Hapoel Be'er Sheva Draws Potential Champions League Playoff Opponents After Red Star Clash

Hapoel Be'er Sheva is set to discover its possible opponent in the UEFA Champions League playoff round during a live draw held on August 3, 2026, in Nyon, Switzerland. This draw occurs before the club's upcoming matches against Red Star Belgrade, which will determine if Be'er Sheva advances to the playoff stage. If the Israeli team overcomes Red Star, it will benefit from the Serbian club's high UEFA coefficient of 46.500 points, granting Be'er Sheva seeded status in the playoff draw scheduled for August 18-19 and 25-26. This seeding advantage is significant as it helps the team avoid stronger opponents like Celtic, Dinamo Zagreb, or Slovan Bratislava, increasing the chances of facing a relatively easier unseeded team.

Potential playoff opponents 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). Should Be'er Sheva fail to progress past Red Star, the club will enter the UEFA Europa League playoff round, with its opponent to be revealed in a subsequent draw at 14:00 the same day. Possible Europa League adversaries include the winner between Ferencváros and Gumik Zabreh, Viktoria Plzeň, the winner between Lincoln and Omonia Nicosia, and the winner between Kuopio and Craiova.

The matches against Red Star represent a major challenge for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, but the club has a fallback route into European competition through the Europa League playoffs. The draws and matches over the coming weeks will determine the club's path in European tournaments for the season.