A massive Euro qualifiers takes place between Israel and Iceland this Thursday and Forebet is here for an analysis that looks at the probability of one of these nations managing to set up a spot in the playoffs finals.
A place in the finals is up for grabs with one of these two sides and Iceland or Israel will end up meeting with either Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine, depending on who wins in that game.
✅ Síðustu æfingu fyrir leikinn gegn Ísrael á morgun er lokið í Búdapest.📸 MD-1 training done in Budapest.#afturáem #pumafootball pic.twitter.com/Cl0fIK38NB— Knattspyrnusambandið (@footballiceland) March 20, 2024
✅ Síðustu æfingu fyrir leikinn gegn Ísrael á morgun er lokið í Búdapest.📸 MD-1 training done in Budapest.#afturáem #pumafootball pic.twitter.com/Cl0fIK38NB
Israel managed to finish third in their Euro 2024 qualifying Group I, as they ended up only two points behind Switzerland in what was no doubt one of their best-ever attempts to make it to a European Championship.
Should Israel make it to the Euros this summer, it would be the first time they have done so with them not being a member of UEFA for 42 years, and therefore ineligible to play in a UEFA competition.
Thereafter from 1996 to today, Israel have not qualified and their best result was making it to the playoffs for Euro 2020 where they lost to Scotland on penalties.
Iceland themselves managed to lose in the Euro 2020 qualifiers as well, as Hungary managed to beat them in the final after a victory over Romania in the semi-finals.
This also means it will be Iceland’s first appearance at the Euros since Euro 2016 where they managed to stun England in a 2-1 comeback victory.
Israel kicked off their qualifying campaign with a 0-0 draw against Kosovo and a 3-0 defeat to Switzerland.
It wasn't until an away trip to Belarus where Weissman and Gloukh scored in a comeback win to earn their nation their first win.
Israel also claimed wins over Andorra twice and another victory over Belarus as part of their four victories.
As for Iceland, they were not quite as impressive as Israel were at times, as they won just three of their 10 matches, although they only lost 1-0 to the relentless Portugal.
The three victories this qualifying campaign saw Iceland kick things off with a 3-0 defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina before a 7-0 battering against Liechtenstein and a 2-1 loss to Slovakia.
Iceland were stunned by Luxembourg and drew once more with them before ending the campaign with a win over Liechtenstein once more and losses to Portugal and Slovakia.
Forebet predicts a high-scoring draw.