While the World Cup is continuing on at a frantic pace, Israeli soccer teams who are participating in UEFA qualifying for a number of competitions found out who their foes will be when they take to the pitch in July.
Domestic league champions Hapoel Beersheba will take part in Champions League qualification and will face the winner of the tie between Víkingur Reykjavík of Iceland and ETO Gyor of Hungary in first round action.
State Cup holder Maccabi Tel Aviv will play in the Europa League qualifiers and will take on the winner of Sheriff Tiraspol from Moldova and Aluminij from Slovenia in first-round play. Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv will feature in the Conference League and will play AEK Larnaca of Cyprus and PFC Ludogorets Razgrad, respectively, in their second-round ties.
Beersheba will also host its matches in the city of Szombathely in Hungary due to the security situation in Israel, with the first leg being played away on either July 21 or 22 while the home contest will be one week later on either July 28 or 29.
If Beersheba advances out of this round, it will effectively guarantee participation in a European league stage. Even if the Southern Reds lose in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, they would drop into the Europa League playoff round and a further defeat there would still secure a place in the UEFA Conference League league stage.
Beersheba’s possible opponents – ETO Gyor or Víkingur Reykjavík – have interesting backgrounds, with the Hungarian side having a bit more history with Israel. Gyor’s most recent sports director was Steven Vanharen, who was just appointed to the same position at Maccabi Tel Aviv, while the club’s captain, Claudiu Bumba, played for Hapoel Tel Aviv between 2015-17. Gyor also played against the yellow-and-blue back in the 2013/14 Champions League qualifiers.
Founded in 1904, the club has won five league titles, four domestic cups and a Super Cup, playing in green and white and hosting matches at ETO Park. Historically, it has been considered one of Hungary’s most prominent provincial clubs, enjoying decades near the top of the domestic game and several notable European campaigns. The club’s greatest European achievement came in the 1964/65 season when it reached the semifinals of the European Cup before being eliminated by Benfica led by Eusébio.
Gyor suffered a major setback in 2015 when it lost its top-flight license and was relegated to the third division which was followed by a lengthy rebuilding process as it returned to prominence in 2024. The team struggled early in the 2024/25 season, earning just one point from its first five matches, but recovered impressively to finish fourth and qualify for Europe. In the 2025/26 season, it completed its comeback by winning the Hungarian championship for the first time in 13 years.
In terms of squad quality, Gyor appears significantly stronger than Víkingur and features the likes of midfielders Milán Vitális and Szabolcs Schön along with defenders Márk Csinger, Dániel Stefulj and Rajmund Tóth together with goalkeeper Sámuel Petrás.
As champion of the domestic league, Víkingur Reykjavík is one of Iceland’s oldest clubs, founded in 1908 in the Fossvogur neighborhood of Reykjavík and plays in red and black while hosting matches at the small Víkingsvöllur Stadium, which holds only 1,450 spectators.
Over the years, the club has won eight league titles and five domestic cups while also being a multi-sport organization with departments in handball, tennis, table tennis, karate and skiing.
The most recognizable player in the squad is undoubtedly Gylfi Sigurðsson, the 36-year-old former Iceland international and Premier League star. Despite his advanced age, he remains the club’s biggest name.
Maccabi Tel Aviv eyes Europa League success
Although Maccabi Tel Aviv has not yet appointed a head coach, the club learned who its potential first opponents in the Europa League qualifiers could be as it will face the winner of the tie between Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova and Aluminij of Slovenia. Maccabi will “host” the return leg.
Maccabi was originally scheduled to enter in the first qualifying round, but a rebalancing mechanism triggered by Aston Villa’s Europa League triumph moved the Israeli club directly into the second qualifying round. With a UEFA coefficient of 32.5 points, Maccabi was seeded, which allowed it to avoid stronger opponents such as Benfica, Ferencváros, and Midtjylland.
The first leg will be played on July 23, with the return leg one week later on July 30.
Among the two possible opponents, Sheriff is undoubtedly the more famous and intriguing club. It became well known throughout Europe after its stunning 2-1 victory over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu in the 2021/22 Champions League group stage.
Founded in 1997, Sheriff initially competed under the name Tiras Tiraspol before being rebranded after the Sheriff conglomerate, the largest company in Transnistria, a breakaway region internationally recognized as part of Moldova.
Since then, Sheriff has dominated Moldovan soccer, winning 21 league titles, 14 domestic cups and seven Super Cups the “Wasps”play in yellow and black at Sheriff Stadium, which seats 12,746.
Its greatest achievement came in 2021/22, when it became the first Moldovan club ever to reach the Champions League group stage. After beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2–0, Sheriff shocked the football world by defeating Real Madrid 2-1 in Madrid.
Sheriff also has a history against Israeli clubs and was eliminated by Hapoel Beersheba in the 2016/17 Champions League qualifiers and later faced Maccabi Haifa in the 2023/24 qualifiers.
