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Israel national football team

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 Israel
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)The Blue and Whites
AssociationIsrael Football Association (IFA)
ConfederationUEFA (Europe) (1991–present)
OFC (Oceania) (1974–1991)
AFC (Asia) (1954–1974)
Head coachLuis Fernández
CaptainYossi Benayoun
Most capsArik Benado (94)
Top scorerMordechai Spiegler (33)
Home stadiumRamat Gan Stadium
FIFA codeISR
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current33
Highest15 (November 2008)
Lowest71 (September 1993)
First international
Eretz Yisrael:
 Egypt 7–1 Eretz Yisrael Mandatory Palestine
(Cairo, Egypt; 16 March 1934)
Israel:
 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 Eretz Yisrael Mandatory Palestine
(Cairo, Egypt; 16 March 1934)
 Germany 7–1 Israel 
(Kaiserslautern, Germany; 12 February 2002)
World Cup
Appearances1 (first in 1970)
Best resultRound 1, 1970
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances4 (first in 1956)
Best resultWinners, 1964

The Israel national football team (Hebrew: נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל, Nivkheret Yisra'el BeKaduregel) is the national football team of Israel, controlled by the Israel Football Association (IFA).

Israel National Football is the direct successor of the Eretz Yisrael National Team during British Mandate. Israel has competed in FIFA World Cup qualifiers in three different confederations, competing in the Asian Football Confederation and the Oceania Football Confederation before settling in Europe as a member of the Union of European Football Associations in 1994.

The Israeli side qualified for their only FIFA World Cup to date in 1970. Israel also hosted and won the Asian Cup in 1964 and was finalist in 1956 and 1960.

History

Main article: History of the Israel national football team

Football has a long and rich tradition in Israel. The game was originally introduced during the time of the Ottoman Empire monarchy. The Eretz Yisrael FA was formed in 1928 and joined FIFA in the same year, but at the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs and clubs representing British policemen or soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War One and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. The qualification matches for the 1934 World Cup were contested by a Eretz Yisrael team made up exclusively of Jewish and British players.

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. The game was won by the USA 1-3, and in the 20th minute of the game Shmuel Ben-Dror scored the first goal after the creation of the State of Israel.

Asian Football Confederation membership

Main article: Sports and politics § Association football

Israel initially competed in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), although due to the Arab-Israeli conflict, many Asian states often refused to compete against Israel. This meant that they mainly competed in European (UEFA) or Oceanian (OFC) World Cup qualifying tournaments. Israel hosted and won the Asian Cup 1964. In 1968, Israel went to their first Olympic Games and lost to Bulgaria in the quarterfinals. In 1970, Israel qualified for their first and only 1970 FIFA 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 quarterfinals again, this time against Brazil. In 1972 and 1977 they attempted World Cup qualification as part of Asia, which both times ended in failure.

File:Israel 1970.jpg
Israeli team in 1970 FIFA World Cup

Years in exile

In 1974, Israel was expelled from AFC. 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 Football Confederation membership

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 were beaten by Denmark.

In their 2006 World Cup qualifying group, Israel finished third, behind France, and tied on points with Switzerland, which also remained unbeaten in 10 matches after four wins and six draws. The Swiss had a better goal difference, though, and advanced to the qualification play-off. 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 the Oceania Football Confederation to the Asian Football Federation.

Stadium

Main article: Ramat Gan Stadium
Ramat Gan Stadium

The Israel national football team's home stadium is the national stadium in Ramat Gan. The stadium seats 41,583 and is the only stadium in Israel which is in a world-class standard. The stadium is mixed-use, fit for athletic competitions alongside its more popular usage as a football stadium when it hosts Israel international football matches and the UEFA Champions League games of Maccabi Tel Aviv and Maccabi Haifa in the 2004–05 and 2009–10 seasons, respectively.

There are current plans to replace Ramat Gan Stadium with one that has a capacity of 60,000 people. The new stadium will cost more than US$100 million and with construction expected to start in late 2011 and finish in early 2015.

