Israel's national team is the direct successor of the Mandatory Palestine national team, which played five internationals in 1934–1940, and was managed by the Palestine Football Association. The Israel Football Association is a full member of the European Confederation UEFA since 1994.
Football has a long tradition in Israel. The game was originally introduced during the time of the Ottoman Empire. The Palestinian Football Association was formed in August 1928, and joined FIFA in June 1929, but at the time the association was made up of Arab clubs, Jewish clubs, and clubs representing British policemen and soldiers serving in the region during the British Mandate rule that spanned the period between World War I and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The Mandatory Palestine national football team made its debut against Cairo (Egypt) in 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, losing 0–5 in Cairo, Egypt. The team played five international matches, including a friendly match against Lebanon that Palestine won 1–5; until the British Mandate for Palestine national team was dissolved. During those five games, the national team fielded only Jewish players. Three anthems were played before each match: the British "God Save the King", the Jewish (and future Israeli) "Hatikvah", and the opposing team's anthem.[4]
In 1948 the team became, officially, the national football team of (the State of) Israel.[5] The Israel national team's first match as an independent nation was on 26 September 1948, against the US Olympic Team. The game was won by the US 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.
Israel was one of the founding members of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) following its own independence in 1948 (prior to that it played under the banner of the "British Mandate of Palestine").[6] After the 1974 Asian Games in Iran, and Israel's 0–1 tense loss to Iran in the finals,[7]Kuwait and other Muslim and Arab countries refused to play them. Following this, Israel were expelled from the confederation and spent a few years trying to qualify from such continental bodies as the OFC (Oceania), before eventually joining UEFA (Europe) officially.[8]
In 1969, Israel qualified for its first and only FIFA World Cup, via Asia/Oceania. Israel earned two points after a 1–1 draw with Sweden, a 0–0 draw with eventual finalist Italy, and a 0–2 loss to Uruguay. The goal against Sweden, scored by Mordechai Spiegler, is Israel's only FIFA World Cup goal to date.
In 1974, Israel was excluded from AFC competitions, as a result of a proposal by Kuwait (as other Muslim and Arab countries refused to play against Israel), that was adopted by a vote of 17 to 13 with 6 abstentions.[9][8] The vote coincided with the 1974 Asian Games, where the football competition was marred by the refusal of both North Korea[10] and Kuwait to play second-round matches against Israel.
In 1976, Israel went to its second Olympic Games and lost in the quarterfinals again, this time against Brazil. In 1973 and 1977, Israel participated in the World Cup qualification tournament which included teams from both Asia and Oceania, but failed to qualify.
In 1991, Israeli clubs began participating in European club competitions of UEFA, and Israel returned to the European leg of World Cup qualifying in 1992. In 1994, Israel received full UEFA membership, 20 years after it had left Asia. Within Europe, Israel has been a relatively minor nation, though with some successes, notably winning 3–2 in Paris against France in 1993, and 5–0 against Austria in 1999. That year, Israel made it to the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs, but was beaten by Denmark.
Israel came close to advancing to the playoff stage in their 2006 World Cup qualifying group, finishing third, behind France, and tied on points with Switzerland, which also remained unbeaten in 10 matches after 4 wins and 6 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 came very close to qualifying for the final tournament, but finished fourth in Group E, just one point behind second-placed Russia, who qualified directly with Croatia, and level on 23 points with England, who also failed to advance. The 4–3 home loss to Croatia was the first loss after 13 consecutive official games and 9 home games without a loss.
In 2018, Willi Ruttensteiner was appointed as technical director. A national football academy was founded and three supporting development centers were established.[12]
^CET (UTC+1) for matches until 25 March and from 29 October (matchday 1 and 9–10), and CEST (UTC+2) for matches from 26 March to 28 October 2023 (matchday 2–8).
INJ Withdrew due to injury or illness PRE Preliminary/extended squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Serving suspension due to yellow/red cards WD Player withdrew from the squad due to neither injury nor illness issue U21 Player withdrew from the squad to play for the national under-21 team
^ abcYossi Benayoun also played and scored against Romania B however this was not a full-international match and is therefore not included
^ abOn 2 May 2022, UEFA announced that Russia were suspended and automatically relegated to League C
^Tal Ben Haim also played against Romania B however this was not a full-international match and is therefore not included
^Tal Banin also played against USSR XI however this was not a full-international match and is therefore not included
^Mordechai Spiegler also played in 25 matches that are not recognised by FIFA, scoring eight additional goals, however they are not full-international matches and are therefore not included
^Nahum Stelmach also played in 19 matches that are not recognised by FIFA, scoring three additional goals, however they are not full-international matches and are therefore not included
^Eli Ohana also played a 1984 Olympic qualification game however this was not a full-international match and is therefore not included
^Yehoshua Feigenbaum also played in 15 matches that are not recognised by FIFA, scoring nine additional goals, however they are not full-international matches and are therefore not included
^"Statistical Kit: Preliminary Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil"(PDF). FIFA.com. 28 June 2011. p. 53. Archived(PDF) from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2020. A Jewish delegation from Palestine (then a British mandate) played at the qualifying games for 1934 & 1938. It was the first Jewish national team, and as such the forerunner of Israel.
1 Associate member of OFC - Not a member of FIFA 2 Not a member of OFC and consequently not a member of FIFA 3 Northern Mariana Islands was only an associate member of OFC between 1998 and 2009 - Not a member of FIFA 4 Although not geographically in Oceania, Chinese Taipei was a member of the OFC between 1976–1978 and 1982–1989 Although not geographically in Oceania Israel entered OFC World Cup qualification in 1986 and 1990 due to political reasons, though it never became a formal OFC member.
2 (6 April 2023)[2]
Egypt 5–0 Mandatory Palestine 
US Olympic Team 3–1 Israel 
Germany 7–1 Israel 
Silver Medal (1974)