One notable aspect of Sheriff’s current squad is the presence of Israeli striker Qays Ghanem, while Liam Hermesh recently completed a loan spell at the club and returned to Maccabi Haifa. Defensive midfielder Marcelin Carasso is the anchor while Colombian striker Jader Asprilla and Bulgarian goalkeeper Ivan Dyulgerov are also important contributors to the club’s success.
The other possible opponent for Maccabi Tel Aviv is Aluminij, which hails from the Slovenian town of Kidricevo. Founded in 1946, the club previously won the Slovenian Republic League during the Yugoslav era and has spent much of its history moving between Slovenia’s first and second divisions.
In 2024/25, Aluminij won the second division and earned promotion back to the top flight. In 2025/26, the club finished seventh and achieved a significant milestone by winning the Slovenian Cup, which allowed it to participate in the Europa League qualifiers.
Aluminij’s most valuable player is North Macedonian winger Bahar Feta while left-back Vid Koderman and defenders Rok Schaubach, Stefanos Evangelou and Amir Saitoski are key players on the squad.
Beitar Jerusalem drawn against AEK Larnaca
Beitar Jerusalem has already begun preparations for the 2026/27 campaign under new head coach Almog Cohen, who comes down to the sidelines from the sports director position that he held for a couple of seasons. With that, the unseeded yellow-and-black was drawn against AEK Larnaca in the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
To reach the Conference League league phase, Beitar must also navigate through three rounds in order to reach the promised land. The first leg will be played on July 23 in Cyprus, while the “home” return leg will be played one week later in the city of Ploiesti, just north of Bucharest, Romania. The third qualifying round is scheduled for August 6 and 13 while the playoffs are slated for August 20 and 27.
AEK Larnaca, which just named former Juventus midfielder Mauro Camoranesi as its head coach, finished second in the Cypriot league last season and while it does not have an extensive European history, the club has accumulated valuable continental experience as just last season it reached the Conference League Round of 16 before being eliminated by eventual champion Crystal Palace
Israeli defender Yahav Gurfinkel joined the club in January 2026 after coming up through the ranks at Maccabi Haifa before featuring for Hapoel Tel Aviv. Another former Hapoel Tel Aviv player associated with Larnaca is Omri Altman, who played for the Cypriot club during the 2022/23 season, scoring 10 goals in 32 appearances before returning to Israel and Hapoel Tel Aviv.
There is also a former Beitar Jerusalem figure with ties to Larnaca in head coach Nir Klinger as he coached the club wya back during the 2007/08 campaign.
Hap Tel Aviv gets Ludogorets in Conference League
Hapoel Tel Aviv returned to the top tier of Israeli soccer just this past season and finished fourth overall following the Championship Playoffs, which earned the Reds a spot in Conference League qualifying as they were drawn to play against Ludogorets Razgrad.
Hapoel was unseeded in the draw and therefore were going to most probably get a tough opponent and that’s exactly what occurred as it got paired with one of Bulgaria’s biggest clubs and a frequent participant in European competitions. The first leg of the second qualifying round will be played on July 23, with Hapoel officially “hosting” the match in Miskolc, Hungary while the return leg will take place in Bulgaria a week later.
To reach the Conference League league phase, Hapoel will need to get through three rounds, the second qualifying round, the third qualifying round and then the playoff round. If it eliminates Ludogorets, the third qualifying round will be played on August 6 and 13, while the playoffs are scheduled for August 20 and 27.
Ludogorets was originally founded in 1945 and for most of its history, it competed in Bulgaria’s lower divisions until its “golden era” began in 2010 when new investors took over and transformed the club into Bulgaria’s dominant force. In 2011, Ludogorets reached the top division for the first time and immediately won a historic league title in its debut season (2011/12).
That success launched an incredible streak of 14 consecutive league championships, along with three Bulgarian Cup victories. However, in the 2025 season the club suffered a setback, losing the title and finishing only third in the championship playoffs. In Europe, Ludogorets has built a reputation as a dangerous and competitive side and reached the UEFA Champions League group stage twice (2014/15 and 2016/17) while also enjoying successful runs in the UEFA Europa League knockout rounds.
Ludogorets plays its home matches at Huvepharma Arena in the city of Razgrad and is coached by Per-Mathias Høgmo, an experienced Norwegian manager known for a tactical and disciplined style focused on possession and quick transitions.
Israeli defender Idan Nachmias formerly of Maccabi Tel Aviv anchors the Ludogorets backline and could be of aid to the Bulgarian side when preparing for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
For Hapoel supporters, the most intriguing storyline may be in Ludogorets’s defense, where Israeli center-back Idan Nachmias plays. The former Maccabi Tel Aviv defender’s familiarity with Israeli soccerl could help the Bulgarian side prepare for the matchup. Back in 2017/18 Champions League third round qualifying, Hapoel Beersheba eliminated the Bulgarians as they dropped down to the Europa League playoffs where they advanced to that competition’s groups stage.
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