The opening round of Israel soccer league matches for the 2025/26 season are now in the books and what a round it was as there was plenty of action, surprises and a ton of fun across the country as fans visited their local stadiums in droves. There were upsets, drama, up and coming players as well as disappointments and unfortunate incidents that the league would no doubt like to improve on as the campaign heads into round two.

Team of the Round
This is no doubt Hapoel Beer Sheva. The southern reds have been the best team in the league from the get go as they have collected 32 out of a possible 39 points in the first 13 games that they have played and sport a record of 10 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat. After opening the season with a disastrous European campaign that saw Beer Sheva get knocked out of Europa League qualifiers on penalties after a pair of goalless draws with Levski Sofia and then bounced out of the Conference League qualifiers to AEK Athens 1-0 on aggregate, it looked as if doomsday had come to Turner Stadium.

Ron Kozuk’s club was floundering and going in the wrong direction but very quickly Beer Sheva pulled it together and opening the season with a 4-2 win over Maccabi Netanya which was followed by dominant wins over Ironi Tiberias, Hapoel Jerusalem and Bnei Sakhnin as they outscored their opponents by whopping 15-2 and they were on their way. Beer Sheva lost a tough away game at Kiryat Shemona and drew against Ashdod and Hapoel Petach Tikva, but they beat all of the direct competitors for the top spot in Beitar Jerusalem, Maccabi Tel Aviv as well as Maccabi Haifa who will get to in a bit.

Should Kozuk and his side continue playing the solid football that they are with the likes of attackers Dan Bitton and Eliel Peretz along with Or Blorian on the back line, Beer Sheva is already looking to bring in at least another player or two in order to take the title they felt they deserved to win last season.

Entertaining Team of the Round
Beitar Jerusalem is no doubt a team that can provide thrills and chills as the faithful continue to pack into Teddy Stadium while filling up the visiting sections at facilities across the country. Barak Itzhaki’s squad are a dynamic, offense first team that has piled up the goals every which way as they lead the league with 33 markers and are in second place with 27 points. Whether it’s been Johnsbosco Kalu, Yarden Shua , Adi Yona or Omer Atzili, the yellow-and-black are able to make something out of nothing and pump the ball into the back of the goal. However, on the flip side their defense has been shaky time and time again as keeper Miguel Silva has been busy having to make one acrobatic save after the next.

While Beitar is challenging Beer Sheva, they have dropped points in places that they would like to have back as those draws against Hapoel Jerusalem and Ashdod as well as a loss to Hapoel Tel Aviv could very well come back to haunt them. Itzhaki and professional director Almog Cohen will probably make a move or so but will that be enough to stay in the hunt all the way until the end of the season?

Disappointing Team of the Round
Maccabi Haifa takes this award without a question as the Greens have been one mess after another since the start of the season. Argentine Diego Flores was brought in this summer to take the reins of owner Yakov Shachar’s team, but after being knocked out by Rakow in third round Conference League qualifying and from there on in it was one issue after the next for one of Marcelo Bielsa’s former assistants. Draws against a 10-man Beitar Jerusalem team, Hapoel Haifa in the Derby along with Maccabi Tel Aviv, the Greens were having problems scoring and playing anything close to attractive football. That spelt doom for Flores as he was terminated and former Haifa bench boss Barak Bachar returned after having unceremoniously left the club after last spring’s 5-0 Derby defeat.

Since Bachar has been back in charge, the Greens have had some dramatic draws but perhaps, just perhaps they are starting to get it together with two wins in a row to end the round on a positive note. But with only 19 points, Maccabi Haifa have plenty of work to do in order to make a dent on the championship race which seems to right now be just a dream.

MVP of the Round
Dan Bitton has been electrifying for Hapoel Beer Sheva this season with 12 goals and 3 assists. Bitton has been involved in almost 50% of the club’s goals and has been an absolute goal scoring machine who always seems to be in the right spot at the right time in order to do damage to the opponent. To think that just before last season Maccabi Tel Aviv wanted to rid themselves of Bitton and seemingly donated the attacking midfielder to their rivals, is just stunning as he’s already eclipsed last season’s goal total of 11.

Coach of the Round
Hands down it’s got to be Hapoel Beer Sheva’s bench boss Ron Kozuk. After Kozuk had guided Maccabi Petach Tikva to a State Cup win over Beer Sheva back in 2024, it was clear that owner Alona Barkat had her eyes set on the prize and wanted the bench boss to head down south. Barak Bachar had once been the apple of her eye over a decade and he led the team to one success after the next including winning three championship titles in a row and now it’s Kozuk’s turn to shine. Some will say that he rightfully should have taken the title last season over Maccabi Tel Aviv, but this season he’s raring to go and is looking for vengeance. With his success he’s also looking for a bump in his contract and that has been in the news over the past month which is something that Barkat isn’t too fond of, but the latest word is that he will receive that increase as well as an extension to stay o9n board and see if he can work his magic over the upcoming rounds.

Unfortunate incident of the Round
There was much anticipation heading into this season’s Tel Aviv Derby as Hapoel gained promotion after spending last year in the Leumit League and the reds would be hosting Maccabi in what was a going to be a great evening of football. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Hapoel Ultras threw smoke bombs and flares as well as set off fireworks prior to the match which injured some fans and forced the police to abandon the game.

Thirty thousand supporters packed into Bloomfield Stadium were forced to leave without seeing a second of play and while the spectators for the most part left and made their way home, there were also a number of incidents between the fans and the police.

It was a sad to see how an enjoyable night ahead ended up turning into a black mark, but the real challenge now is for the clubs, fans and league to never allow for something like this to happen again.