AZ Alkmaar vs 15.10.26 16:452 – 1Full Time
Hapoel Beer Sheva — UEFA Europa League: stats, lineups & analysis
Match report
AZ Alkmaar come from behind in the second half to beat Hapoel Beer Sheva
AZ Alkmaar beat Hapoel Beer Sheva 2-1 at AFAS Stadion in the second matchday of the UEFA Europa League league stage. The first half finished goalless, with the home side's early control producing little before the interval, and the match only came to life after the restart.
AI-assisted match report written from official match data.
Peer Koopmeiners broke the deadlock in the 49th minute, converting a Valdemar Byskov assist to make it 1-0. Hapoel Beer Sheva answered within six minutes, Amankwah Forson finishing from a Zahi Ahmed pass in the 55th to level at 1-1.
The decisive moment arrived in the 77th minute, when Mexx Meerdink scored from the penalty spot to restore AZ's lead at 2-1. Hapoel Beer Sheva could not find a second equaliser, and the hosts held on for the win.
AZ travel to Cambuur in the Eredivisie on Sunday 18 October, while Hapoel Beer Sheva are away to Union St. Gilloise in the Europa League on Thursday 22 October.
Peer Koopmeiners scored the opening goal, set up by Byskov, and earned the match's highest rating at 8.2. Mexx Meerdink netted the winning penalty and was rated 7.8.
AZ had 15 shots to 6 for Hapoel Beer Sheva, a gap that reflected how much of the match was played in the visitors' half.
AZ Alkmaar beat Hapoel Beer Sheva 2–1 (half-time 0–0).
AZ Alkmaar met Hapoel Beer Sheva in the UEFA Europa League (League Stage - 2). Kick-off was Thursday, 15 October 2026, 16:45 UTC at AFAS Stadion（Alkmaar）. Referee: Radoslav Gidzhenov.
Team pages: AZ Alkmaar · Hapoel Beer Sheva · UEFA Europa League
Key moments
- 49' Goal: Peer Koopmeiners (assist: Valdemar Byskov) — 1–0
- 55' Goal: Amankwah Forson (assist: Zahi Ahmed) — 1–1
- 77' Goal (penalty): Mexx Meerdink — 2–1 · Watch Mexx Meerdink's goal video (77')
Starting line-ups
AZ Alkmaar (4-2-3-1)
Hapoel Beer Sheva (4-3-3)
Sirius · Why these numbers
Before kick-off Sirius gave AZ Alkmaar 69%, the draw 18%, Hapoel Beer Sheva 13%. It finished AZ Alkmaar 2–1 Hapoel Beer Sheva.
AZ Alkmaar's clear strength edge leads the way — We give AZ Alkmaar 69% mainly because our strength rating puts them 179 points higher, 1693 to 1514, and home sides in the UEFA Europa League tend to do better than the global norm. The draw sits at 18%, starting from the usual 20% for a gap this size, trimmed by the competition's lower draw rate and nudged up slightly by both teams' typical 2.4 goals a game.
Why AZ Alkmaar at 69%?
AZ Alkmaar sit 179 points higher on our strength rating — 1693 to 1514. Sides with a 160–240-point rating edge at home won 66.8% of 6,577 such games. UEFA Europa League home sides out-perform the global norm — and the difference mostly flows to draws (23.2% vs 25.4% norm). UEFA Europa League homes won 47.0% of 4,456 games vs 44.6% across all 101,206 — outside the noise band, so the tally moves accordingly. The 300 most similar past games finished 66–20–14.
Why only 69%?
No scored evidence points the other way. 69% is what this rating gap has been worth in games like these; the rest is the draw at 18% and Hapoel Beer Sheva at 13%.
Why is the draw only 18%?
With a rating gap this size the draw starts at 19.9%. These teams' recent games average 2.4 goals — a typical goals environment. Games in that environment drew 26.5% of 28,322. UEFA Europa League produces fewer draws than most, taking 2.2 points off.
What did we measure but not count?
AZ Alkmaar have averaged 6 percentage points more possession than Hapoel Beer Sheva in recent games. That doesn’t change our forecast here. AZ Alkmaar are unbeaten in their last 11 home Eredivisie games: 7 wins and 4 draws. The run began on 8 February 2026. Last recorded home league defeat: 31 January 2026 — AZ Alkmaar 1–3 NEC Nijmegen. Latest home league result: 20 September 2026 — AZ Alkmaar 1–0 Telstar. Across 13,715 historical matches following an unbeaten home league run of at least six games, hosts won 56.0%, compared with 54.8% expected from team strength.
Sirius probabilities, frozen at kick-off. Analysis, not betting advice. How Sirius is doing this season · Full breakdown, evidence cards and squad news in the Match Insights tab
About this match
On this page: the AZ Alkmaar vs Hapoel Beer Sheva final score and result, goal highlights and video clips of every goal, who scored, starting lineups, match stats and the full match report from this UEFA Europa League fixture.
- Who scored and when — a goal-by-goal timeline of the match.
- Match stats — possession, shots, expected goals (xG), corners and cards.
- Starting lineups and player ratings for both teams.
- Head-to-head record and recent form for both sides.
Watch the goals: goal highlights and video clips of every goal from AZ Alkmaar 2–1 Hapoel Beer Sheva. Explore more on the AZ Alkmaar and Hapoel Beer Sheva team pages or the UEFA Europa League page.