Mordechai "Motaleh" Spiegler (; born 19 August 1944) is an Israeli retired football player and manager. A prolific forward, he is placed second in Israel's all time goalscoring list, with 32 goals in 83 caps.
Mordechai Spiegler was born in Asbest, Soviet Russia, and is Jewish. He immigrated to Netanya, Israel, when he was a boy.
As a striker, he played for Maccabi Netanya along with Paris Saint Germain in France and alongside Pelé for New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League in the 1970s.
He was chosen as the Israeli Player of the Year a record four times, in 1967âÂÂ68, 1968âÂÂ69, 1969âÂÂ70, and in 1970âÂÂ71.
Spiegler made his international debut for Israel on 2 January 1964 against Hong Kong. He appeared in the Israeli win in the 1964 AFC Asian Cup, and scored two goals at the tournament, which made him a joint tournament top scorer.
His major achievement was helping Israel qualify for the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. He scored Israel's lone goal in World Cup history in a 1âÂÂ1 draw against Sweden.
His 32 goals for the national team (according to IFA count, FIFA counts only 24 of them) was the Israeli record up until 2021 when he was surpassed by Eran Zahavi. Spiegler scored 24 goals in 62 'official' internationals for the Israel national side, he also played in 21 other 'unofficial' matches (mostly Olympic Games qualifiers) scoring eight more goals.
Spiegler captained the Israel Olympic team at Mexico City 1968 that reached the quarter-finals, losing to Bulgaria by a draw, 1âÂÂ1.
Spiegler was nominated as the best Israeli player of the prior 50 years by the Israel Football Association in the UEFA Jubilee Awards in November 2003. He is a member of the Education and Publicity Committee of the IFA.
In 2007, he won a lifetime contributions special award for the Israeli national team in the 1970 FIFA World Cup, determined by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Israeli football player association.
Maccabi Netanya
Israel
Individual
Beitar Tel Aviv
Maccabi Netanya