Hapoel Be'er Sheva Draws Potential Champions League Playoff Opponents Amid Ranking Advantage

Hapoel Be'er Sheva is currently discovering its potential opponent for the UEFA Champions League playoff round in a live draw held in Nyon, Switzerland, on August 3, 2026. The Israeli club will face Red Star Belgrade first, and if they advance, they will enter the playoff round as a seeded team due to Red Star's high UEFA coefficient of 46.500 points. This seeding status, confirmed ahead of their matches against Red Star, is expected to provide Be'er Sheva with a more favorable draw, avoiding stronger teams like Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, or Slovan Bratislava.

The possible playoff opponents for Be'er Sheva include Viking (Norway), LASK Linz (Austria), the winner between Ararat (Armenia) and Celje (Slovenia), the winner between Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) and Kairat (Kazakhstan), and the winner between Aarhus (Denmark) and Sabah (Azerbaijan). The playoff matches are scheduled for August 18-19 and August 25-26.

If Be'er Sheva fails to overcome Red Star, they will drop into the UEFA Europa League playoff round, where they will face an opponent to be drawn at 14:00 the same day. Potential Europa League opponents include the winner between Ferencváros and Gumik Zabreh, Viktoria Plzeň, the winner between Lincoln and Omonia Nicosia, and the winner between KuPS and Craiova.

Coach Ran Kozuch's team faces a significant challenge against Red Star but benefits from the Serbian club's high ranking, which could ease their path in the subsequent playoff round if they advance.