Competition history

FIFA World Cup record

FIFA World Cup record FIFA World Cup Qualification record
Year Round Position Pld W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Uruguay 1930 Did Not Enter – – – – – –
Italy 1934 Did Not Qualify
(Before 1948, this team was participating as Eretz Yisrael Team) 		2 0 0 2 2 11
France 1938 2 0 0 2 1 4
Brazil 1950 2 0 0 2 2 11
Switzerland 1954 4 0 0 4 0 5
Sweden 1958 2 0 0 2 0 4
Chile 1962 6 3 1 2 13 14
England 1966 4 0 0 4 1 12
Mexico 1970 Group Stage 12th 3 0 2 1 1 3 4 3 1 0 8 1
West Germany 1974 Did Not Qualify 6 4 1 1 12 2
Argentina 1978 4 2 1 1 5 3
Spain 1982 8 1 3 4 6 10
Mexico 1986 6 3 1 2 17 6
Italy 1990 6 1 4 1 5 5
United States 1994 10 1 3 6 10 27
France 1998 8 4 1 3 9 7
South Korea Japan 2002 8 3 3 2 11 7
Germany 2006 10 4 6 0 15 10
South Africa 2010 10 4 4 2 20 10
Brazil 2014 To Be Determined
Russia 2018
Qatar 2022
Total Group Stage 1/19 3 0 2 1 1 3 102 33 29 40 137 149

AFC Asian Cup record

Year Round GP W D L GS GA
Hong Kong 1956 Runner up 3 2 0 1 6 5
South Korea 1960 Runner up 3 2 0 1 6 4
Israel 1964 Champions 3 3 0 0 5 1
Iran 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 1994

UEFA European Football Championship record

Year Round GP W D L GF GA
England 1996 Did Not Qualify – – – – – –
Belgium Netherlands 2000 – – – – – –
Portugal 2004 – – – – – –
Austria Switzerland 2008 – – – – – –
Poland Ukraine 2012 To Be Determined – – – – – –
France 2016 – – – – – –

UEFA Euro 2012

UEFA Euro 2012 qualification – Group F

Main article: UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Template:UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying Group F

Fixtures

Group F fixtures were to be finalised at a meeting between the participants in Athens, Greece on 7 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.[1]

Israel 3 – 1 Malta
Benayoun 7', 64' (pen.), 75' Report Pace 38'
Attendance: 17,365
Georgia 0 – 0 Israel
Report
Attendance: 45,000
Israel 1 – 2 Croatia
Shechter 81' Report Kranjčar 36' (pen.), 41'
Attendance: 33,243
Greece 2 – 1 Israel
Salpigidis 22'
Karagounis 63' (pen.)		 Report Spiropoulos 59' (o.g.)
Israel 2 – 1 Latvia
Barda 16'
Kayal 81'		 Report Gorkšs 62'
Israel 1 – 0 Georgia
Ben Haim 59' Report
Attendance: 13,500
Latvia 1 - 2 Israel
Cauņa 60' (pen.) Report Benayoun 19'
Ben Haim 42' (pen.)
Attendance: 6,130
Referee: Alan Kelly (Ireland)
Israel v Greece
Croatia v Israel
Malta v Israel

Friendly matches

Israel's score is written first.

Opponents Venue Date Result
 Romania Stadionul Dan Păltinişanu, Timişoara, Romania 3 March 2010 2–0
 Uruguay Estadio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay 26 May 2010 1–4
 Chile Estadio Collao, Concepción, Chile 30 May 2010 0–3
 Iceland Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel 17 November 2010 3–2
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv Ramat Gan Stadium, Ramat Gan, Israel 26 January 2011 3–2
 Serbia Bloomfield Stadium, Tel Aviv, Israel 9 February 2011 0–2
 Ukraine Israel
 Ukraine Ukraine

Coaching staff

As of 1 June 2011
Position Name Nationality
Manager Luis Fernández  French
Assistant manager Tal Banin  Israel
Goalkeeper coach Aleksandr Uvaro  Israel
Fitness coach Ezekiel Nahsoni  Israel
Doctor Mark Rosnovsky  Israel
Kinesiotherapy Morris Ckeragela  Israel
Kinesiotherapy Edward Ckerabcub  Israel
Kinesiotherapy Samuel Rosenzweig  Israel
Managing Director Shthocinske  Israel

