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JWR VerifiedJWR-2026-000281

Most Career Goals by a Jewish Professional Footballer

Record holder

Eran ZahaviPerson

Record value

438 career goals

Country represented: IsraelAchievement location: Tel Aviv, IsraelAchievement date: 24 May 2025Current record

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Eran Zahavi celebrating a goal for Maccabi Tel Aviv

Eran Zahavi celebrating for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2014.Nir KeidarWikimedia Commons

Official record definition

In association football (soccer), the greatest verified number of goals scored by a footballer satisfying the JWR Jewish Eligibility Standard across official senior first-team competitive club matches plus senior international matches recognized in the player’s official career total. Youth goals, reserve-team goals, exhibition matches and informal matches are excluded.

Measurement methodology

Sum of official senior competitive club goals across all first-team competitions (403) plus senior Israel national-team goals recognized in the final career tally (35).

Measurement point: Completed senior professional playing career

Record story

Eran Zahavi achieved the record for the Most Career Goals by a Jewish Professional Footballer with a total of "438 career goals". This figure was confirmed at the conclusion of his senior playing career in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 24 May 2025. The record is defined as the sum of all goals scored in official senior first-team competitive club matches plus recognised senior international matches. Zahavi’s total comprises 403 club goals and 35 goals for the Israel national team, with goals from youth, reserve, or exhibition matches excluded from the count.

His 403 club goals were scored for teams across several countries, including Ramat HaSharon, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Palermo, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Guangzhou R&F, and PSV Eindhoven. The achievement’s standing was established through a targeted review which found no other qualifying Jewish professional footballer with a comparable verified total. The career goal counts for major historical comparators, such as Mordechai Spiegler and Alon Mizrahi, were confirmed to be materially lower than the 438 goals tallied by Zahavi.

Media

How JWR verified this record

Verification date
27 September 2026
Verification standard
JWR Verification Standard 1.0

Achievement evidence

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s official 24 May 2025 career summary states that Eran Zahavi finished with 438 career goals. Independent reporting reproduces the same 438 total and breaks it down as 403 official club goals across Ramat HaSharon, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Palermo, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Guangzhou R&F and PSV Eindhoven, plus 35 goals for Israel.

Superiority evidence

Targeted world counter-candidate review found no qualifying Jewish professional footballer near Zahavi’s 438-goal total. Major plausible historical comparators are materially lower: Mordechai Spiegler’s published senior club league total is 252 (plus international goals), while leading Israeli league scorers such as Alon Mizrahi (206) and Avi Nimni (194/195 depending database convention) remain far below even before methodological normalization. No counter-candidate exceeding 438 was identified.

Jewish Eligibility — Verified by JWR

Jewish eligibility verification

Evidence establishing that the holder qualifies as Jewish for JWR purposes.

  • Eran Zahavi — Personal life and career statistics — Wikipedia

Achievement / record verification

Evidence establishing that the holder achieved the result and holds the record as defined.

  • Zahavi’s scoring brilliance at Maccabi: The numbers behind a legendary career — Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club
  • Glorious career ends: Eran Zahavi announces his retirement from professional soccer — Ynetnews

Superiority / counter-candidate verification

Evidence comparing the result with other candidates relevant to the record claim.

  • Israel — Record International Players — RSSSF

Jewish eligibility, achievement and superiority evidence retain their separate classifications and are never merged. Context and provenance are not presented as proof of the achievement. Restricted evidence and internal research notes are never published. Learn more about the seven-stage process on the verification page.

Sources & Verification

History

  1. Verified

    Verified according to JWR Verification Standard 1.0.

  2. Publishedv1

    Published to the official JWR registry.

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