Israel and Iceland go head to head in a Euro 2024 qualification playoff semi-final in Path B at the Szusza Ferenc Stadion in Budapest on Thursday.
Seeking to join Belgium, Slovakia and Romania in Group E of the final tournament, the victors of this single-leg contest will face either Bosnia-Herzegovina or Ukraine in a playoff final for a place in Germany.
Match preview
© Reuters
Israel narrowly missed out on an automatic qualification spot for Euro 2024 after winning only four of their 10 Group I matches to finish in third place, just two points behind Switzerland in second.
Nevertheless, Alon Hazan's side have been given a second bite of the cherry to reach their first-ever European Championships courtesy of winning their UEFA Nations League group at the end of last year.
The Sky Blue and Whites have subsequently been rewarded with a 'home' semi-final with Iceland, but due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with Palestine, Thursday's contest will take place at a neutral venue in Hungary, a country where their last two home qualifiers were held at the back end of 2023.
Israel, ranked 75th in the world by FIFA, will be keen to avoid a repeat of their heartbreaking exit at this stage of Euros qualifying in 2020 when they suffered a penalty-shootout defeat to Scotland following a goalless draw, with star man Eran Zahavi, of all players, missing the only spot kick at Hampden Park.
However, there is reason for Israel to be optimistic of success on Thursday as they have never lost against Iceland in five previous meetings, winning two and drawing three.
© Reuters
Iceland have scraped through to the playoff semi-final stage by the finest of margins despite finishing fourth and 12 points behind the top two in Group J.
Strakarnir okkar also failed to win any of their UEFA Nations League fixtures, drawing all four to coincidently finish second behind Israel, but they managed to edge out Erling Haaland's Norway on goal difference to reach to Euros playoffs.
Age Hareide, who extended his contract in January, has spent almost a year in charge of Iceland and has insisted that his "talented and ambitious" senior side "are going to go to Germany".
Iceland's only previous appearance at the European Championships was in 2016 when they surprisingly progressed to the quarter-finals, memorably beating England in the process.
The Nordic island nation, ranked 73rd in the world by FIFA, enter Thursday's contest in high spirits after beating both Guatemala and Honduras without reply away from home in their last two fixtures in January.
Team News
© Reuters
A notable absentee from Israel's squad is Tottenham Hotspur winger Manor Solomon who is still recovering from a long-term knee injury.
Hazan has handed Maccabi Tel Aviv's Ido Shahar and Hapoel Haifa's Tomer Yosefi their first senior call-ups and both midfielders will be pushing to feature in some capacity on Thursday.
Arsenal-linked Oscar Gloukh will be looking to force his way into the first XI, while Eran Zahavi – Israel's all-time leading scorer with 34 goals – is set to lead the line.
As for Iceland, their all-time record scorer Gylfi Sigurdsson, who recently returned to his homeland to sign for Valur, has expressed "huge disappointment" after being omitted from Hareide's 24-man squad.
Hakon Valdimarsson started both of Iceland's friendlies in January shortly before joining Brentford in the winter transfer window, and the 22-year-old goalkeeper is expected to continue between the sticks.
Andri Gudjohnsen, the son of former Chelsea and Barcelona forward Eidur Gudjohnsen, has contributed to four goals (three goals and one assist) in his last six international appearances and is expected to start in attack alongside either Brynjolfur Willumsson or Alfred Finnbogason.
Israel possible starting lineup:
Glazer; Dasa, Vitor, Goldberg, Revivo; Dor Peretz, Fani; Khalaili, Gloukh, Turgeman; Zahavi
Iceland possible starting lineup:
Valdimarsson; Palsson, Iganson, Hermannsson, Thorarinsson; Thorsteinsson, Gudmundsson, Johannesson, A. Sigurdsson; Willumsson, Gudjohnsen
We say: Israel 1-1 Iceland (a.e.t - Iceland to win on penalties)
The last two meetings between these two teams in the UEFA Nations League finished as 2-2 draws and another closely-fought contest could be in store on Thursday, one that may even go beyond the 90 minutes.
This fixture could go either way, with both nations possessing key players who ply their trade in a number of respected European leagues, but we are backing Iceland to come on top on this occasion in a nail-biting penalty shootout.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Spain
Scotland
Norway
Georgia
Cyprus
France
Netherlands
Greece
Rep. Ireland
Gibraltar
England
Italy
Ukraine
N. Macedonia
Malta
Turkey
Croatia
Wales
Armenia
Latvia
Albania
Czech Republic
Poland
Moldova
Faroe Islands
Belgium
Austria
Sweden
Azerbaijan
Estonia
Hungary
Serbia
Montenegro
Lithuania
Bulgaria
Denmark
Slovenia
Finland
Kazakhstan
N. Ireland
San Marino
Romania
Switzerland
Israel
Belarus
Kosovo
Andorra
Portugal
Slovakia
Luxembourg
Iceland
Bosnia H'vina
Liechtenstein
