Israel national football team

Israel

Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)	The Blue and Whites
Association	Israel Football Association (IFA)
Confederation	UEFA (Europe) (1994–present) OFC (Oceania) (1974–1991) AFC (Asia) (1954–1974)
Head coach	Luis Fernández
Captain	Yossi Benayoun
Most caps	Arik Benado (95)
Top scorer	Mordechai Spiegler (32)
Home stadium	Ramat Gan Stadium
FIFA code	ISR
First colours Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current	24
Highest	15 (November 2008)
Lowest	71 (September 1993)
First international
United States 3 – 1 Israel (New York, United States; 26 September 1948)
Biggest win
Israel 9 – 0 Chinese Taipei (Wellington, New Zealand; 23 March 1988)
Biggest defeat
Egypt 7 – 1 Palestine (Cairo, Egypt; 16 March 1934)
World Cup
Appearances	1 (first in 1970)
Best result	Round 1, 1970
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances	4 (first in 1956)
Best result	Winners, 1964

The Israeli national football team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל) is the national football team of the State of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association (IFA).

The Israel Football Association was founded under the name Palestine Football Association (PFA) in 1928, 20 years before the establishment of the state of Israel at the time of the British Mandate of Palestine. The PFA was accepted as a full member of FIFA in 1929. The PFA first dealt with local leagues, but later also managed the national team that was created to participate in the World Cup qualifications (participating in 1934 and 1938 as the Palestine/Eretz Yisrael national team). Israel has taken part in three different continents: Asia, Europe and Oceania in the Football World Cup qualifiers, before settling in Europe as a member of UEFA in 1994.

The Israeli side qualified for their only FIFA World Cup to date in 1970.

History

Before independence

Palestine played its first official game in 1934 in the World Cup qualifiers, losing 7–1 to Egypt. The team's first goal ever was scored by Avraham Nudelmann. Upon the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the IFA became the official association of the new state. The Israel national team's first game as an independent nation was on September 26, 1948, against the United States (result: 3–1 to the USA).

Asian history

Israel initially competed in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), although due to their ongoing geopolitical situation, many Asian nations often refused to compete against Israel. This meant that they mainly competed in European (UEFA) or Oceanian (OFC) World Cup qualifying tournaments. In 1964, Israel hosted and won the Asian Nations Cup. In 1968, Israel went to their first Olympic Games and lost to Bulgaria in the quarter-finals. In 1970, Israel qualified for their first and only World Cup, via Oceania, but only earned two points after draws with Sweden and finalist Italy and a loss to Uruguay.

In 1976, Israel went to their second Olympic Games and lost in the quarter-finals again, this time against Brazil. In 1972 and 1977 they attempted World Cup qualification as part of Asia, which both times ended in failure.

Years in exile

In 1974, Israel was expelled from AFC as their position within it became untenable. During the 1980s, they played their majority of matches against European teams, and competed in the European leg of qualification for the 1982 World Cup. For the next two tournaments, they entered the OFC's qualification groups and in 1989, Israel made it to the playoffs of the 1990 World Cup in Italy to play against Colombia, who qualified from the South American group, but lost (1–0, 0–0).

European history

In 1991, Israeli clubs began participating in European club competitions and Israel returned to the European leg of World Cup qualifying in 1992, notably winning 3–2 in Paris against France in 1993 and 5–0 against Austria in the late 1990s. In 1994, Israel received full UEFA membership, 20 years since they had left Asia. Within Europe, Israel have been a relatively minor nation, though with some successes. In 1999, Israel made it to the playoffs of Euro 2000, but was beaten by Denmark.

In 2006 World Cup qualifying, Israel finished third in European zone Group Four, behind France and Switzerland, respectively, despite being unbeaten in their 10 matches after four wins and six draws, and failed to qualify for the finals. Coach Avram Grant announced his resignation on 26 October 2005. After the end of his contract, he was succeeded by Dror Kashtan. In UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying, Israel finished fourth in Group E, behind Croatia, Russia, and England, respectively. The 4–3 home loss to Croatia was the first loss after 13 consecutive official games and nine home games without a loss. Although Israel failed to qualify, they advanced in the world ranking, which led Israel to Pot 2 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification draw. The continued presence of the Israeli Football Association in UEFA was a precedent cited by Australia to justify its transfer from Oceania to the Asian Football Federation.

2010 FIFA World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2

Template:2010 FIFA World Cup qualification - UEFA Group 2 Israel did not qualified for the 2010 World Cup.

