Israel National Football Team Results (1990–2019)

Israel's path into European competition was shaped as much by geopolitics as by football. The national team had been expelled from the Asian Football Confederation in 1974 amid organized opposition to Israel's participation and subsequently moved through different qualifying regions. Israeli clubs began participating in European competition in 1991, and Israel completed full UEFA membership in 1994.[2][1]

Through the 2010 campaign, Israel's senior team had competed in World Cup qualifying sixteen times and had reached the finals only once, in 1970, before the period covered by this article.[1]

Israel's final attempt at the 1990 World Cup was conducted in the Oceania zone. The team beat New Zealand 1–0, drew 1–1 with Australia at Ramat Gan, drew 2–2 away to New Zealand, and drew 1–1 with Australia in Sydney. Those results placed Israel atop the qualifying group and earned a two-legged playoff against Colombia.[5]

The Ramat Gan match against Australia contained a notable passage of play: Eli Ohana put Israel ahead from a penalty in the 66th minute, only for Charlie Yankos to equalize with a free kick from 35 metres six minutes later.[6] In Sydney, Ohana scored again in a 1–1 draw that proved sufficient to advance.[5][6] Colombia then won 1–0 in Barranquilla, while the return leg in Ramat Gan finished 0–0, sending Colombia to Italy.[5] The campaign is recorded as a first-place finish in the Oceania stage followed by defeat in the intercontinental playoff.[1]

Israel began European qualifying in October 1992 with a 5–2 defeat to Austria in Vienna.[7] The campaign proved difficult overall: Israel suffered four opening defeats and finished sixth and last with six points and a 20% success rate.[7][1]

The campaign's sole victory came in October 1993 at the Parc des Princes. Israel, already effectively eliminated, defeated France 3–2 in a match the hosts needed to win to qualify for the World Cup.[8] Reuven Atar scored Israel's stoppage-time winner.[5] A contemporary Jerusalem Post opinion column also recalled that Eyal Berkovitz was 21 during the Paris match and presented the victory as one of the period's memorable moments.[9]

Under coach Shlomo Scharf, who managed the national team from 1993 until 1999, Israel built a notably strong home record. The team lost at home only once during his tenure, 2–1 to Spain, and recorded wins over Poland, Bulgaria, and Austria. It also drew with France, Russia, Slovakia, and Romania, with the 1–1 home draw against Russia in 1998 World Cup qualifying remembered as a particularly significant result.[7]

In Euro 1996 qualifying, Israel won three matches and finished fifth; compared with the 1994 World Cup cycle, it doubled both its points total and success percentage.[8][7] The 1998 World Cup campaign produced four wins and a third-place finish.[8] Israel opened with a 2–1 home win over Bulgaria, through goals from Ronen Harazi and Tal Banin, and drew 1–1 with Russia at Ramat Gan before finishing behind Bulgaria and Russia and ahead of Cyprus and Luxembourg.[5]

Israel's Euro 2000 qualifying campaign was, at the time, its best attempt to reach a European Championship finals. Four wins—two against San Marino and home victories over Cyprus and Austria, the latter by 5–0—lifted Israel to second place and a two-legged playoff against Denmark.[8]

The playoff ended in a comprehensive defeat. Denmark won 5–0 at Ramat Gan and 3–0 in the return match, an 8–0 aggregate loss that ended Israel's qualification attempt.[10][9]

Israel's 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign stands as the team's most competitive of the era. Finishing unbeaten in a six-team European group, Israel recorded four wins and six draws—including draws against France, Switzerland, and Ireland—and accumulated 18 points from a possible 30, a 60% success rate.[11][3]

Switzerland matched Israel with four wins, six draws, and 18 points.[3] Goal difference separated the teams: Switzerland had scored 18 and conceded seven, while Israel had scored 15 and conceded ten.[3] Switzerland advanced to the playoff and Israel was eliminated. Israel's final group match was a 2–1 win over the Faroe Islands; a seven-goal-margin victory would have been required to overtake Switzerland had the concurrent match in Dublin ended in a draw.[3]

A moment of particular drama came on 27 March 2005. Abbas Suan, an Arab Israeli recruited by coach Avraham Grant in 2004, scored a last-minute equalizer against Ireland that kept Israel's qualification hopes alive.[12] The goal made Suan a prominent public figure, and Encyclopedia.com describes his reception as symbolic of peaceful coexistence between Arab and Jewish communities.[12]

Israel finished third in the group.[1] An aggregate analysis of its World Cup campaigns from 1994 onward identified 2006 as its best campaign by both points earned and success percentage.[11]

With Dror Kashtan as coach, Israel competed in a six-team European qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup and finished fourth, earning 16 of 30 possible points, a 53% success rate.[1][13]

One of the group wins came in Luxembourg, where Israel prevailed 3–1. Yossi Benayoun converted a penalty after 28 seconds; Luxembourg equalized through Rene Peters in the 13th minute, Omer Golan restored Israel's lead in the 53rd minute, and Salim Toama added a third in the 82nd.[13] Despite the scoreline, the Jerusalem Post characterized the performance as poor and quoted Kashtan criticizing the team's first-half display.[13]

