Hapoel Be'er Sheva Drawn Into One of Toughest UEFA Europa League Groups

Hapoel Be'er Sheva, the Israeli football champion, has been drawn into one of the most challenging groups in the UEFA Europa League league stage. The draw, held on August 28, 2026, placed Be'er Sheva alongside strong opponents including Juventus, AZ Alkmaar, Union Saint-Gilloise, Dinamo Zagreb, Bournemouth, Celta Vigo, Besiktas, and OFI Crete. This lineup has been analyzed by several statistical and ranking websites, which assessed the difficulty levels of the groups for all 36 teams in the competition.

According to Football Rankings, a specialized site in football analytics, Be'er Sheva's group ranks as the sixth toughest among all participants. The only groups considered more difficult belong to Real Sociedad, Besiktas, Celtic, Lech Poznan, and OFI Crete. However, another ranking site, FOOTBALLRANKED.COM, places Be'er Sheva's group as the second hardest overall, with only Besiktas's group rated higher. Besiktas faces teams like Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Union Saint-Gilloise, Celtic, Crystal Palace, Omonia Nicosia, and Hoffenheim.

This challenging draw highlights the competitive environment Hapoel Be'er Sheva will face in their European campaign, testing the Israeli champions against some of Europe's notable clubs. The team, coached by Ran Kojukh, will need to prepare rigorously to advance from this demanding group stage.