Israel national under-21 football team

 Israel Under-21
הנבחרת הצעירה

Association	Israel Football Association
Head coach	Arik Benado
Captain	Eli Dasa
Most caps	Arik Benado (39)[1]
Top scorer	Alon Mizrahi (15)[2]
FIFA code	ISR
First colours Second colours
First international
Greece U-21 2-2 Israel U-21 (Greece; 1990)
Biggest win
Israel U-21 6-0 Austria U-21 (Israel)
Biggest defeat
Israel U-21 0-4 Spain U-21 (Israel) Israel U-21 0-4 Italy U-21 (Israel; 2013)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 2007)
Best result	Group Stage, 3rd Place

Israel's national Under-21 team (Hebrew: הנבחרת הצעירה של ישראל בכדורגל‎), also known as Israel Under-21s or Israel U-21s, is considered to be the feeder team for the Israel national football team. It has recently qualified for the European Championships to be held in the Netherlands after beating the French under-21 team 2-1 on aggregate.

This team is for Israeli players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-21s, senior side and again for the U-21s, as Shlomi Arbeitman has done recently. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible).

The U-21 team came into existence, following the Israel's acceptance as a full member of UEFA. A draw in a qualifier against Greece in Greece was Israel U-21s' first result.

Israel U-21s do not have a permanent home. They play in stadia dotted all around Israel in an attempt to encourage fans in all areas of the country to get behind Israel. Because of the lack of appeal compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds are used (such as HaMoshava Stadium).

Competition History

There is no Under-21 World Cup, although there is an Under-20 World Cup. European U-21 teams compete for the European Championship, with the finals every even-numbered year. It will be held in odd-numbered years from 2007. Israel has never fared well in European Under-21 Football Championships.

The current campaign started shortly after the 2006 finals - the qualification stage of the 2007 competition. UEFA have decided to shift the next tournament forward to avoid a clash with senior tournaments taking place in even-numbered years. The competition has therefore been reduced as qualifying must be completed in a year's less time. In their three-team qualification group, Israel finished ahead of Turkey and Wales. In the two-legged play-off against France for a place in the final stage, the team achieved a surprising 1-1 draw in France and won the home match 1-0, with Amir Taga scoring in stoppage time.

Note: The year of the tournament represents the year in which it ends.

Competitive Record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record

Israel national under-21 football team at the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1992	Qualifying Stage	6	3	2	0	17	3
1994	Qualifying Stage	10	3	1	6	17	16
1996	Qualifying Stage	10	3	3	4	12	11
1998	Qualifying Stage	8	5	2	1	17	9
2000	Qualifying Stage	8	2	2	4	6	13
2002	Qualifying Stage	8	4	0	4	16	13
2004	Qualifying Stage	8	3	1	4	6	11
2006	Qualifying Stage	8	4	3	1	11	7
2007	Group Stage	5	1	1	3	3	8
2009	Qualification Playoffs	8	5	2	1	16	5
2011	Qualifying Stage	8	5	1	2	18	8
2013	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	3	6
2015	Qualifying Stage	1	1	0	0	7	2
Total	2/13	88	39	18	34	146	106

Players

Top Appearances

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Caps
1	Arik Benado	Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem	1992–1995	39
2	Nir Sivilia	Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda, Beitar Jerusalem	1993–1997	34
2	Shay Holtzman	Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Haifa, Tzafririm Holon	1992–1995	34
3	Dekel Keinan	Maccabi Haifa, Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi Netanya	2003–2007	30
4	Alon Halfon	Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Haifa	1993–1995	29
4	Tom Almadon	Maccabi Haifa	2004–2007	29
5	Ofer Talker	Ironi Ashdod, Hapoel Haifa	1992–1995	28
6	Ofir Kopel	Maccabi Haifa	1994–1997	27
7	Lior Jan	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2006–2008	26
8	Moshe Ohayon	F.C. Ashdod	2001–2005	24

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Top Goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Goals
1	Alon Mizrahi	Bnei Yehuda	1992–1993	15
2	Shay Holtzman	Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Haifa, Tzafririm Holon	1992–1995	14
3	Moanes Dabour	Maccabi Tel Aviv, Grasshopper	2011–2014	13
4	Nir Sivilia	Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda, Beitar Jerusalem	1993–1997	12
5	Ben Sahar	Chelsea, Espanyol	2007–2010	8
5	Maor Buzaglo	Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi Tel Aviv	2007–2010	8
6	Eli Abarbanel	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1994–1999	7
6	Amir Turgeman	Ironi Ashdod	1992–1993	7

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2017 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	6	6	0	0	23	1	+22	18	Final tournament
2	Albania (X)	8	3	3	2	10	14	−4	12	Possible Play-offs
3	Israel	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11
4	Hungary (X)	7	2	2	3	11	10	+1	8
5	Greece	6	2	1	3	8	7	+1	7
6	Liechtenstein (E)	7	0	0	7	0	25	−25	0

Updated to match(es) played on 28 March 2016. Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Qualification tiebreakers
(E) Eliminated; (X) Cannot qualify directly as the top team, but may still qualify for the play-offs.

