On the earth of elite sports activities, there’s a recurring dialogue in regards to the “phenomenon” – that distinctive athlete who arrives with a toolkit so full that conventional developmental ladders appear to be mere solutions.
In Israeli ladies’s soccer, a discipline that has lengthy struggled for assets and recognition, such a determine has emerged. Her identify is Or Divan.
At 16, Divan is a uncommon expertise within the native panorama, combining extraordinary bodily resilience for her age with tactical versatility that permits her to excel in quite a lot of roles, each in protection and assault. She is presented with phenomenal management of each ft and the power to ship highly effective, exact strikes with both, a deadly weapon that makes her totally unpredictable for opposing defenses.
Alongside these traits, her excellent aerial sport makes her a relentless risk on excessive balls, finishing the profile of a very fashionable and well-rounded participant.
Just a few weeks in the past, she turned one of many youngest gamers ever to be referred to as as much as the Israel nationwide crew squad.
AT JUST 16, Or Divan has skipped the pure order of Israeli soccer. From scoring over 100 targets in a season to her time within the World Cup qualifiers, the striker is proving that greatness doesn’t await age. (credit score: IFA and Maksim Skorych/Courtesy)
This milestone occurred in the course of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers. Whereas the 5-0 defeat to Belgium served as a painful reminder of the chasm between native soccer and the European elite, Divan’s presence within the squad was the true headline. She didn’t simply belong there; she seemed just like the inevitable results of a journey that started on the dusty pitches of the Negev.
The second of the call-up stays etched in her reminiscence as a whirlwind of feelings.
“After I obtained the official invitation from the Technical Director, Ester Sabag, my coronary heart virtually skipped a beat,”
Divan recalled with a large smile. “It’s the sort of second you dream about for the reason that first time you lace up your boots. I used to be overcome with intense pleasure, a mixture of pure pleasure and the conclusion that every one the arduous work was beginning to manifest on the largest stage doable. I keep in mind simply taking a deep breath and pondering: That is it. That is the place the actual journey begins.”
Or Divan’s upbringing and historical past with sports activities
Divan’s story doesn’t start with a silver spoon, however with a ball and a bunch of boys in Beersheba. For years, the narrative of profitable feminine footballers typically started with them being “one of many guys.”
For Divan, this wasn’t only a cliché; it was a survival mechanism that formed her bodily and psychological id.
“I’ve identified Or since she was 8 or 9,” mentioned Idan Avraham, her private coach and the person who noticed the spark earlier than it turned a flame. “From the primary second, I noticed that mentally, past her abilities, she might attain these heights.”
Divan spent three important, childhood enjoying in boys’ groups, a interval she credit along with her distinctive growth.
“They allowed my physique to develop in a method a feminine physique hardly ever does at that age,” Divan defined, her voice carrying a maturity that belies her teenage years.
“They confirmed me my strengths and what I wanted to strengthen to achieve a sure degree. Within the boys’ sport, there isn’t a room for hesitation. Should you aren’t quick, you’re bypassed. Should you aren’t sturdy, you’re pushed apart. I discovered to outlive earlier than I discovered to shine.”
Nonetheless, being a pioneer got here with a value. In 2021, Divan confronted blatant gender discrimination when lights have been actually turned off throughout her coaching periods at a local people heart. The message was clear: you don’t belong right here.
However Divan didn’t go away.
“It gave me the understanding that I can stand as much as difficulties,” she mirrored. “I reached a purpose of being within the boys’ lineup, and I noticed I couldn’t quit simply because another person discovered my presence inconvenient. I stayed at nighttime till I discovered my very own gentle.”
Her path was additional formed by figures like Ori Hikly, whose affect helped her perceive that expertise is simply the entry payment. However as she outgrew the native scene in Beersheba, a strategic transfer was essential to hold her trajectory vertical. This led her to the “Empire” of Israeli ladies’s soccer – M.S. Kiryat Gat.
The transition was the turning level in Divan’s professionalization. On the heart of this transfer was Moshe Sabag, the formidable chairman of M.S. Kiryat Gat, a person identified for his uncompromising requirements and imaginative and prescient for the game.
“After we introduced Or to Kiryat Gat, we knew we weren’t simply bringing in a gifted woman; we have been bringing in a future pillar of the membership,” Sabag mentioned. “In Kiryat Gat, we don’t simply play soccer; we construct athletes who can compete in Europe. Or match that mildew instantly. She has a ‘commander’s’ presence on the pitch, disciplined, targeted, and all the time conscious of the tactical construction. I noticed a woman who was prepared to journey, to sacrifice, and to push herself more durable than anybody else within the room. Her transfer right here wasn’t nearly altering a jersey; it was about getting into an atmosphere the place profitable is the one possibility.”
Sabag’s affect as each a boss and a tactical mentor offered Divan with the platform to dominate. Beneath his watch, the membership turned her laboratory.
“Moshe doesn’t give reductions,” Divan famous. “In Kiryat Gat, you might be anticipated to be knowledgeable 24/7. That stress both breaks you or turns you right into a diamond. For me, it offered the construction I wanted to translate my targets into titles.”
Whereas her ft are firmly planted within the grass, Divan’s coronary heart typically wanders to the person who’s now not there. Her late grandfather, Mathania Weiss, stays the non secular North Star of her profession. For Or, the connection is literal and skin-deep: she has a phrase he used to say to her completely tattooed on her ribs.