UEFA Euro 2012

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification – Group F

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Fixtures

Group F fixtures were to be finalised at a meeting between the participants in Athens, Greece on 7th March 2010. After that meeting proved inconclusive, the fixture list was determined by a random draw at the XXXIV Ordinary UEFA Congress in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 25 March.

3 September 2010

Israel	v	Malta

Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan

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7 September 2010

Georgia	v	Israel

Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi

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8 October 2010

Israel	v	Croatia

Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan

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12 October 2010

Greece	v	Israel

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26 March 2011

Israel	v	Latvia

Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan

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29 March 2011

Israel	v	Georgia

Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan

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4 June 2011

Latvia	v	Israel

Skonto Stadium, Riga

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2 September 2011

Israel	v	Greece

Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan

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6 September 2011

Croatia	v	Israel

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11 October 2011

Malta	v	Israel

Ta'Qali Stadium, Ta'Qali

Current squad

The following players were named for the Friendly Match against Romania on March 3, 2010. Caps and goals correct as of March 3, 2010

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
Goalkeepers
	1GK	Dudu Aouate	(1977-10-17) October 17, 1977	49	0	Mallorca
	1GK	Nir Davidovich	(1976-12-17) December 17, 1976	51	0	Maccabi Haifa
Defenders
	2DF	Dedi Ben Dayan	(1978-11-22) November 22, 1978	23	1	Hapoel Tel Aviv
	2DF	Tal Ben Haim	(1982-03-31) March 31, 1982	54	0	Portsmouth
	2DF	Dekel Keinan	(1984-09-15) September 15, 1984	14	0	Maccabi Haifa
	2DF	Klemi Saban	(1980-02-17) February 17, 1980	23	1	Maccabi Netanya
	2DF	Yoav Ziv	(1981-03-16) March 16, 1981	24	0	Lokeren
	2DF	Avi Strool	(1980-09-18) September 18, 1980	14	0	Lokeren
	2DF	Dean Mori	(1988-11-08) November 8, 1988	2	0	Bnei Yehuda
	2DF	Eyal Meshumar	(1983-08-10) August 10, 1983	4	0	Maccabi Haifa
	2DF	Ronny Gafney	(1980-03-11) March 11, 1980	2	0	Maccabi Tel Aviv
Midfielders
	3MF	Tamir Cohen	(1984-05-04) May 4, 1984	16	0	Bolton Wanderers
	3MF	Biram Kayal	(1988-05-02) May 2, 1988	13	0	Maccabi Haifa
	3MF	Bibras Natkho	(1988-02-18) February 18, 1988	1	0	Rubin Kazan
	3MF	Yossi Benayoun	(1980-05-05) May 5, 1980	78	20	Liverpool
	3MF	Gil Vermuth	(1985-08-05) August 5, 1985	4	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
	3MF	Avihai Yadin	(1986-10-26) October 26, 1986	4	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
Forwards
	4FW	Elyaniv Barda	(1981-12-15) December 15, 1981	20	11	Racing Genk
	4FW	Itay Shechter	(1987-02-22) February 22, 1987	4	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
	4FW	Roberto Colautti	(1982-05-24) May 24, 1982	17	6	Borussia Mönchengladbach
	4FW	Eli Zizov	19 (1991-01-30) January 30, 1991	5	2	Braga
	4FW	Shlomi Arbeitman	(1985-05-14) May 14, 1985	6	3	Maccabi Haifa

Recent call-ups

The following players have been called recently to Israel squad.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	1GK	Ohad Levita	(1986-02-17) February 17, 1986	0	0	RKC Waalwijk
	1GK	Liran Strauber	(1974-08-20) August 20, 1974	8	0	Maccabi Tel Aviv
	2DF	Rami Gershon	(1988-08-12) August 12, 1988	0	0	Standard Liège
	2DF	Ze'ev Haimovich	(1983-04-07) April 7, 1983	1	0	Terek Grozny
	3MF	Gai Assulin	(1991-04-09) April 9, 1991	1	0	Barcelona Atlètic
	3MF	Eyal Golasa	(1991-10-07) October 7, 1991	0	0	Maccabi Haifa
	3MF	Yaniv Katan	(1981-01-27) January 27, 1981	31	5	Maccabi Haifa
	3MF	Gal Alberman	(1983-04-17) April 17, 1983	26	1	Borussia Mönchengladbach
	3MF	Aviram Baruchyan	(1985-03-20) March 20, 1985	10	2	Beitar Jerusalem
	4FW	Eliran Atar	(1987-02-17) February 17, 1987	0	0	Bnei Yehuda
	4FW	Ben Sahar	(1989-08-10) August 10, 1989	18	5	Espanyol
	4FW	Pini Balili	(1979-06-18) June 18, 1979	29	7	Antalyaspor
	4FW	Barak Yitzhaki	(1984-09-25) September 25, 1984	11	1	Beitar Jerusalem