Fixtures

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Liechtenstein  v  Israel

7 June 2015 18:00

Liechtenstein	0–4	Israel
	Report	Kinda  5' Altman  49', 62' Abu Abaid  58'

Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz Referee: Giorgi Kruashvili (Georgia)

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Albania  v  Israel

3 September 2015 15:00

Albania	1–1	Israel
Çekiçi  84' (pen.)	Report	Hugi  29'

Qemal Stafa Stadium, Tirana Referee: Sergei Ivanov (Russia)

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Israel  v  Hungary

12 November 2015 18:45

Israel	3–0	Hungary
David  60' Gozlan  85' Ohana  90+2'	Report

HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva Referee: Jari Järvinen (Finland)

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Israel  v  Portugal

17 November 2015 18:40

Israel	0–3	Portugal
	Report	Fernandes  28' (pen.) Silva  35' Horta  87'

HaMoshava Stadium, Petah Tikva Referee: Ola Hobber Nilsen (Norway)

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Hungary  v  Israel

24 March 2016 19:00

Hungary	0–0	Israel
	Report

Ménfői út, Győr Referee: Vilhjalmur Thorarinsson (Iceland)

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Greece  v  Israel

28 March 2016 15:30

Greece	0–1	Israel
	Report	Gozlan  74'

Peristeri Stadium, Peristeri Referee: Tihomir Pejin (Croatia)

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Portugal  v  Israel

2 September 2016

Portugal	v	Israel
	Report

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Israel  v  Liechtenstein

6 September 2016

Israel	v	Liechtenstein
	Report

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Israel  v  Greece

6 October 2016

Israel	v	Greece
	Report

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Israel  v  Albania

10 October 2016

Israel	v	Albania
	Report

Coaching staff

As of 27 August 2015^[3]

Position	Name
Manager	Arik Benado
Assistant Manager	Ofer Fabian
Assistant Manager	Alon Hazan
Goalkeeper Coach	Nir Davidovich
Fitness Coach	Yossi Kakun

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for Friendly Match against Hungary.

• Caps and goals as of 17 November 2015.

0#0	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	GK	Golan Elkaslasy	19 January 1994	6	0	Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon
	GK	Omri Glazer	11 March 1996	2	0	Hapoel Ra'anana
	GK	Mahadi Zuabi	13 February 1995	0	0	Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona
	DF	Ayid Habshi	10 May 1995	7	0	Maccabi Haifa
	DF	Eyad Abu Abaid	31 December 1994	6	1	Hapoel Tel Aviv
	DF	Omer Danino	17 February 1995	4	0	Maccabi Petah Tikva
	DF	Sean Goldberg	13 June 1995	2	0	Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv
	DF	Eli Balilty	23 February 1992	1	0	Hapoel Afula
	MF	Gadi Kinda	1 January 1994	16	1	F.C. Ashdod
	MF	Ataa Jaber	3 October 1994	7	2	Maccabi Haifa
	MF	Ramzi Safouri	21 October 1995	4	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
	MF	Dor Peretz	11 May 1995	5	0	Maccabi Tel Aviv
	MF	Ismaeel Ryan	24 April 1994	5	0	Maccabi Haifa
	MF	Dean David	14 March 1996	4	1	F.C. Ashdod
	MF	Tambi Sagas	21 October 1995	1	0	Bnei Sakhnin
	MF	Ido Davidov	23 November 1994	1	0	Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon
	MF	Neta Lavi	25 August 1996	1	0	Maccabi Haifa
	MF	David Keltjens	11 June 1995	1	0	Beitar Jerusalem
	FW	Shoval Gozlan	25 April 1994	7	2	Maccabi Haifa
	FW	Dor Hugi	10 July 1995	4	1	Maccabi Petah Tikva
	FW	Oz Peretz	19 April 1994	2	0	Hapoel Acre
	FW	Ezat Khalaila	27 March 1994	1	0	Hapoel Afula

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 8 months:

Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club	Latest call-up
DF	Liran Serdal	2 July 1994	2	0	Hapoel Haifa	v.  Albania, 3 September 2015
DF	Dudu Twito	6 February 1994	2	0	Maccabi Petah Tikva	v.  Portugal, 17 November 2015
DF	Ben Grabli	8 April 1994	1	0	Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
DF	Yuval Yosipovich	22 February 1994	1	0	Maccabi Haifa	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
DF	Yarin Hassan	22 March 1994	1	0	Maccabi Netanya	v.  Portugal, 17 November 2015
DF	Gal Dvir	20 March 1994	1	0	Maccabi Herzliya	v.  Poland, 8 October 2015
MF	Omri Altman	23 March 1994	15	5	Hapoel Tel Aviv	v.  Albania, 3 September 2015
MF	Ben Reichert	4 March 1994	7	1	Hapoel Tel Aviv	v.  Poland, 8 October 2015
MF	Michael Ohana	4 October 1995	3	1	F.C. Ashdod	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
MF	Adi Konstantinos	11 September 1994	3	0	Hapoel Petah Tikva	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
MF	Eden Shamir	25 June 1995	1	0	Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona	v.  Poland, 8 October 2015
MF	Dolev Haziza	5 July 1995	1	0	Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
MF	Yaniv Brik	28 May 1995	0	0	Hapoel Acre	v.  Cyprus, 26 March 2015
MF	Raz Cohen	11 November 1994	0	0	Hapoel Kfar Saba	v.  Poland, 8 October 2015
FW	Niv Zrihan	24 May 1994	1	0	F.C. Ashdod	v.  Albania, 3 September 2015
FW	Sagiv Yehezkel	21 March 1995	1	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv	v.  Poland, 8 October 2015
FW	Yonathan Cohen	29 June 1996	1	0	Beitar Tel Aviv Ramla	v.  Liechtenstein, 17 November 2015
FW	Avishay Cohen	19 June 1995	0	0	Beitar Jerusalem	v.  Albania, 3 September 2015

See also

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
• Israel national football team

References

1. http://football.org.il/NationalTeam/Pages/NationalTeamAppearance.aspx?NATIONAL_TEAM_ID=943&PAGE_NUM=1
2. http://football.org.il/NationalTeam/Pages/NationalTeamCaptivate.aspx?NATIONAL_TEAM_ID=943&PAGE_NUM=1
3. "National team staff". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 8 October 2013.

External links

• Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21 Championship hosts and additional statistics, such as the Group Winners table for the 1998 qualifiers.