Ilay Elmkies
Israeli footballer (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ilay Eliyau Elmkies (or Elmakayes,[2] Hebrew: עילי אליהו אלמקייס; born 10 March 2000) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Bnei Reineh. He has been capped by the Israel national team.
|
Elmkies in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ilay Eliyahu Elmkies | ||
| Date of birth | 10 March 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Nahariya, Israel | ||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Maccabi Bnei Reineh | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Beitar Nahariya | |||
| Maccabi Haifa | |||
| –2015 | SV Sinsheim | ||
| 2015–2019 | 1899 Hoffenheim | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2019–2020 | 1899 Hoffenheim II | 22 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | 1899 Hoffenheim | 1 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → ADO Den Haag (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Admira Wacker (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | 1899 Hoffenheim II | 28 | (0) |
| 2023–2025 | Bnei Sakhnin | 38 | (1) |
| 2025 | Ironi Tiberias | 4 | (0) |
| 2025– | Maccabi Bnei Reineh | 16 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2015–2016 | Israel U16 | 9 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Israel U17 | 12 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | Israel U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2019–2022 | Israel U21 | 7 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | Israel | 5 | (1) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 June 2025 (UTC) | |||
Early and personal life
Elmkies was born and raised in Nahariya, Israel, to an Israeli family of both Mizrahi Jewish and Sephardi Jewish (French-Jewish) descent.[3]
He also holds a French passport, on account of his Sephardi Jewish (French-Jewish) ancestors, which eases the move to certain European football leagues.[4][5]
Elmkies speaks Hebrew and English and has quickly mastered German. A film looking at the Jewish experience in the German village of Hoffenheim during World War II aired in 2018 at the Sinsheimer Citydome. He played a leading role, and provided commentary in all three languages.[3]
Club career
A 1899 Hoffenheim youth product in Germany, Elmkies was promoted to the club's senior reserve team 1899 Hoffenheim II in 2019.[6]
International career
He also plays for the Israel national Under-21 team since 2019.
Elmkies received his first call-up to the senior Israel national team in October 2019 ahead of the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers matches against Austria and Latvia. He made his senior debut on 15 October 2019 in a home match against Latvia; he was substituted in the 76' minute, as his native Israel won 3–1.[7]
On 7 September 2020, he scored his first goal – an equalizer in the 91' minute for the senior Israeli squad in a 2020–21 UEFA Nations League home match against Slovakia, that ended in a 1–1 draw.[8]
Career statistics
International goals
- Scores and results list Israel's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Elmkies goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 September 2020 | Netanya Stadium, Netanya, Israel |  Slovakia | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
