Football in Israel

As of the 2013/2014 season, Israel had five levels and 16 different divisions, between which there is a retirement and upgrade system that theoretically allows you to move to the top division in four seasons from the lowest position.

Structure

• Israeli Premier League : 14 clubs, first division
• League Leumit : 16 clubs, second division
• League Alef : 32 clubs (16 in each league, League of the North and League of the South), third division
• League Bet : 64 clubs (16 in the league, two leagues of the North and two leagues of the South), fourth division
• League Gimel : 114 clubs (11 to 16 clubs per league, eight regional leagues), fifth division

Israel hosts the Israel Cup (aka the State Cup) and the Toto Cup (League Cup).

Israel Cup

The Israel Football Cup ( Hebrew גביע המדינה , Guia ha-Medina ) is held according to the Olympic system between all Israeli clubs, Premier League clubs enter the fight in the last rounds. The final is held at the Ramat Gan stadium, the winner gets the right to play in the UEFA Europa League.

Toto Cup

Toto Cup ( Hebrew גביע הטוטו , Guia ha-Toto ) is played in three different divisions, the best teams go to decisive stages after the group round. The final is held at the Ramat Gan stadium. The winner does not receive the privileges of performance in European competitions.

The best teams of the Israeli Championship and the winner (or finalist of the Israel Cup) go to European Cups. According to the UEFA championship ranking , Israel is in 25th place and can delegate one team to the UEFA Champions League and three teams to the UEFA Europa League (if they pass UEFA licensing).

UEFA Champions League members can enter the Europa League as follows:

• Losers in the preliminary or first qualifying round of the Champions League fall into the second qualifying round of the Champions League
• Losers in the second qualifying round of the Champions League fall into the third qualifying round of the Champions League
• Losers in the third qualifying round of the Champions League fall into the fourth qualifying round of the Champions League
• Losers in the fourth qualifying round of the Champions League get into the group stage of LE
• Those who took 3rd place in the group stage of the Champions League get into the 1/16 final of the LU

Israel was the organizer of the 1964 AFC Cup , which won. In 1970, Israel played at the 1970 World Cup , scoring a 1-1 draw against Sweden , scored by Mordechai Spiegler . The Israeli team played at the Olympic tournaments of 1968 and 1976, reaching the quarter finals. The highest achievement of the team in the FIFA ranking is considered the 15th place in November 2008.

The national team did not play at the European Championships, but only performed in the World Championships in 1970. However, the team has several important meetings. In 1968 and 1974, the Israeli team held matches against Iran in Tehran , which took place before the Islamic Revolution (both matches were lost 1: 2 and 0: 1). In 1993, the Israeli team beat France away, depriving the French of chances to play at the World Cup in the United States . In 1999, Austria was beaten by the Israelis 5-0, which helped the Israelis to qualify for the Euro 2000 , and in 1998 beat Jerusalem 2-1 in Jerusalem .

British Mandate in Palestine

In Palestine, there were mainly British and Jewish clubs, although there were Arab teams. In 1906, the Maccabi club was formed in Tel Aviv, later clubs of the same name appeared in Jerusalem, Petah Tikva , Haifa , Zichron Yaakov and Hadera . On April 24, 1924, the Hapoel Club appeared in Haifa ^[11] . Later they joined the Maccabi World Organization (the first was the Haifa Hapoel). Later, Hapoel separated and created its own labor organization of the same name, which led to the formation of Hapoel clubs in Tel Aviv , Jerusalem , Herzliya and other cities. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Beitar clubs (created by the right-wing revisionist party), Elitsur (the Ha-poel ha-mizrahi party ) and Hakoah 09 (founded by former Vienna- based Hakoah players) appeared.

In February 1928, the first Tel Aviv derby in which Maccabi won 3-0. It is the oldest football derby in Israeli history. In the 1920s, the first two cup competitions took place: one was the unofficial cup of the country, which was dominated by teams of the British military; another was called "Magen Shimshon", it was attended by clubs of the Maccabi society. In 1928, the People’s Cup (later the Palestine Cup and the Israel Cup) was held, in the final they played Hapoel from Tel Aviv and Maccabi Hasmonean from Jerusalem. Despite the victory of Hapoel 2-0, he did not receive the Cup, since Maccabi proved that there was a player in Tel Aviv who did not have the right to play.

In 1932, the first championship was held with the participation of nine clubs, the British police club won who is led by the chief of police Speiser and the first chairman of the football association. The championship was unstable, from 1932 to 1947 10 titles were played. Four victories in the asset of the Tel Aviv Maccabi, five - in the asset of the Tel Aviv Hapoel. At the same time, under the name of the Palestinian national team or the national team of Eretz Yisrael, the modern Israeli team competed in which only ethnic Jews played. The first game was a 1934 World Cup qualifier in which the Israelis lost to Egypt 1: 7 in Cairo . The return game in Tel Aviv also ended in the defeat of the Israelis 1: 4. In 1931, a joint team of Palestinian Jews and the British played a match against the Egyptians.

Jewish teams conducted various tours to promote football in Mandatory Palestine and the Zionist movement. So, Maccabi from Haifa played in the USA in 1927, Maccabi Eretz Yisrael in Australia in 1939, and Tel Aviv Hapoel played in the USA in 1947. In response, other teams came to Israel - the Vienna Hakoah, the Budapest MTK and the split Hajduk .

After independence

4 months after the recognition of Israeli independence, the Israeli team held a friendly match with the US team at the American Polo Grounds stadium, losing 1: 3. The first goal for the national team in the presence of 40 thousand was scored by Shmuel Ben Dror . In 1967, the AFC Champions League was won by Tel Aviv Hapoel for the first time in its history, which reached the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup 2001/2002 , knocking out Chelsea , Lokomotiv (Moscow) and Parma .

In the 1970s and 1980s, Tel Aviv-based Maccabi and Hapoel, as well as Maccabi from Netanya shared the titles in the country. In the mid-1980s, the Haifa Maccabi, under the leadership of Shlomo Sharf, snatched a double victory in the championship. In 1992, the Haifa Maccabi was bought out by businessman Jacob Shahar, who in the past played for the youth team of the Section club from Ness Ziona, which marked the beginning of the purchase of clubs by businessmen and massive monetary influences. Israeli players began to leave en masse to Europe, and many legionnaires came to Israel. The leading Israeli legionnaires in European and world championships, which also shone in the national team of Israel, were Eli Ohana , Mordechai Spiegler , Giora Spiegel , Ronnie Rosenthal , Avi Cohen , Eyal Berkovich , Haim Revivo , Dudu Avat , Yossi Benayoun , Tal Ben Haim , Eljaniv Barda and Biram Kayal .

In the 2000s, 7 out of 11 championships were won by the Haifa Maccabi, which played in the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. In the group stage of the Champions League they played: Maccabi Haifa (2002/2003, 2009/2010), Maccabi Tel Aviv (2004/2005, 2015/2016) and Hapoel Tel Aviv (2010/2011) ^{[12 ]} .

• List of football stadiums in Israel
• Women's football in Israel

• Israeli Football Association (Hebrew)
• RSSSF Profile
• (Un) Bounded Soccer: Globalization and Localization of the Game in Israel