Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem's women finished their maiden European campaign with a moment worth savouring: a 1-0 win over Montenegrin champions Budućnost Podgorica in a third-place classification match at the first qualifying round of the 2026/27 UEFA Women's Champions League, played in Greece on Saturday.
It was the only goal the Jerusalem side needed and it came almost immediately. Brazilian attacker Jaielly, wearing the number 7 shirt, put her team ahead inside the seventh minute and the lead held all the way to the final whistle.
The win itself carried no bearing on qualification. Both sides had already been eliminated from advancing to the second qualifying round after finishing on the losing end of their semi-finals earlier in the week — Jerusalem going down 3-1 to hosts PAOK Thessaloniki on July 22, Budućnost falling in the other semi-final of the four-team mini-tournament.
But ONE described the result as historic in its own right: it is the first competitive European victory in the history of Hapoel Jerusalem's women's section, in only the club's debut appearance in continental competition.
There is also a practical dividend. The win banks Hapoel Jerusalem's first UEFA coefficient points as a women's team, a currency that will factor into the seeding for future European qualifying draws even though this campaign is now over.
The achievement caps a rapid rise for a club that only established a senior women's team ahead of the 2020/21 season, entering at the third tier of Israeli football. Since then the side has finished runners-up in the league twice, won its first Israeli championship last season and lifted the Athena Cup, before this summer's step up to European qualifying.
Jerusalem travelled to Greece with an 18-player squad and had put in three weeks of double training sessions to prepare, according to earlier reporting, aiming to become the first Israeli women's club to reach the second qualifying round under the competition's newer format. That target was missed this time, but a first European win — and the ranking points that come with it — gives the club a tangible marker to build on.
