Israel is almost there. Official member of UEFA since 1994 (after having participated in the 1994 World Cup qualifiers in the Europe zone by winning their only victory against the French team, just before the tragic France-Bulgaria), the Israeli selection failed in play-offs of the last two Euro. A year ago, the Skyblue and Whites were beaten 4-1 by Iceland in the semi-finals of their Final Four. In 2020, they had only given way to the end of a penalty shootout against Scotland (0-0, 5-3 TAB).
The national team of the Hebrew State is in full progress, evidenced by its accession to League A of the League of Nations last year. The Israelis lost 4-1 against the French team and then Italy but then held the Blues in check (0-0), on November 14 in Saint-Denis, before offering the Scalp of Belgium (1-0)! Last of the group, Israel will find the second division of the competition for the 2026-2027 edition.
Israel has followed up with the 2026 World Cup qualifiers but will have trouble playing the FIFA tournament for the second time in its history. The only participation of the Near East selection dates back to Mundial 70 in Mexico. Israel had played the Asia-Océania qualifiers and, after the refusal to play from North Korea, had defeated New Zealand twice to qualify. In his group at the World Cup, Israel had lost against Uruguay and Sweden before taking a point against Italy.
Israel and Italy in danger
The account We Global Football only gives Israel 0.12% of chance to finish at the top of his qualifying group and 3.44% to finish second. The team led by Daniel Peretz (the replacement goalkeeper of Bayern) began with a victory against Estonia (2-1) before losing against Norway (2-4), in two relocated matches in Debrecen (Hungary). Italy has just completed this hen I after its elimination from the League of Nations against Germany (4-5 in the cumulative). And the Nazionale is in great danger since it will start from the start of the team led by Erling Haaland on June 6.
Always according to the calculations of We Global FootballItaly has a 43% chance of qualifying directly for the 2026 World Cup, while Norway displays an amazing 56%! Israel will try to snatch a second qualifying place for European dams (four Final Four for as many tickets for the World Cup 26), but the mission seems impossible with these Italians and Norwegians expected to dominate this group. Estonia and Moldova are the other two opponents.