“He was every thing to me,” Divan shared. “Each purpose, each call-up, it’s for him. Having his phrases on my ribs means he’s with me each time I breathe on the pitch.”
Her excellence, nevertheless, isn’t restricted to the white traces. Or’s father, Gil Divan, describes her as a “Renaissance lady.” Or is a straight-A scholar, balancing high-level teachers along with her grueling coaching. However her skills go even additional: she is a gifted painter and a connoisseur cook dinner.
“Her cooking is definitely higher than her portray,” Gil joked. “She just lately ready a meal of Parmesan-stuffed mushrooms and lemon-zest pasta for a household occasion that was higher than many eating places. She approaches a recipe with the identical medical precision she makes use of to method a purpose.”
This drive for perfection led her to the President’s Residence at age 9. Bypassing a ready speech, she seemed President Isaac Herzog within the eye and mentioned: “I would like you to know I’ll characterize ladies’s soccer in Israel to the entire world, and you’ll be pleased with me”.
In a world obsessive about pure expertise, Divan is a cold-blooded pragmatist. When requested in regards to the “Messi vs Ronaldo” debate, Divan selected a classy center path.
“I imagine in pure expertise, however I imagine within the steadiness between the 2,” she mentioned. “With pure expertise however with out arduous work, we gained’t obtain something. And with arduous work, however with out expertise… we gained’t get the place we would like. You want that little bit of pure expertise, however with out arduous work, it’s price nothing.”
This depth manifests as a wierd calmness on the pitch. Followers have famous that Divan hardly ever celebrates her targets.
“In necessary and significant video games, I do rejoice,” she admitted. “However even then, it’s only for just a few seconds, after which I instantly change the mode again to ‘as if nothing occurred.’ Why don’t I rejoice? I feel after the motion of the purpose, I simply don’t have the vitality anymore! The job is completed; it’s time for the following one.”
The Israeli teaching elite is unanimous: Divan is a “statistical anomaly.” Menachem Koretzky, the nationwide crew head coach, mentioned her call-up was a tactical necessity.
“She is constructed bodily; she is tall and powerful,” Koretzky famous. “I noticed her play for Kiryat Gat in opposition to Hapoel Katamon, the largest sport of the season, and he or she handled skilled international gamers superbly.”
Assaf Nimni, the assistant coach, was struck by her “psychological structure.”
“I used to be in shock when she instructed me her age,” Nimni recalled. “Her intelligence, her tactical understanding, it’s not ‘youth soccer’ degree. She understands the necessities of the skilled sport.”
Nonetheless, legendary coach Silvi Jean, who oversees the Beneath-19 nationwide crew, provides a extra tempered perspective. Jean, who insisted on having Divan on her squad, warns in opposition to the “star” label too early.
“We should be cautious, to provide her the quiet to develop,” Jean mentioned. “The transition from youth to senior worldwide soccer is an enormous shock. However Or is tactically disciplined. She doesn’t take pointless dangers, which I like to see. I really imagine I can be strolling this path along with her for a few years to return. She isn’t only a expertise; she’s a associate within the development of this sport.”
For Arik Levy, the pinnacle coach of the Israel U-17 crew, Divan is the undisputed chief.
“She is my captain for a purpose,” Levy explains. “It’s not simply because she scores 100 targets a 12 months. It’s as a result of she calls for professionalism from her teammates simply by the way in which she ties her cleats.”
The statistics from her latest seasons are nothing in need of absurd. Within the 2023/24 season, she recorded 87 targets and 47 assists in 40 matches. In 2024/25, the numbers reached a fever pitch: 110 targets (together with her first for the nationwide crew) and 52 assists in 47 matches. Whilst she moved into the senior ranks in 2025/26, she maintained elite manufacturing with 17 targets and 18 assists in simply 30 matches.
OrDivan is just not ready for the longer term; she is designing it. She has already moved previous the concept of the American school system, a conventional route for Israeli expertise that she views as too gradual.
“My purpose is to be in England within the subsequent two or three years”, Divan said. “I wish to break floor for Israeli gamers in locations they haven’t reached. The WSL (Ladies’s Tremendous League) is one of the best on the planet proper now. That’s the place I wish to be.”
When requested if she knew who else wore braces on their enamel when first referred to as as much as a nationwide crew, she shortly guessed an accurate reply: “Lamine Yamal.”
It’s a becoming comparability. Just like the Spanish prodigy, Divan is redefining what is feasible at her age.
As Anat Divan seems to be at her daughter, she sees greater than only a footballer. She sees the woman who stayed on the pitch when the lights have been turned off on her in Beersheba. She sees the straight-A scholar, the painter, and the chef.
“We’re right here to provide her the envelope,” Anat mentioned. “The remainder is her expertise and her soul. She is aware of what she desires, and he or she is aware of the value she has to pay to get there.”
Or Divan is racing ahead. She does so with the reminiscence of her grandfather in her coronary heart, the grit of the Beersheba boys in her legs, and the way forward for Israeli ladies’s soccer on her shoulders.
The lights could have been turned off on her as soon as, however at present, the spotlights are mounted straight on her. And he or she has no intention of letting them fade. The woman with the braces and the killer intuition is now not only a “prospect” – she is the message.