Current squad

The following players were named for the Euro 2012 Qualification against Latvia on June 4, 2011. Caps and goals updated as June 5, 2011.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Dudu Aouate (1977-10-17) October 17, 1977 (age 46) 60 0 Spain Mallorca
18 1GK Guy Haimov (1986-03-09) March 9, 1986 (age 38) 0 0 Israel Ironi Kiryat Shmona
23 1GK David Goresh (1980-02-01) February 1, 1980 (age 44) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Acre
3 2DF Tal Ben Haim (1982-03-31) March 31, 1982 (age 42) 61 1 England Portsmouth
5 2DF Rami Gershon (1988-08-12) August 12, 1988 (age 36) 6 0 Belgium Kortrijk
12 2DF Dekel Keinan (1984-09-15) September 15, 1984 (age 40) 17 0 Wales Cardiff City
12 2DF Taleb Twatiha (1992-06-21) June 21, 1992 (age 32) 1 0 Israel Maccabi Haifa
14 2DF Yoav Ziv (1981-03-16) March 16, 1981 (age 43) 28 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
21 2DF Itzik Cohen (1983-04-22) April 22, 1983 (age 41) 2 0 Israel Hapoel Acre
2 2DF Yuval Spungin (1987-04-03) April 3, 1987 (age 37) 12 0 Cyprus Omonia
4 3MF Gal Alberman (1983-04-17) April 17, 1983 (age 41) 27 1 Israel Maccabi Tel-Aviv
6 3MF Bibras Natkho (1988-02-18) February 18, 1988 (age 36) 10 0 Russia Rubin Kazan
8 3MF Almog Cohen (1988-09-01) September 1, 1988 (age 36) 8 0 Germany Nürnberg
9 3MF Lior Rafaelov (1986-04-26) April 26, 1986 (age 38) 11 2 Israel Maccabi Haifa
11 3MF Maor Buzaglo (1988-01-14) January 14, 1988 (age 36) 14 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv
15 3MF Yossi Benayoun(C) (1980-05-05) May 5, 1980 (age 44) 82 24 England Chelsea
7 3MF Eyal Golasa (1991-10-07) October 7, 1991 (age 32) 5 0 Israel Maccabi Haifa
16 3MF Eran Zahavi (1987-07-25) July 25, 1987 (age 37) 6 0 Italy Palermo
3MF Maor Melikson (1984-10-30) October 30, 1984 (age 39) 1 0 Poland Wisła Kraków
17 4FW Ben Sahar (1989-08-10) August 10, 1989 (age 35) 23 5 Spain Espanyol
20 4FW Tal Ben Haim (1989-08-05) August 5, 1989 (age 35) 2 1 Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva
22 3MF Omer Damari (1989-03-21) March 21, 1989 (age 35) 2 2 Israel Maccabi Petah Tikva
10 4FW Tomer Hemed (1987-05-02) May 2, 1987 (age 37) 1 0 Israel Maccabi Haifa

