It is the busiest fortnight of the Israeli football calendar, and by the time it is done all four clubs still standing in European qualifying will know exactly who they are chasing a place in the group stage against. ONE has run the rule over the opposition lying in wait for Hapoel Beer Sheva, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Tel Aviv, and the names range from a giant-killing Danish champion to last season's Europa League winners.
Hapoel Beer Sheva are first into action. Having overturned a first-leg deficit to eliminate Vikingur Reykjavik, they host Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday in the second leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie. Win that, and the reward is a playoff-round meeting with Aarhus of Denmark for a place in the league phase itself, with legs scheduled for August 18-19 and 25-26.
Aarhus arrive as newly-crowned Danish champions, their first title since 1986, and have already produced one of the summer's great European comebacks, coming from three goals down on aggregate to eliminate Lech Poznan. They have lost key men in Felix Bijou and Patrick Mortensen since winning the league, and coach Jakob Poulsen — a former Danish international — sets his side up in an attacking 3-4-3. Their own stadium is being renovated, so any home leg would likely be staged in Randers instead.
Lose to Red Star, however, and ONE reports Beer Sheva would drop into the Europa League qualifying picture against Viktoria Plzen, the Czech side who are regular top-three finishers at home and reached the Europa League's round of 16 as recently as 2024-25 — a considerably tougher assignment than the Aarhus alternative.
Maccabi Tel Aviv face an equally pivotal tie of their own against CSKA Sofia in the Europa League's third qualifying round. Advance, and the playoff-round opponent is already confirmed as OFI Crete of Greece, with the first leg on August 20 and the return a week later — a draw the club itself has flagged to supporters. The Greek side are a mid-table outfit in their own league but arrive off the back of a dramatic domestic cup triumph under coach Christos Kontis, despite going without a European away win since the year 2000.
Should Maccabi instead fall to CSKA Sofia, they would parachute into the Conference League playoff round against the winner of Switzerland's Lugano and Runavik of the Faroe Islands — confirmation, straight from Maccabi Tel Aviv's official site, that even a bad night in Sofia would not end their European summer outright. Lugano finished third in Switzerland last season, reached the Conference League quarter-finals under coach Mattia Croci-Torti, and would represent a stern late test for whichever Israeli or Faroese side reaches them.
Beitar Jerusalem's route runs through Austria first. They face FK Austria Wien in their own third qualifying round tie on August 6, with the winner then meeting Sp. Braga in the Conference League playoff — assuming the Portuguese club see off Belarus's Dinamo Minsk in their own tie. Braga would host the first leg on August 20, before the return in Jerusalem on August 27.
Braga are no ordinary Conference League name. They are regular top-four finishers in Portugal and reached the Europa League semi-finals as recently as 2024, under coach Carlos Carvalhal, a former Manchester City assistant. Their squad still features captain Ricardo Horta and the 39-year-old Joao Moutinho, the veteran former Portugal international who remains a fixture in midfield.
Hapoel Tel Aviv, meanwhile, must first get past GKS Katowice of Poland in the Conference League third qualifying round, with legs on August 6 and 12. Win that tie and the prize — reported by Italian outlets including LaPresse and Calcio e Finanza after Sunday's draw in Nyon — is a playoff meeting with Atalanta, the 2024 Europa League champions, home first in Bergamo on August 20 and away in Tel Aviv on August 27.
It would be a daunting draw on paper. Atalanta remain one of Italian football's genuine powers and have just appointed Maurizio Sarri as coach in succession to Gian Piero Gasperini, the architect of their European breakthrough. ONE puts Hapoel Tel Aviv's chances of springing an upset at around five percent should the tie materialise — a reflection of the gulf in resources rather than any lack of ambition from the Israeli side.
Taken together, the picture is of four Israeli clubs each one result away from knowing whether their August ends against realistic, winnable opposition or against clubs with recent continental pedigree of their own. Beer Sheva's tie with Red Star is the most live of the four, kicking off Tuesday evening with a Champions League place still within reach either way.
None of the ties involving CSKA Sofia, Austria Wien, Katowice or the Beer Sheva-Red Star return leg have yet been decided, so every playoff pairing described here remains conditional on results still to be played out over the coming days.
