European football

Ireland-Israel tensions spill into sports, and the ball is in Dublin's court now - opinion

An upcoming soccer match between Israel and Ireland is sidelining sports, engaging in foul play instead in the form of biased, anti-Israel rhetoric.

|ByDAVID BEN-BASAT
Irish coach Heimir Hallgrímsson.
Hapoel Tel Aviv players celebrate after the Reds earned a 2-0 first-leg victory over Katowice in Conference League qualifying.

Mixed results for Israeli clubs in European soccer qualifying, Hapoel Tel Aviv achieve valuable win

Beitar Jerusalem came up short against Austria Wien 2-1 in the first leg of their Conference League third-round qualifying tie, while Maccabi Tel Aviv suffered a 3-0 defeat to CSKA Sofia.

|ByJOSHUA HALICKMAN
HAPOEL BEERSHEBA midfielder Niv Yehoshua (28) battles for possession during the Southern Reds’ hard-fought 1-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade in the first leg of UEFA Champions League third-round qualifying.

Hapoel Beersheba edges Red Star Belgrade to take Champions League qualifying lead

Zahi Ahmed scored the only goal of the match to give the Southern Reds hope heading into the return leg next week in Serbia to advance to the playoff round.

|ByJOSHUA HALICKMAN