Hapoel Be'er Sheva begin their Champions League campaign on Tuesday night, travelling to Reykjavik for the first leg of a second qualifying round tie against Víkingur, the runaway leaders of the Icelandic top flight. Kickoff is set for 22:00 Israel time.
The trip caps a whirlwind close to Be'er Sheva's season. They lifted their sixth Israeli championship in May, snatching the title from Maccabi Tel Aviv with a 4-2 win over their rivals in the penultimate round of the 2025-26 Ligat Ha'Al.
The build-up to Europe has been bumpier than the celebrations suggested. Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Be'er Sheva 3-1 in last week's Super Cup, the champions' first competitive outing since sealing the title and a reminder of how close the gap remains between Israel's top two clubs.
Much of Be'er Sheva's attacking hope in Reykjavik rests on Kings Kangwa. The Zambian international, who arrived from Red Star Belgrade in 2024, was named Israeli Footballer of the Year for 2025-26 after scoring 12 league goals and driving the title run — form the club will need again if they are to survive Europe's toughest qualifying ladder.
Víkingur are no soft draw. Founded in 1908, the Reykjavik club won their eighth Icelandic championship last season and arrive at Tuesday's tie unbeaten in 23 matches across all competitions, a run stretching back to a 4-2 defeat to Stjarnan Garðabær last August. They currently lead this season's Icelandic top flight by eight points, having won 13 of their opening 14 league games.
They are also fresh from knocking out a bigger name than themselves. Víkingur eliminated Hungarian champions Győr 3-2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round to reach this stage.
There is an added wrinkle to the tie. According to Israeli reports, Be'er Sheva's own "home" second leg will not be played in Israel at all — it is set to be staged at Győr's stadium in Hungary instead, continuing a pattern in which Israeli clubs have had to host European fixtures abroad in recent seasons.
The stakes are real. Be'er Sheva's best run in the competition remains 2017-18, when they reached the playoff round before a 5-2 aggregate defeat to Maribor ended the bid. Beat Víkingur over the two legs and they advance to the third qualifying round, still two rounds from a first-ever group-stage appearance; lose, and their European campaign continues instead in the Europa League qualifying rounds.
