Maccabi reached the State Cup Round of 16 on 75 occasions until this season – 60 of which after the State of Israel was established. On 54 attempts Maccabi managed to advance through and reach the Quarter Final stage of the competition.
Our Round of 16 opponents, Bnei Sakhnin, previously met Maccabi four times in the State Cup. Three of these Cup ties were a one-off knockout match while another as a double headed tie in the Quarter Finals of 2019.
The overall tally between Maccabi and Sakhnin in the Cup currently stands on 2-2. The highest stage of the competition both sides met was in the Semi Final of the 2015/16 season which Maccabi won 3-2 at Sammy Ofer. Barak Itzhaki, Eran Zahavi and Tal Ben Chaim were on the scoresheet that night which booked Maccabi’s passage to the final under Peter Bosz.
Maccabi’s highest victory in the Round of 16 was a 10-0 victory over Maccabi Bar-Kochba Jerusalem in the 1936/37 campaign.
After the State of Israel was established Maccabi’s highest victory was recorded twice a 6-0 wins over Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv (1954/55) and Sektzia Ness Ziona (1959/60).
Only two Maccabi players scored hat tricks in the State Cup Round of 16 – both in ‘Mini’ Tel Aviv derbies. Shimon Yisraeli in the 6-0 victory over Bnei Yehuda (1955) and Eliezer Vilensky in the 4-1 victory over Shimshon Tel Aviv (1962).
Shiye Glazer is Maccabi’s top scorer in the Round of 16 with 7 goals to his name.
Maccabi were dragged into a penalty shoot-out 6 times in this stage of the competition. Four times Maccabi advanced through: Maccabi Ramat Amidar (1974), Ironi Kiryat Shmona (1976, 2022) and Hapoel Ra’anana 2017. Maccabi ended up being eliminated twice after losing the penalty shoot out to Maccabi Petah Tikva (1978) and Beitar Jerusalem (2010).
Tuesday’s Cup tie against Sakhnin will be the first time since 2015 that Maccabi hosts the Round of 16 at Bloomfield when a Barak Itzhaki goal beat Hapoel Ashkelon 1-0. In five of six Round of 16 matches since were played away from home, while Netanya hosted a 4-0 victory over Hapoel Acre in 2019.
