Situated at the exact opposite ends of the UEFA confederation, more than 3,000 miles apart, Israel against Iceland may not seem like an obvious grudge match – but it is.
The Nordic country is actually one of the most staunchly pro-Palestinian nations in Europe. In 2011, they were the first western European country to recognise Palestine as a state, and have recently faced prolonged calls from inside their own country to boycott events in which Israel is taking part, because of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Any potential boycott showed no initial signs of being extended to the Euro 2024 play-off semi-final, which will take place in Budapest, with UEFA deeming it unsafe to hold games in Israel.
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It’s an uncomfortable backdrop to what could be the Middle East country’s greatest chance of reaching the European Championship – their only previous major tournament outing came at the 1970 World Cup, which they qualified for while still part of the Asian confederation.
Four years later they were expelled from the AFC, bizarrely switching to Oceania to contest World Cup qualifying for a period, then becoming a full UEFA member in 1994. They made the play-offs for Euro 2000 but were drubbed 8-0 on aggregate to Denmark, then succumbed on penalties to Scotland at Hampden in the play-off semis for Euro 2020.
This time Israel are probably the favourites to advance to the Path B final. They topped their Nations League group ahead of Iceland and also looked on course to qualify for Euro 2024 automatically, until their key autumn home matches against Switzerland and Romania were switched to Hungary and they took just one point from a possible six.
A faded force these days, Iceland’s own route to the play-offs has been odd – edging out Erling Haaland’s Norway in the Nations League standings, despite the fact that the Strakarnir Okkar haven’t won a Nations League match in 14 attempts.
Dropped into League A for the inaugural edition in 2018, shortly after their Euro 2016 heroics, they finished bottom of their three-team group and were relegated, only to win a reprieve when groups were increased to four teams for the second edition. Iceland promptly finished bottom of that group and got relegated again, then were drawn into a League B group featuring Russia, who were suspended before any matches took place.
Iceland drew all four of their encounters in a significantly weakened group with Israel and Albania – enough to finish second and narrowly secure a Euro 2024 play-off spot on goal difference ahead of Norway, who’d come second in a much stronger four-team group including Serbia, Slovenia and Sweden. Better luck next time, Erling…
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