UEFA Euro 2012 call-ups

The following players have also been called up to the Israeli squad for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying tournament, or in the past year.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Ohad Levita (1986-02-17) February 17, 1986 (age 38) 0 0 Netherlands RKC Waalwijk v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
DF Oshri Roash (1988-07-25) July 25, 1988 (age 36) 0 0 Israel Hapoel Haifa v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
DF Dani Bondar (1987-02-07) February 7, 1987 (age 37) 2 0 Russia Volga Nizhny Novgorod v.  Georgia (March 29, 2011)
DF Orel Dgani (1989-01-08) January 8, 1989 (age 35) 1 0 Israel Maccabi Netanya v.  Iceland (November 17, 2010)
DF Rahamim Tzukul (1988-05-08) May 8, 1988 (age 36) 0 0 Israel Ashdod v.  Iceland (November 17, 2010)
MF Avihai Yadin (1986-10-26) October 26, 1986 (age 37) 6 0 Israel Hapoel Tel Aviv v.  Georgia (September 7, 2010)
MF Kobi Dajani (1984-11-05) November 5, 1984 (age 39) 1 0 Israel Maccabi Netanya v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
MF Beram Kayal (1988-05-02) May 2, 1988 (age 36) 18 1 Scotland Celtic v.  Georgia (March 29, 2011)
MF Gil Vermouth (1985-08-05) August 5, 1985 (age 39) 14 0 Germany Kaiserslautern v.  Iceland (September 7, 2010)
FW Dudu Biton (1988-03-01) March 1, 1988 (age 36) 0 0 Belgium Charleroi v.  Georgia (March 29, 2011)
FW Roberto Colautti (1982-04-24) April 24, 1982 (age 42) 21 6 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
FW Amit Ben Shushan (1985-03-20) March 20, 1985 (age 39) 12 2 Israel Beitar Jerusalem v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
FW Itay Shechter (1987-02-22) February 22, 1987 (age 37) 9 2 Germany Kaiserslautern v.  Greece (October 12, 2010)
FW Shlomi Arbeitman (1985-05-14) May 14, 1985 (age 39) 9 3 Belgium Gent v.  Georgia (September 7, 2010)
FW Elyaniv Barda (1981-12-15) December 15, 1981 (age 42) 27 12 Belgium Racing Genk v.  Georgia (March 29, 2011)
FW Yuval Avidor (1986-10-19) October 19, 1986 (age 37) 0 0 Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv v.  Georgia (September 7, 2010)

Player history

Main article: Israel national football team records
  Still active national team players are highlighted

Managers

Manager Years as manager Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF GA Win%[4]
Austria Egon Pollack 1948 1 0 0 1 0 1 000.00
Austria Israel Lajos Hess 1949 3 1 0 2 5 12 033.33
Hungary Vladislav Scali 1950 2 1 0 1 7 4 050.00
Israel Jerry Beit haLevi 1953–1954 5 0 0 5 1 7 000.00
England Jack Gibbons 1956 5 2 0 3 7 12 040.00
Israel Jerry Beit haLevi 1957 1 0 0 1 4 5 000.00
Israel Moshe Varon 1958 5 2 0 3 6 7 040.00
Hungary Gyula Mándi 1959–1963 31 12 7 12 49 63 038.71
England George Ainsley 1963–1964 3 2 0 1 4 2 066.67
Israel Yosef Merimovich 1964 1 0 0 1 0 4 000.00
Hungary Gyula Mándi 1964 3 3 0 0 5 1 100.00
Israel Yosef Merimovich 1964–1965 3 1 0 2 2 2 033.33
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Milovan Ćirić 1965–1968 25 8 2 15 43 45 032.00
Israel Emmanuel Scheffer 1968–1970 24 8 8 8 44 34 033.33
Romania Israel Edmond Schmilovich 1970–1973 19 10 4 5 27 13 052.63
Israel David Schweitzer 1973–1977 36 17 11 8 67 34 047.22
Israel Emmanuel Scheffer 1978–1979 13 5 4 4 17 15 038.46
England Jack Mansell 1980–1981 10 2 3 5 8 12 020.00
Israel Yosef Merimovich 1983–1986 27 8 9 10 39 36 029.63
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miljenko Mihić 1986–1988 20 4 5 11 27 35 020.00
Israel Itzhak Schneor
Israel Ya'akov Grundman 		1988–1992 18 5 5 8 21 30 027.78
Israel Shlomo Scharf 1992–2000 82 31 18 33 131 118 037.80
Denmark Richard Møller Nielsen 2000–2002 20 7 4 9 29 33 035.00
Israel Avram Grant 2002–2006 33 14 13 6 55 37 042.42
Israel Dror Kashtan 2006–2010 19 10 4 5 27 19 052.63
Israel Eli Ohana (caretaker) 2010 1 1 0 0 2 0 100.00
France Luis Fernández 2010 – present 12 6 1 5 9 13 050.00

Honours

Group stage (1): 1970
Winners (1): 1964
Runners-up (2): 1956, 1960

See also

References

  1. ^ "Fixtures draw completes qualifying schedule". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  2. ^ a b "National Team Appearances list". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  3. ^ a b "National Team Goalscorers list". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  4. ^ Win% is rounded to two decimal places
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