The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Israel

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This page contains a list of the greatest Israeli Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 40 of which were born in Israel. This makes Israel the birth place of the 64th most number of Soccer Players behind Estonia, and Algeria.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Israeli Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Israeli Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Israeli Soccer Players.

Photo of Yochanan Vollach

1. Yochanan Vollach (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 60.93, Yochanan Vollach is the most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 56 different languages on wikipedia.

Yochanan Vollach (Hebrew: יוחנן וולך, also Jochanan Wallach or Yohanan Wallach, born May 14, 1945) is an Israeli former footballer. He was a member of the Israel national team that competed at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. He is a member of the Israeli Football Hall of Fame. Vollach is President of the Maccabi Haifa sports organization, and CEO of the Israeli Chamber of Shipping.

Photo of Nahum Stelmach

2. Nahum Stelmach (1936 - 1999)

With an HPI of 53.04, Nahum Stelmach is the 2nd most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Nahum Stelmach (Hebrew: נחום סטלמך‎; (1936-07-19)July 19, 1936 – (1999-03-27)March 27, 1999) was an Israeli footballer and manager.

Photo of Giora Spiegel

3. Giora Spiegel (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 51.48, Giora Spiegel is the 3rd most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Giora Spiegel (Hebrew: גיורא שפיגל), (born July 27, 1947) is an Israeli former footballer and coach. As a footballer, he holds the record for the longest Israeli international career, spanning 14 years and 357 days.

Photo of Yossi Benayoun

4. Yossi Benayoun (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 49.97, Yossi Benayoun is the 4th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 45 different languages.

Yossi Shai Benayoun (Hebrew: יוסי שי בניון; born 5 May 1980) is an Israeli former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He spent most of his career in Israel and England and captained the Israel national team. Born in Dimona, he is sometimes nicknamed "The Diamond from Dimona" in Israel. As of 2023, he has been the sporting director of the Israel national team. Benayoun played for Hapoel Be'er Sheva and Maccabi Haifa before moving to Racing de Santander in Spain. Three years later he moved to the Premier League with West Ham United, and later Liverpool. In 2010, he signed for Chelsea, where he was used rarely, being loaned to Arsenal and back to West Ham, but nonetheless won the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. After that, he was released by the club and spent a season in the Football League Championship with Queens Park Rangers before returning to Maccabi Haifa. A full international for twenty years from 1998 to 2018, Benayoun is Israel's most capped player of all time with 102 caps, and their joint third top scorer with 24 international goals. Benayoun holds the position of sporting director for Beitar Jerusalem, the club that he last played for.

Photo of Menachem Bello

5. Menachem Bello (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 47.36, Menachem Bello is the 5th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Menachem 'Miko' Bello (Hebrew: מנחם בלו; born 26 December 1947) is a former Israeli football defender, who played for the Israel national team between 1965 and 1975. He was part of the Israel squad for the 1970 World Cup. At club level, Bello played solely for Maccabi Tel Aviv

Photo of Itzhak Vissoker

6. Itzhak Vissoker (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 46.53, Itzhak Vissoker is the 6th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Itzhak Vissoker (Hebrew: יצחק ויסוקר; born 18 September 1944) is an Israeli former international footballer who competed at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, as well as at the 1976 Summer Olympics. Vissoker played in 40 official games for the Israeli national side. He also played club football for Hapoel Petah Tikva and Maccabi Netanya.

Photo of Dudu Aouate

7. Dudu Aouate (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 45.97, Dudu Aouate is the 7th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.

David "Dudu" Aouate (or Awat, Hebrew: דוד "דודו" אוואט, pronounced Dūdū Ahwaht; born 17 October 1977) is an Israeli retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After playing for several clubs in his country, most notably Maccabi Haifa, he moved to Spain in 2003, going on to represent Racing de Santander, Deportivo La Coruña and Mallorca for a total of 303 La Liga matches. Aouate won 78 caps for Israel, during 14 years.

Photo of Shmuel Rosenthal

8. Shmuel Rosenthal (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 45.76, Shmuel Rosenthal is the 8th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Shmuel Rosenthal (Hebrew: שמואל רוזנטל, also known as Sam Rosenthal, born 22 April 1947) is an Israeli former international footballer. With Israel he participated in the Olympic Games of 1968 and the World Cup 1970. When he moved from Hapoel Petah Tikva to the German club Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1972 he became the first Israeli professional hired by a European club.

Photo of Dani Shmulevich-Rom

9. Dani Shmulevich-Rom (1940 - 2021)

With an HPI of 45.66, Dani Shmulevich-Rom is the 9th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Daniel "Dani" Shmulevich-Rom (Hebrew: דני (רום) שמולביץ) was an Israeli footballer.

Photo of Eran Zahavi

10. Eran Zahavi (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 45.57, Eran Zahavi is the 10th most famous Israeli Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Eran Zahavi (also spelled Zehavi, Hebrew: ערן זהבי, err-AHN zə-HAH-vi; born 25 July 1987) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a forward for and vice-captains both Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israel national team. Zahavi was named Israeli Footballer of the Year twice (2013–14 and 2014–15), and finished as the top goalscorer of the Israeli Premier League for three consecutive seasons, in 2013–14 (29 goals), 2014–15 (27 goals) and 2015–16 (35 goals, all-time league record). In December 2014, Zahavi broke the Israeli Premier League record for scoring in consecutive appearances after he scored for the 18th game in a row. In 2016, he broke the Israeli league six-decade-old season scoring record, beating the 1954–55 record. He was named the 2017 Chinese Super League MVP, and broke the league's single-season scoring record in 2019. Zahavi made his debut for the Israel national team in 2010. He is a former national team captain and the current all-time top scorer for Israel with 35 goals.

People

Pantheon has 45 people classified as Israeli soccer players born between 1936 and 2004. Of these 45, 43 (95.56%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Israeli soccer players include Yochanan Vollach, Giora Spiegel, and Yossi Benayoun. The most famous deceased Israeli soccer players include Nahum Stelmach, and Dani Shmulevich-Rom. As of April 2024, 7 new Israeli soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Daniel Peretz, Avi Nimni, and Shon Weissman.

Living Israeli Soccer Players

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Deceased Israeli Soccer Players

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Newly Added Israeli Soccer Players (2024)

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