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Israel will face Iceland at the Szusza Ferenc Stadion on Thursday in the semifinals of the 2024 European Championship qualification playoffs.
The Sky Blue and Whites had mixed results in the group stages of the continental qualifiers and have to battle through the playoffs to advance to the final tournament in Germany. They wrapped up their group stage campaign with a 2-0 victory over Andorra profiting from an own goal in the first half before Gadi Kanda sealed the win in the final 10 minutes.
Israel have never appeared in the European Championships since becoming a UEFA member in 1996. They will be looking to make their debut in the competition this year but must first beat their midweek opponents and the winner of the Bosnia-Ukraine tie to do so.
Iceland, meanwhile, failed to impress in the group stages of the Euro qualifiers but have now been handed a playoff spot due to their UEFA Nations League ranking. They picked up friendly wins over Guatemala and Honduras back in January and will be looking to build on that when they return to competitive action this week.
Israel vs Iceland Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been five meetings between the two nations. Israel are undefeated in all five matchups, picking up two wins and three draws.
- Iceland have managed just one clean sheet in their five games in this fixture.
- The two sides last faced off in the Nations League group stage clash back in May 2022 which ended 2-2.
- Iceland were the joint-second highest-scoring side in Group J with a goal tally of 17.
- The Chosen Team were ranked 75th in the latest FIFA rankings and now sit just two places behind their midweek opponents.
Israel vs Iceland Prediction
Israel's latest result ended a four-game winless streak and they will be looking to build on that this week. They have lost just one of their last five games as the 'home team' and will be hopeful of a positive result this week.
Iceland are on a run of back-to-back victories after winning just one of their four games prior. They have, however, lost four of their last five competitive away outings and could see defeat here as well.
Prediction: Israel 2-0 Iceland
Israel vs Iceland Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Israel to win
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Five of Israel's last six matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: NO (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of the visitors' last five matches)