Israel opened its Euro 2016 qualifying campaign strongly, winning its first three group matches. In November 2014, about 30,000 spectators at Haifa's Samy Ofer Stadium watched Israel defeat Bosnia-Herzegovina 3–0. Gil Vermouth and Omer Damari scored in the first half; after Bosnia defender Toni Sunjic was sent off early in the second half, Eran Zahavi added a third.[14] The victory followed wins over Andorra and Cyprus and placed Israel at the top of Group B with nine points from three matches.[14]

The campaign unraveled from there. Israel collected only four points from its final seven qualifying matches and finished fourth in Group B, ending with a 3–1 defeat in Belgium.[15] The strong opening therefore did not produce qualification.

Israel was drawn into European Group G for the 2018 World Cup alongside Spain, Italy, Albania, North Macedonia, and Liechtenstein.[2] It lost 1–0 at home to Spain and 1–0 away to Italy.[8] By September 2017, after the Italy match, Israel had nine points, stood fourth, and could no longer qualify; the group winner qualified directly and the runner-up entered a playoff.[2]

Israel ultimately finished fourth with four wins and six losses across ten matches, scoring ten goals and conceding fifteen for a total of 12 points.[8] Spain, Italy, and Albania finished above Israel, while North Macedonia and Liechtenstein finished below it.[8]

June 2018 brought one of the era's most politically charged episodes. A scheduled friendly against Argentina was moved from Haifa to Jerusalem, and Argentina canceled the fixture against the background of a BDS campaign directed at the visiting team.[4] The fixture therefore produced no played result and illustrated how political pressure could affect Israel's football program beyond the qualifying table.[4]

Israel's debut in the UEFA Nations League placed the team in League C, Group 1, alongside Scotland and Albania. Israel lost its opening match 1–0 away to Albania, then beat Scotland 2–1 at home, giving coach Andreas Herzog his first victory in charge and Israel its first three points in the competition.[16]

Ahead of the final group match away to Scotland, a draw would have been sufficient for Israel to advance to the playoff round. Israel instead finished second with two wins, no draws, two losses, and six points; Scotland won the group with nine points.[17]

Israel's ten Euro 2020 qualifying matches in 2019 produced a mixed record in Group G, which also included Poland, Slovenia, Austria, Latvia, and North Macedonia. The results were: 1–1 with Slovenia, 4–2 over Austria at home, 3–0 away to Latvia, 0–4 away to Poland, 1–1 with North Macedonia, 2–3 away to Slovenia, 1–3 away to Austria, 3–1 over Latvia, 1–2 to Poland, and 0–1 away to North Macedonia.[18] Israel finished fifth with three wins, two draws, five losses, and 11 points.[18]

The 4–2 win over Austria on 24 March 2019 in Haifa was the campaign's brightest moment. Austria scored first, but Eran Zahavi equalized with a header in the 34th minute, scored again just before halftime, and completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute. Munas Dabbur added a fourth, and Eli Dasa supplied two assists.[19][20] The result was described as Israel's first victory over Austria in 20 years, and Israel's coach, Andreas Herzog, was himself Austrian.[19] Contemporary coverage also noted that Israel had conceded first in five of its first six official matches under Herzog but had lost only two of them.[20]

By the end of 2019, Israel had not reached a World Cup or European Championship finals during the period. The record nevertheless included two standout qualification campaigns: the Euro 2000 run to a playoff against Denmark and the unbeaten 2006 World Cup campaign that ended with Israel behind Switzerland on goal difference.[10][11]

Across Israel's World Cup qualifying campaigns from 1994 through 2022, a later statistical analysis calculated averages of 13 points, 14.6 goals scored, and 13.3 conceded per campaign, with a 46.75% success rate. It identified 2006 as the best campaign by points and success percentage and 1994 as the worst for goals conceded.[11]

Retrospective assessments often contrast celebrated individual results with Israel's recurring mid-table group finishes. One survey calculated an average European qualifying position of 3.35 and described the 1994 World Cup cycle as a low point followed by a Euro 1996 campaign that doubled both the points total and success percentage.[7] A separate World Cup analysis identified the unbeaten 2006 campaign as Israel's strongest by points and success rate.[11]

The political context is also central to accounts of the period. Israel's move into UEFA competition followed its 1974 expulsion from the Asian Football Confederation and subsequent movement among qualifying regions amid organized opposition to Israeli participation.[2] The 2018 Argentina cancellation occurred after the match's relocation to Jerusalem and against the background of a BDS campaign, although the precise causal chain remains a matter of political interpretation.[4]

The public reception of Abbas Suan's 2005 equalizer likewise extends beyond match statistics. Encyclopedia.com describes Suan as becoming a symbol of Jewish-Arab coexistence after the goal, a characterization of the event's public meaning rather than an independently measurable historical conclusion.[12]