The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

. Both of these leagues are featured separately for the Israel Toto Cup – at a distinct seasonal tournament for each of these two. They are simply referred to as ''Toto Cup Al'' and ''Toto Cup Leumit'', in many global media outlets. From 1999 to 2009, the tournament was also open to clubs from the third division, until the cancellation of

Liga Artzit Liga Artzit (, lit. ''Country League'') is the defunct third division of Israeli Football League, beneath its highest division Premier League and the second division Liga Leumit. Before being cancelled in 2009, it was run by the Israel Football A ...

. The Toto Cup is the third most important competition in Israeli football after the

and the Israeli State Cup. As it isn't highly regarded, Israeli clubs use the games to rotate their squad and give fringe players and youth players a chance. However, the Israeli Sports Betting Council pays 1.25 million NIS to the winners, while the runners-up receive 950,000 NIS.

History

League cups, in different formats, were played in Israel irregularly since the 1950s. In

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

and

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, anniversary cups, celebrating the 10th, 20th and 25th anniversary of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, were played as a league cup competition, by

and

Liga Alef Liga Alef () is the third tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into two regional divisions, north and south. History League football began in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Howe ...

clubs separately. In 1975–76 a League Cup competition was played, won by Hapoel Hadera (in

) and Maccabi Ramat Amidar (in

), but the competition wasn't played again in the following seasons. In 1982 the

IFA IFA or Ifa may refer to: Organisations Economics * Independent financial adviser, a type of financial services professional in the UK * Index Fund Advisors * Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, representing actuaries in the UK * Institute of Act ...

introduced a league cup, called

Lilian Cup The Lililan Cup (, ''Gvia Lililan''), which was also known as The League Cup (, ''Gvia HaLiga'') was an Israel, Israeli men's association football, football competition open to the top 4 clubs in Liga Leumit between 1981–82 Liga Leumit, 1981–8 ...

, after former IFA treasurer Yehuda Lilian, who died in February 1982.Yehuda Lilian Dies
Davar, 16 February 1982, Historical Jewish Press The competition, played at the beginning of the season, involved the top four teams from previous season. Its format was changed during its years of play, at times being played in league format and at times being played as a knock-out competition. The competition was last played in 1989–90. This cup is sometimes being referred as a predecessor of the Toto Cup,Sinai? Ivanir? Malmilian? That's How the Toto Cup Started
Yoni Lev Ari, 01 August 2009, ynet.co.il but these competitions are unconnected.A League Cup in the English Method – From the Next Season
Maariv, 26 January 1984, Historical Jewish Press In 1984–85 the IFA introduced a League Cup competition for the two top tiers of the

Israeli football league system The Israeli football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Israel. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, and allows even the smallest club to dream ...

. The first round of the competition was played on 30 October 1984,53 Tickets Were Sold for Two Matches in the "Shkhuna"
Maariv, 31 October 1984, Historical Jewish Press while the first finals, played on 7 May 1985, was won by Maccabi Yavne (

) and

Hapoel Ashkelon Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ashkelon'') was an Israeli football club based in Ashkelon. It was reestablished in 2024 as "Ironi Ashkelon". History After being founded in 1955, Hapoel Ashkelon spent their first few decades in ...

(

). Before the 1986–87 Season the Israeli Sports Betting Council started sponsoring the competition, which was renamed Toto Cup, and guaranteed rewards for participation and achievements in the competition.The Grants Will Interest the Teams as the Toto Cup Begins
Ma'ariv, 5 September 1986, Historical Jewish Press In 1999–2000, following the creation of the

, the competition for the two top tiers was merged, so that the competition was played by the 24 top teams, and a separate competition was introduced for the third tier,

. In 2004–05 the competitions were separated once again so starting from this season and up until the closure of Liga Artzit at the end of the 2008–09 season there were three league cup competitions running, for each of the three top divisions. In the 2013–14 season, the Toto Cup was not played due to a disagreement between the Israeli Sports Betting Council and the IFA following the publication of a report by a committee headed by Yaron Zelekha which was set up to examine the way football in Israel was managed. The IFA and the Israeli Sports Betting Council reached an agreement in October 2013, which confirmed the cancellation of the 2013–14 competitions.The FA and the Toto Agreed on the terms of the marketing of the Premier League
Itzik Itzchaki, 20 October 2013, walla.co.il

Current competition structure

Group stages

Premier League

The group stages are usually played before the opening of the football leagues and take place from August to October, and the finals take place in January. the 14 teams in league are divided into three groups: five teams in two groups, and four teams in one group. Each team plays against each team once. The two teams placed last in each group are eliminated with the rest of teams advance to the quarterfinals.

Liga Leumit

The group stages are usually played before the opening of the football leagues and take place from August to September, and the finals take place in December. the 16 teams in league are divided into four groups, four teams in each group. Each team plays against each team once, making a total of three games for each team. The best two teams in each group advances to the quarterfinals.

Further rounds

Until 2009, the eight teams that played in the quarterfinals played in a regular knock-out, two meetings for each team in the quarterfinals. Each team played one meeting at their home in the order determined in a raffle. From the 2009–10 season until the 2012–13 season both Al and Leumit cups had just one game was played in the quarterfinals on the home ground of one of the team by a raffle just like the State Cup games. Since the 2012–13 season, Al teams play each other twice in the quarterfinals while Leumit play each other once. The four winning teams who progressed to the semifinals play against their opponent once. the two winners reaches the final and the final winner is the cup winner. the final and the Toto Cup semifinals are all played in the same stadium. From the quarterfinals and above if a match is drawn, the game is settled with

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

and penalty shootouts.

Winners

Winnings table

References

{{Toto Cup Recurring sporting events established in 1984 1984 establishments in Israel