Football in Israel

Football (Hebrew: כַּדוּרֶגֶל‎‎, Kaduregel) is the most popular sport in Israel. Football as an organised sport, first developed in the United Kingdom, who controlled the Palestinian Mandate during the days of the British Mandate.

The Israel Football Association joined the Asian Football Confederation in 1954, but was expelled in 1974 due to political pressure from Arab and Muslim members in the context of the Arab–Israeli conflict. In the late 1970s and 1980s, the Israel Football Association was not affiliated with any confederation. During this period, the Israeli national teams were only playing in FIFA competitions occasionally in OFC, UEFA and CONMEBOL qualifying tournaments. Finally it was admitted to UEFA as an associate member in 1992 and as a full member in 1994, therefore their teams compete as part of Europe in all international competitions.

The Israel Football Association (IFA) is the governing body of football in the State of Israel. All of Israel's professional football clubs must be members, and hundreds of semi-professional and amateur clubs also belong.

As of 2013–14, the Israeli football league system has five levels and 16 different divisions, all run by the IFA. Promotion and relegation operates between each level, theoretically allowing clubs to progress from bottom to top within four seasons.

The current structure of the Israeli league system is this:

In Israel, there are two major cup competitions: the State Cup and the Toto Cup.

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