Shira Elinav

Shira Elinav
Personal information
Full name שירה אלינב
Date of birth (2000-04-26) 26 April 2000 (age 26)
Place of birth Jerusalem, Israel
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem
Number 18
Youth career
2012–2013 Maccabi Tel Aviv (boys)
2013 Girls Youth Academy
2013–2015 Hapoel Petah Tikva
2015–2019 Girls Youth Academy
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2023 Kansas Jayhawks 59 (13)
2024 Santa Clara Broncos 15 (1)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Girls Youth Academy 52 (20)
2019 ASA Tel Aviv 3 (3)
2019–2020 Ramat HaSharon 13 (8)
2024– Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem 39 (16)
International career‡
2015–2016 Israel U16 6 (6)
2017–2018 Israel U19 9 (4)
2019– Israel 25 (4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 2 November 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 3 November 2026

Shira Elinav (Hebrew: שירה אלינב; born 26 April 2000) is an Israeli footballer who plays as a forward for Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem and for the Israel women's national team. She has previously played in Israel for the Girls Youth Academy, ASA Tel Aviv, and Ramat HaSharon and in the United States college system for Kansas Jayhawks and Santa Clara Broncos.

Club career

Youth

Elinav grew up playing football with boys in the neighbourhood, but started playing seriously when she moved to the United States when she was 9. She played three years in Connecticut before returning to Israel and playing one year with Maccabi Tel Aviv's boys team. After that, she played one year with Hapoel Petah Tikva's girls team before joining the Girls Youth Academy for five years. Elinav played one season for Ramat HaSharon, in which they won the Ligat Nashim, before moving to the United States for college.

Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem

In January 2025, Elinav returned to Israel, signing a one-and-a-half season contract with Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem, a club she was fan of since she was a young girl. Elinav returned to Israel partly due to the effect of the October 7 attacks. She described the adjustment back to Israeli football not easy due to the rules being different in the American college system as well as a faster and more physical game. Elinav scored 11 goals and 13 assists in the 2025–26 Ligat Nashim season, helping the club win the league title, leading to her signing a contract extension with the club in June 2026.

College career

In April 2020, Elinav joined Kansas Jayhawks on a four-year contract, during which she studied for a bachelor's degree at the University of Kansas. Following an initial video, the coach, Mark Francis Friday, flew to Tel Aviv to watch her play live. Elinav scored her debut goal in March 2020 against Kansas State Wildcats, and was selected for the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. In her third year at Kansas, Elinav had her best season, finishing as the team's top scorer with 8 goals and 4 assists. She was selected for the Academic All-Big 12 First Team for three consecutive years in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

In June 2024, Elinav joined Santa Clara Broncos for a fifth year in the American college system. She scored one goal in 15 appearances in her season at Santa Clara.

International career

Elinav represented Israel at youth international level for five years, playing for the under-16 and under-19 teams. She represented the under-16 team in UEFA Development Tournaments in 2015 and 2016. She represented the under-19 team in the 2018 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifiers and the 2019 UEFA Under-19 Championship qualifiers, scoring two goals in each.

Elinav was called up by Gabriel Burstein to the Israel senior national team in 2019 for the Euro 2022 qualifiers. She made her debut in the first match of the campaign, a 2–3 loss to Italy. She scored her first senior international goal later in the campaign, in a 4–0 victory over Georgia in March 2020.

Style of play

Elinav plays as a forward or winger, preferring the final third of the field. Her speed and one-on-one mentality make her a threat to opposing defenders. During her time in the United States with Kansas Jayhawks, she transitioned from playing mostly on the wing to a central striker role. Elinav has mentioned looking up to Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé, citing their hard work, finishing ability, and creativity.

Personal life

Elinav was born in Jerusalem and raised in Mazkeret Batya, together with a twin brother and younger sister. She served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2018 to 2020 and majored in biology. After her return to Israel, she started studying veterinary medicine at the Hebrew University's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in October 2025.

International goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.10 March 2020Haberfeld Stadium, Rishon LeZion, Israel Georgia1–04–0UEFA Women's Euro 2022 qualifying
2.13 April 2022HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva, Israel Turkey1–01–02023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
3.5 December 2023Globall Football Park, Telki, Hungary Estonia2–04–12023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League C
4.16 July 2024Budaörsi Városi Stadium, Budaörs, Hungary Slovakia2–12–2UEFA Women's Euro 2025 qualifying

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Shira Elinav - 2023 Women's Soccer Roster". Kansas Jayhawks. Retrieved 2 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Goldfriend, Ben (28 April 2020). "מפתח תקווה לקנזס: התקווה הבאה של הכדורגל הישראלי" [From Petah Tikva to Kansas: The next hope for Israeli football]. mako (in Hebrew).
  3. 1 2 Bartal, Lior (26 October 2022). "שירה אלינב, כדורגלנית נבחרת ישראל, מככבת במכללת קנזס: "החלום הוא להגיע לאירופה"" [Shira Elinav, Israeli national team player, is starring at the University of Kansas: "My dream is to get to Europe"]. Davar (in Hebrew).
  4. 1 2 "שירה אלינב" [Shira Elinav]. Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  5. ↑ "אנחנו מתחזקות הבוקר בשירה אלינב, שחתמה לעונה וחצי במועדון" [We're strengthening the team this morning with Shira Elinav, who signed with the club for a season and a half] (in Hebrew). Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem. 10 January 2025 – via Facebook.
  6. 1 2 Bartal, Lior (11 September 2025). ""להביא תואר למועדון בשנת המאה": חלוצת הפועל קטמון ירושלים בראיון פתיחת עונה" ["To win the title with the club in their 100th year": Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem striker in a season opening interview]. Davar (in Hebrew).
  7. 1 2 Greenfeld, Shaul (23 May 2026). "וטרינרית לעתיד ומהנדסת אווירונאוטיקה הלכו לשחק כדורגל. זה נגמר באליפות" [A future veterinarian and an aeronautic engineer went to play football. It ended in a title]. Haaretz (in Hebrew).
  8. ↑ "קבוצת הנשים 🔴 חוזים חדשים" [Women's team: new contracts] (in Hebrew). Hapoel Katamon Jerusalem. 25 June 2026 – via Instagram.
  9. 1 2 "KU Soccer Adds Israeli Forward to 2020 Roster". Kansas Jayhawks. 24 April 2020.
  10. ↑ "נבחרי העונה: בחרו את הליגיונרית של העונה" [Team of the Season: Pick the legionnaire of the season]. One (in Hebrew). 10 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Santa Clara women's soccer re-tools 2024 roster with six high level transfers". Soccer Wire. 5 June 2024.
  12. ↑ "Shira Elinav". Santa Clara Broncos. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  13. ↑ "שירה אלינב - נערות עד גיל 16 - רשימת המשחקים" [Shira Elinav - under-16 women - list of matches] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  14. ↑ "שירה אלינב - נערות עד גיל 19 - רשימת המשחקים" [Shira Elinav - under-19 women - list of matches] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 3 November 2026.
  15. ↑ "גבי בורשטיין זימן סגל של 23 שחקניות לקראת צמד המשחקים בפתיחת קמפיין מוק' יורו 2021 באצטדיון ר"ג" [Gabi Burstein called-up a squad of 23 players for the pair of games opening the Euro 2021 qualifiers campaign at RG Stadium] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. 25 August 2019.
  16. ↑ "למרות יתרון 0-1 מפתיע, הנבחרת בהדרכתו של גבי בורשטיין הפסידה את המשחק הראשון בקמפיין יורו 2021" [Despite a surprising 1-0 advantage, the national team under Gabi Burstein's coaching lost the first match of the Euro 2021 campaign] (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. 29 August 2019.
  17. ↑ Bartal, Lior (10 March 2020). "נבחרת הנשים בכדורגל ניצחה 0:4 את גאורגיה במוקדמות יורו 2021" [The women's national football team beat Georgia 4:0 in the Euro 2021 qualifiers]. Davar (in Hebrew).
  18. ↑ Guskey, Jordan (11 October 2021). "5 Questions: Kansas soccer's Shira Elinav reflects on competing for Israel's national team". The Topeka Capital-Journal.
  19. ↑ "Shira Elinav". LinkedIn. Retrieved 3 November 2026.