Maccabi Le Zion

Maccabi Le Zion play in Israel's Division 1, a tier below the country's top flight, and the club is still commonly known simply as Maccabi Lod, after the city it calls home. Lod also has ties to Maccabi Rishon LeZion, a far more decorated side, and the two are easy to confuse for anyone not paying attention to which shirt says what.

The closest Maccabi Le Zion came to a trophy was the 2015/16 season, when it reached the Division 1 playoff final and lost it to Maccabi Tel Aviv. Europe has offered the club a stage a few times since, through the EHF Cup and the EHF European League, and its furthest run came in 2018/19, when it reached the third round of the EHF Cup before Saint-Raphaël Var Handball ended it.

That 2018/19 squad drew on a mix of imports who arrived with pedigree from outside Israel. Serbian left back David Rašić joined after spells with Besiktas and Al Rayyan, while Bosnian back Ivan Karacic came in from Kadetten Schaffhausen.