Eran Zahavi

Zahavi started his youth career with Hapoel Tel Aviv at the age of 6. At the age of 16 he went to Ironi Rishon LeZion, in his hometown. Two years later, in 2005, he returned to Hapoel.

Hapoel Tel Aviv

A Hapoel Tel Aviv youth product, Zahavi was promoted to its senior team in 2006. With Hapoel, he won the 2009–10 Israel State Cup and the 2009–10 Israeli Premier League title after a dramatic match against the fierce rivals Beitar Jerusalem in the last round of the season, in which he scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute. Zahavi was reported to have garnered interest from clubs in Belgium during the 2009–10 season. In the 2010–11 season Zahavi became the top assist provider of the Israeli Premier League, providing 13 assists during the season.

Palermo

Zahavi signed a five-year deal with the Italian Serie A club, Palermo, before the beginning of the 2011–12 Serie A season. He capped two seasons with 23 appearances in the top league in Italy, scoring two goals against Bologna and Cagliari.

Maccabi Tel Aviv

In December 2012, towards the winter transfers window opening, Zahavi showed signs of returning to Israel. Following an agreement made by Palermo and Maccabi Tel Aviv, his former club Hapoel Tel Aviv was given seven days to make a bid on him due to a first-option clause in his contract, but it was not exploited. On 21 January 2013, after over a month of speculation in the media, Maccabi Tel Aviv announced his arrival, signing him on a…

Zahavi made his senior debut for Israel on 2 September 2010 against Malta in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers. He scored his first goal for the national team on 10 September 2013 against Russia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. On 24 March 2019, he scored a hat-trick against Austria in a 4–2 home win, during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. On 7 June 2019, Zahavi scored a back-to-back hat-trick against Latvia in a 3–0 away win, during the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers. He scored a total of eleven goals during the qualifying campaign, and was thus the second best overall goalscorer (along with Cristiano Ronaldo) across all qualifying groups, and only a goal behind Harry Kane. On 14 October 2020, during a 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B match against Slovakia, Zahavi scored three goals in the span of 20 minutes to bring Israel from 0–2 behind to a 3–2 win. With five goals, he was the second best goalscorer across all divisions of the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League (along with League A's Romelu Lukaku), and only a goal behind League B's Erling Haaland. On 1 September 2021, Zahavi scored his fourth international hat-trick in an away match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, earning Israel a 4–0 win against Faroe Islands. Three days later, he scored two goals in the World Cup qualifying match against Austria, that ended in a 5–2 home win for Israel. Even though he missed the last two matches due to injury, Zahavi managed to score a total of eight goals during the qualifiers, and was thus…

Club

International

Zahavi was born and raised in Rishon LeZion, Israel, to Israeli-Jewish parents. His father Ilan immigrated from France to Israel as a teenager, whereas his mother Eti is Israeli-born. He has an elder brother, Avi. Zahavi has served in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), to complete his mandatory military service. He also obtained a French passport, on account of his French-born father, in order to facilitate the transfer to certain European leagues. Zahavi is observant and does not play football on the Jewish High Holiday of Yom Kippur. On 9 May 2021, ahead of the Eredivisie match between his club PSV Eindhoven and Willem II, two armed robbers broke into Zahavi's house in Amsterdam, tying up his wife Shay (née Levy) and three children. On 12 December 2021, their house was broken into again, this time when Zahavi was on health resort abroad with his family.