Hapoel Beit She'an have been confirmed as Israel's representative at next month's UEFA Regions' Cup, stepping in after Hapoel Herzliya withdrew from the amateur continental tournament, ONE reported.
Beit She'an had already been named the Israel Football Association's official alternate following a draw held among four Israeli amateur clubs back in June, according to the outlet. With Herzliya now out, that standby status has been confirmed and the northern club will fly the flag for Israel in Latvia.
The UEFA Regions' Cup is UEFA's biennial competition for regional and amateur representative sides rather than professional league clubs, run in parallel to the Champions League and Europa League pyramid. Countries without a formal regional structure, Israel among them, typically send the winner of a dedicated domestic amateur qualifying process.
This edition's intermediate round is scheduled for September 1-9, with matches to be played on September 2, 5 and 8 in Latvia, ONE reported. Israel has been drawn in a group alongside hosts Latvia, Hungary, and the Federación Canaria de Fútbol, the Canary Islands body representing Spain — the country whose regional sides have won the competition four times, most recently through Aragón in 2025.
The timing is awkward. ONE's earlier reporting noted the trip falls right around Rosh Hashanah and clashes with the opening rounds of Israel's domestic league season, which kicks off in late August — a scheduling squeeze that will complicate whichever club made the trip.
Israel's amateur game has sent a rotating cast of representatives to the competition over the years, including Maccabi Tzur Shalom and a combined Karmiel/Safed selection in past editions. ONE also noted that Ironi Nesher had been set to represent Israel in the 2023/24 edition but was withdrawn on security grounds after Kazakhstan was designated as host country that year.
For Beit She'an, a club that has spent recent seasons in Israel's lower divisions after folding and reforming in the 2000s, the call-up is a rare continental assignment squeezed into the final days of pre-season. No squad or travel details had been released at the time of ONE's report.
Herzliya's reasons for pulling out were not detailed in the report. The Israel Football Association has not yet issued its own statement confirming the swap.