Competition history

FIFA World Cup record

File:Israel 1970.jpg

Israeli team in 1970 FIFA World Cup

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did not enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1970	Round 1	13	3	0	2	1	1	3
1974	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1990	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2006	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2010	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2014		-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	1/18		3	0	2	1	1	3

Asian Cup record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1956	Runner up	3	2	0	1	6	5
1960	Runner up	3	2	0	1	6	4
1964	Champions	3	3	0	0	5	1
1968	Third place	4	2	0	2	11	5
Total	1 Title	13	9	0	4	28	15

Israel did not compete in a regional competition between the years 1968 and 1996

European Championship record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1996	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2000	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2004	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2008	Did not qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
2012		-	-	-	-	-	-

Player history

Main article: Israel national football team records

Most capped players

#	Name	Caps
1	Arik Benado	95
2	Alon Harazi	90
3	Amir Schelach	85
4	Mordechai Spiegler	83
5	Nir Klinger	83
6	Eyal Berkovic	82
7	Avi Nimni	80

Top scorers

#	Name	Goals
1	Mordechai Spiegler	32
2	Yehoshua Feigenbaum	24
3	Ronen Harazi	23
4	Nahum Stelmach	22
5	Yossi Benayoun	20
6	Yehoshua Glazer	18
	Giora Spiegel	18
8	Alon Mizrahi	17
	Eli Ohana	17

Honours

• FIFA World Cup

Group stage (1): 1970

• AFC Asian Cup

Winners (1): 1964

Finalists (2): 1956, 1960

Managers

Manadate of Eretz Yisrael \ Palestine managers

Manager	Palestine career	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %
Shimon Ratner	1934	2	0	0	2	2	11	00.0%
Egon Pollack	1938	2	0	0	2	1	4	00.0%
Arthur Baar	1940	1	1	0	0	5	1	100.0%

Israel managers

Manager	Israel career	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Win %
Egon Pollack	1948	1	0	0	0	0	1	00.0%
Lajos Hess	1949	3	1	0	2	5	12	33.3%
Vladislav Scali	1950	2	1	0	1	7	4	50.0%
Jerry Beit haLevi	1953 – 1954	5	0	0	5	1	7	00.0%
Jack Gibbons	1956	5	2	0	3	7	12	40.0%
Jerry Beit haLevi	1957	1	0	0	1	4	5	00.0%
Moshe Varon	1958	5	2	0	3	6	7	40.0%
Gyula Mándi	1959 – 1963	31	12	7	12	49	63	50.0%
George Ainsley	1963 – 1964	3	2	0	1	4	2	66.7%
Yosef Mirmovich	1964	1	0	0	0	0	4	00.0%
Gyula Mándi	1964	3	3	0	0	5	1	100.0%
Yosef Mirmovich	1964 – 1965	3	1	0	2	2	2	33.3%
Milovan Ćirić	1965 – 1968	25	8	2	15	43	45	36.0%
Emmanuel Scheffer	1968 – 1970	24	8	8	8	44	34	50.0%
Edmond Schmilovich	1970 – 1973	19	10	4	5	27	13	63.2%
David Schweitzer	1973 – 1977	36	17	11	8	67	34	62.5%
Emmanuel Scheffer	1978 – 1979	13	5	4	4	17	15	53.8%
Jack Mansell	1980 – 1981	10	2	3	5	8	12	35.0%
Yosef Mirmovich	1983 – 1986	27	8	9	10	39	36	46.3%
Miljenko Mihić	1986 – 1988	20	4	5	11	27	35	32.5%
Itzhak Schneor Ya'akov Grundman	1988 – 1992	18	5	5	8	21	30	32.5%
Shlomo Scharf	1992 – 1999	82	31	18	33	131	118	48.2%
Richard Møller Nielsen	2000 – 2002	20	7	4	9	29	33	45.0%
Avram Grant	2002 – 2006	33	14	13	6	55	37	42.4%
Dror Kashtan	2006 – 2010	19	10	4	5	27	19	52.6%
Eli Ohana (caretaker)	2010	1	1	0	0	2	0	100%
Luis Fernández	2010 – present	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

References

External links

• The Israel Football Association (official)
• RSSSF – List of "A" Games
• RSSSF – List of Official Games