SM
Man Utd vs. Chelsea: 1 day 3 hrs 21 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data
IN
Euro Champ Qualifying | Semi-Finals
Mar 21, 2024 at 7.45pm UK
Sammy Ofer Stadium
IN

Israel
1 - 4
Iceland

Zahavi (31' pen.)
Zahavi (73')
Revivo (73')
FT(HT: 1-2)
Gudmundsson (39', 83', 87'), Ingvi Traustason (42')

Preview: Israel vs. Iceland - prediction, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: Israel vs. Iceland - prediction, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Thursday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Israel and Iceland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Sports Mole

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

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.

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.

Israel Euro Champ Qualifying form:

Iceland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Iceland form (all competitions):



Team News

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.




body check tags ::

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


amp_article__539277 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2024-03-20 08:16:31:
html db last update - 2024-03-20 08:16:31 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html
Read more!
Share this article now:


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Recommended Next on SM
England to face Ireland in 2024-25 Nations League
Real Madrid 'planning blockbuster move' for £109m-rated German superstar
Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Manchester CityMan City97202091123
2Liverpool97111751222
3Arsenal95311710718
4Aston Villa95311611518
5Chelsea95221911817
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton94411612416
7Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest9441117416
8Tottenham HotspurSpurs94141810813
9Brentford94141818013
10Fulham93331212012
11Bournemouth93331111012
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle9333910-112
13West Ham UnitedWest Ham93241316-311
14Manchester UnitedMan Utd9324811-311
15Leicester CityLeicester92341317-49
16Everton92341016-69
17Crystal Palace9135611-56
18Ipswich TownIpswich9045920-114
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves90271225-132
20Southampton9018619-131
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Saturday's Premier League predictions including Newcastle vs. Arsenal

1

SP

Real Madrid 'planning blockbuster move' for £109m-rated German superstar

2

RM

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Atlanta Hawks - prediction, team news, form guide

NEW

3

NO

Preview: Katie Boulter vs. Diana Shnaider - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

NEW

4

PK

Saturday's La Liga predictions including Girona vs. Leganes

5

SL

Saturday's Bundesliga predictions including Borussia Dortmund vs. RB Leipzig

6

SB

Saturday's Championship predictions including Leeds vs. Plymouth

7

SC

Saturday's FA Cup predictions including Northampton vs. Kettering

8

SF

Preview: Arouca vs. Braga - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PA

Preview: Jasmine Paolini vs. Elena Rybakina - prediction, form, head-to-head

10

PJ


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .