Sportsערן זהבי

Eran Zahavi

Eran Zahavi is an Israeli former football forward who scored 35 goals for the Israel national team, a national record.

born 1987Israel national team scoring record35 goal Israeli league seasonChinese Super League scoring record

Born: 25 July 1987, Rishon LeZion
Occupation: association football player

Eran Zahavi was born in 1987 in Rishon LeZion

Eran Zahavi was born on 25 July 1987 in Rishon LeZion. He began playing in the Hapoel Tel Aviv youth system. At 16 he moved to Ironi Rishon LeZion, then returned to Hapoel in 2005.

He was loaned to Hapoel Ramat HaSharon in 2007 and returned to Hapoel Tel Aviv for the 2008/2009 season. In 2009/2010 he won the league and the State Cup with Hapoel, scoring the title winning goal in the 92nd minute against Beitar Jerusalem. In 2011 he joined Palermo in Italy.

In January 2013 he signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv. He led the league in scoring in 3 straight seasons and set a single season league record of 35 goals in 2015/2016. He was named Israeli Footballer of the Year in 2014 and 2015.

In 2016 he moved to Guangzhou R&F in China. He was named the 2017 Chinese Super League MVP and set the league's single season record of 29 goals in 2019. In 2020 he joined PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

He returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv as captain in June 2022. He debuted for Israel in 2010 and later captained the team. He announced his retirement in January 2026.

Milestones in Eran Zahavi's life

1987
Born in Rishon LeZion.
2010
Won the league and cup double with Hapoel Tel Aviv and debuted for Israel.
2011
Signed with Palermo.
2013
Joined Maccabi Tel Aviv.
2016
Set the Israeli single season record with 35 league goals and moved to Guangzhou R&F.
2017
Named Chinese Super League MVP.
2019
Set the Chinese league record with 29 goals in a season.
2020
Joined PSV Eindhoven.
2022
Returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv as captain.
2026
Retired from professional football.

Eran Zahavi served in the military

During his military service around 2007, he was at first not granted special athlete status, and the army barred him from some youth national team games abroad.