UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying Group F

The qualifying draw took place in Warsaw on 7 February 2010, placing Croatia, Greece, Israel, Latvia, Malta, and Georgia together.[1] Israel was assigned to the third pot and had not yet appointed a national-team coach.[1] Croatia and Greece were regarded as the favorites in the group.[1] Under the qualifying format, the nine group winners and the best runner-up would advance directly to the tournament, while the remaining eight runners-up would contest playoffs for four additional places.[1]

Israel opened its campaign with a 3–1 victory over Malta, then drew 0–0 with Georgia before suffering back-to-back 2–1 defeats to Croatia and Greece within four days.[4][5] Those early losses left Israel with four points from four matches and coincided with the team dropping approximately 20 places in the FIFA rankings, reaching its lowest position since August 2006.[5] Israel Football Association adviser Mordechai Spiegler was candid about the situation: "The results are the most important thing and four points from four matches is not enough," though he expressed confidence that coach Luis Fernández's work would eventually bear fruit.[5]

Israel responded with three consecutive wins to keep its qualification hopes alive, but eventually fell to both Croatia and Greece again — results that effectively ended any realistic prospect of advancing.[4] On 2 September 2011, Greece beat Israel 1–0 at Bloomfield Stadium, with Sotiris Ninis scoring in the 60th minute.[6] Israel came close to equalizing when Tomer Hemed headed wide in the 57th minute, and its first shot on target arrived only in the 72nd minute via a Bibras Natcho free kick.[6] The defeat left Israel with only a theoretical qualification chance, with Greece on 17 points after seven matches and Israel on 13 after eight.[6]

Four days later, on 6 September 2011, Israel took a surprise lead away in Zagreb when Tomer Hemed scored in the 44th minute — his first goal for the national team.[7] Luka Modrić equalized in the 47th minute, Tel Ben Haim was sent off in the 51st, and Eduardo da Silva scored twice, in the 55th and 57th minutes, to complete a 3–1 Croatian victory.[7] The result formally ended Israel's qualification campaign, leaving it without a point from four matches against Croatia and Greece.[7]

The group's outcome was settled on the final matchday. Greece faced Georgia knowing that a draw would be sufficient to secure first place; Fernando Santos's side had gone unbeaten in 15 consecutive matches heading into the fixture.[2] Georgia took an unexpected lead through David Targamadze in the 19th minute, but Greece mounted a comeback, with Giorgos Fotakis equalizing in the 79th minute and Angelos Charisteas scoring the winner in the 85th for a 2–1 victory and direct qualification.[2] Croatia defeated Latvia 2–0 in the same round, with Eduardo scoring in the 66th minute and Mario Mandžukić in the 72nd, but finished second and entered the playoffs.[2]

Greece topped Group F with 24 points and qualified directly for UEFA Euro 2012.[3] Croatia finished second with 22 points and proceeded to the playoff round.[3] Israel ended the campaign third with 16 points from 10 matches: five wins, one draw, and four losses.[3] Latvia, Georgia, and Malta finished below Israel.[3] Israel's failure to take any points from its four matches against the group's top two sides proved decisive in preventing a higher finish.[3] Coach Luis Fernández was dismissed at the end of the campaign.[4]

Two minor inconsistencies appear in the available sources. The draw coverage refers to Israel's section as "Group 6," while the final-round reporting labels it "Group F"; both designations describe the same six participants.[2][1] Separately, the final-round match report presents score-line displays for Georgia–Greece and Croatia–Latvia that do not align straightforwardly with the narrative accounts in the same article, and those figures should be treated with caution pending verification against an additional source.[2]

Later Israeli retrospectives emphasized the contrast between Israel's results against the teams below it and its record against the group leaders. A Sport1 review noted that Israel did not drop points to the teams that finished below it but failed to earn any point against Greece or Croatia, describing that record as the campaign's central failure.[3] A later ONE retrospective similarly emphasized the three consecutive wins that briefly revived qualification hopes before renewed defeats to Croatia and Greece ended them.[4]