Israel Castro Macías (born 20 December 1980) is a Mexican former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

He joined the Pumas youth system and worked his way through the ranks to debut in 2002; he was a regular starter and played a very important role in the 2004 campaign of the team, when Pumas won consecutive league championships. Fans also call him the "Asesino de galácticos" or "Galactic Assassin". Since he was the lone scorer in the game when Pumas defeated Real Madrid for the Santiago Bernabeu trophy in 2004. After becoming champion with Pumas Unam he was drafted by Cruz Azul. He left the team as a captain.^{[citation needed]}

UNAM

• Mexico Primera División: Clausura 2004, Apertura 2004, Clausura 2009, Clausura 2011
• Campeón de Campeones: 2004

Cruz Azul

• Copa MX: Clausura 2013

Guadalajara

• Copa MX: Apertura 2015^[1]

Mexico

• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2009, 2011

Individual

• Primera División de México Best Defensive Midfielder :Clausura 2011

^[2]

Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	12 August 2009	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	United States	1–1	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification

• Israel Castro Profile at FootballDatabase
• Israel Castro – Liga MX stats at MedioTiempo.com (archived) (in Spanish)
• Israel Castro at National-Football-Teams.com