This season will be the 23rd in league history during which Playoff matches are staged at the end of a regular season. Maccabi will play in the Top Playoff for the 21st time in succession, the highest number of appearances among league clubs. Maccabi featured in the bottom Playoffs only in the first two seasons (1987/88 and 1988/89) after they were introduced in Israel. Hapoel Be’ersheva has the second-longest current streak after Maccabi as this will be their 13th consecutive season in the Top Playoff.
Maccabi won the League Championship 8 times at the end of the Playoff.
Maccabi’s highest victory in Playoff history was a 7-0 thrashing of Beitar Jerusalem in the 2000/01 season. Avi Nimni (2), Rodrigo Goldberg (2), Dedi Ben-Dayan, Guy Tzarfati, and Baruch Dego were on target.
The largest attendance ever for a Playoff match: 33,000 fans was recorded at the Ramat Gan national stadium at the end of the 2012/13 season. Maccabi secured the league title four matches before the end of the season with a 2-0 victory over Ramat HaSharon that hosted Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Ramat Gan Stadium.
This is the 14th season under the current format (regular season followed a Playoff). Since the 12/13 season Maccabi played 130 Playoff matches winning 72, drawing 37 while 21 others ended in defeat with a total goal tally of 231-109.
Since the 12/13 season, Maccabi faced 16 different clubs in the Playoffs. Of the five opponents that reached the Playoff this season, Maccabi faced Be’ersheva and Maccabi Haifa in 12 Playoff seasons, Beitar in 6 seasons, Hapoel Tel Aviv in 4 seasons, and Hapoel Petah Tikva for the first time in the Top Playoff under the current format.
The most successful Playoff seasons for Maccabi were recorded in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2023/24, and 2024/25, with 23 points in each campaign (W-7, D-2, L-1). One unbeaten Playoff season was recorded in the 2015/16 campaign with 20 points (W-5, D-5).
No less than 119 players featured for Maccabi in 130 playoff matches since the 12/13 season. Dor Peretz holds the appearances record with 77 Playoff matches to his name.
A total of 51 players scored goals for Maccabi in the Playoffs. Eran Zahavi leads the goalscoring charts with 50 Playoff goals.
Over the past 13 seasons, Maccabi hosted the opening matches of the Playoff having finished the regular season in positions 1-3. The record in these matches currently stands on W-10, D-2, L-1 with a goal tally of 21-4.
Under the current league format, Maccabi faced Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Playoffs in the 2013, 2014, 2020, and 2022 seasons. The record of derbies played in 8 Playoffs matches currently stands on: Six victories, 1 draw and 1 defeat with a goal tally of 19-5.
The upcoming Tel Aviv derby will be the 170th encounter between the two sides in the league. The overall record currently stands on 63 victories, 59 draws, while Hapoel won 47 derbies.
