Hapoel Holon End Season After Loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv, Focus Turns to Next Year

Hapoel Holon’s season ended on Friday night, June 13, 2026, after a loss to Maccabi Tel Aviv in Game 3 of the Israeli playoff semifinal series. The purple-clad club said it “did not come to the game,” adding that Maccabi was “much better” and that Holon failed both professionally and in effort and energy.

The team said it was still competitive in the first half, but after halftime it could not match Maccabi’s level. Holon had entered the game believing it could challenge the hosts, yet the match quickly moved away from its style and direction seen in the first two games of the series.

Despite the defeat, club officials stressed that reaching this stage was notable after a difficult season. They said Holon stabilized after the league break, appointed Predrag Krunic as head coach, and replaced all of its foreign players. The club also noted that some players it had signed later backed out at the last minute and chose not to come to Israel because of the security situation.

Krunic said the team had shown a different mentality recently, with fighting spirit, determination and strong support from the crowd in the past month. He called it a hard season and said the club tried to find players willing to stay and work in a difficult situation. Holon said it had completed a solid playoff run and secured a place in Europe for next season, and Krunic said the next step is to analyze the season and start preparing for 2026/27.