Fylkir	5–1	—	—	2–2	2–4	—
HK	1–1	2–2	—	0–1	—	—
ÍBV	2–2	—	—	—	—	1–1
KA	—	—	1–0	2–1	—	4–2
Keflavík	—	1–3	2–1	—	—	—

Source: .
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top scorers

As of 20 August 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Tryggvi Hrafn Haraldsson	Valur	11
2	Birnir Snær Ingason	Víkingur Reykjavik	10
	Nikolaj Hansen	Víkingur Reykjavik
	Stefán Ingi Sigurðarson	Breiðablik
5	Emil Atlason	Stjarnan	9
6	Adam Pálsson	Valur	8
	Fred Saraiva	Fram
	Kjartan Finnbogason	FH
9	Danijel Djuric	Víkingur Reykjavik	7
	Gísli Eyjólfsson	Breiðablik
	Ulfur Björnsson	FH

External links

• Official website

2023 in Icelandic football
Domestic leagues
Besta deild karla · 1. deild karla · 2. deild karla · 3. deild karla · 4. deild karla · (A · B · C · D) · Besta deild kvenna
Domestic cups
Icelandic Cup · Deildabikar · Icelandic Super Cup
European competitions
Champions League ('22–'23, '23–'24) · Europa League ('22–'23, '23–'24) · Europa Conference League ('22–'23, '23–'24)
National teams
National team
2022                                                        2024