Lior Refaelov Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Lior Refaelov
ליאור רפאלוב
Personal information
Refaelov with Club Brugge in 2011
Full name	Lior Refaelov
Date of birth	(1986-04-26) 26 April 1986 (age 39)
Place of birth	Or Akiva, Israel
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder, winger
Youth career
1998–2004	Maccabi Haifa
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2011	Maccabi Haifa	194	(32)
2011–2018	Club Brugge	234	(53)
2018–2021	Royal Antwerp	112	(38)
2021–2023	Anderlecht	91	(25)
2023–2025	Maccabi Haifa	54	(18)
Total		685	(158)
International career^‡
2002–2003	Israel U17	13	(4)
2004	Israel U18	4	(1)
2004	Israel U19	9	(2)
2006–2008	Israel U21	17	(4)
2007–2017	Israel	40	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 June 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 April 2017

Lior Refaelov (born on April 26, 1986) is a former professional footballer from Israel. He played as an attacking midfielder or a winger.

Lior started his football journey at Maccabi Haifa, where he helped the team win the Israeli Premier League three times. In 2011, he moved to Club Brugge in Belgium. There, he won two league titles in 2016 and 2018. He also scored the winning goal in the Belgian Cup final in 2015.

Refaelov played for the Israeli national team from 2007 to 2017. He played 40 games and scored 6 goals for his country.

About Lior Refaelov
Lior's Club Career
International Career
International Goals
Awards and Trophies
See also

About Lior Refaelov

Lior Refaelov was born in Or Akiva, Israel. His parents were from a group called Mountain Jews (Kavkazim) and had moved to Israel from Derbent, Dagestan before he was born.

In 2012, Lior married his girlfriend, Gal Aviv.

Lior's Club Career

Lior Refaelov began playing football in 1998 with the youth teams of Maccabi Haifa. By the 2002–03 season, he was playing for the club's main youth team and scored in his very first game.

During the 2003–04 season, he scored 7 goals for the youth team. He helped them win the youth championship and was named the best player.

Playing for Maccabi Haifa

Refaelov scored his first goal for Maccabi Haifa's senior team in the 2005–06 season. It was a penalty kick in a game they won 6–0.

In the 2008–09 season, he scored 9 goals. Maccabi Haifa won the Israeli league championship for the 11th time that year.

After the 2010–11 season, Lior was voted 'Player of the Year' in Israeli football. He played for Maccabi Haifa from 2004 to 2011, helping them win the Israeli Premier League three times.

Time at Club Brugge

Refaelov playing for Club Brugge in 2015

On June 20, 2011, Refaelov joined Belgian Pro League team Club Brugge. He moved for about €4 million.

In his first season with Brugge, he scored 7 goals and made 9 assists. The club finished second in the Belgian league. The next season, he was in great form, scoring 12 goals and making 10 assists. In the 2013–14 season, he scored 5 goals and made 14 assists, becoming one of the team's most important players.

On November 6, 2014, he scored three goals (a hat-trick) as Brugge won 4–0 against FC Copenhagen in the UEFA Europa League.

On March 22, 2015, he scored the winning goal in the Belgian Cup final against Anderlecht. This was Brugge's first trophy in eight years.

A year later, he scored in the 2016 Belgian Cup Final again, but Club Brugge lost that game. However, in the same season, he helped Club Brugge win their first league title in 11 years.

Moving to Royal Antwerp

On August 30, 2018, Refaelov joined another Belgian team, Royal Antwerp, on a loan deal. He scored his first goal for them on September 16 in a 5–1 win.

In May 2019, Refaelov officially joined Antwerp permanently. On August 1, 2020, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against his old team, Club Brugge, in the 2020 Belgian Cup Final. On October 29, 2020, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League.

In January 2021, Lior was given the Belgian Golden Shoe award for 2020. This award goes to the best player in the Belgian league. He was the first Antwerp player to win it since 1966.

Playing for Anderlecht

Refaelov playing for RSC Anderlecht in 2021

On April 26, 2021, it was announced that Refaelov would join Anderlecht on July 1, signing a two-year contract. On December 5, 2021, he scored two goals in a 3–2 home win.

Refaelov played regularly for Anderlecht under coach Vincent Kompany. In his first season (2021–22), he scored 19 goals and made 6 assists, which was his best goal-scoring season ever.

Anderlecht finished third in the league that season. However, in the 2022–23 season, the team finished 11th, which was their lowest finish since 1937. Despite reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Conference League, Refaelov left the club at the end of the 2022–23 season.

International Career

Refaelov played for Israel's youth teams. He represented Israel in the 2003 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Portugal. He scored Israel's only goal in that tournament.

He also played for the Israel U-21 team and helped them win the Valeri Lobanovsky Memorial Tournament in 2006.

Lior made his first appearance for the Israeli senior national team on August 22, 2007, in a friendly game. He scored his first goal for the national team on May 27, 2010, against Uruguay.

On March 15, 2022, Refaelov announced that he was retiring from playing for the Israel national team.

International Goals

Here are the goals Lior Refaelov scored for the Israeli national team:

List of international goals scored by Lior Refaelov
No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 May 2010	Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay	Uruguay	1–1	1–4	Friendly
2	17 November 2010	Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel	Iceland	3–0	3–2	Friendly
3	11 October 2011	Ta' Qali National Stadium, Mdina, Malta	Malta	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
4	6 February 2013	Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel	Finland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
5	26 March 2013	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Northern Ireland	1–0	2–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA
6	24 March 2017	El Molinón, Gijón, Spain	Spain	1–3	1–4	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA