Participation The cup started with the first round, consisting of the 41 teams from the
Iraqi First Division League, 40 of which played against each other and 1 of which automatically proceeded to the next round. The second round consisted of the 21 qualified teams from the first round, 18 of which played against each other and 3 of which automatically proceeded to the Round of 32. The 20
Iraqi Premier League clubs were to join the 12 qualified teams from the second round to form the Round of 32, but
Erbil withdrew from the tournament and therefore First Division League side
Al-Jinsiya were admitted into the Round of 32 to replace them despite already being knocked out. The last cup competition saw almost half of the Premier League clubs withdraw from the tournament. To avoid this happening again, the Iraq FA announced that any Premier League team that withdrew would be fined and also deducted three points in the league. However, the Premier League had already finished by the time the Round of 16 came around, so teams who withdrew from that stage onwards faced no sanctions.
Cards If a player received a second yellow card, they would be banned from the next cup match. If a player received a red card, they would be banned a minimum of one match, but more could be added by the Iraq Football Association.
No extra-time The
Iraq Football Association decided that from the Round of 16 onwards, there would not be an extra time period for matches that end in a draw; instead the game would go straight to a penalty shootout. == Participating clubs ==