The World Cup qualifying soccer match between Italy and Israel in Udine, Italy, on October 14, 2025. (photo credit: FLASH90)JOSHUA HALICKMANFri, November 21, 2025 at 6:34 AM UTC·5 min read“The harshest criticism we’ll hear is the criticism we direct at ourselves. We have a goal, and we know and will know how to reach it. I’m very proud of the players," said the team's coach.
Israel’s most recent soccer national team campaign came to an end this week with a dominant 4-1 win over Moldova. Over the course of the eight 2026 World Cup qualifiers, the blue-and-white earned a respectable record of four wins and four losses with no draws, good for 12 points and third place in Group I.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThose results, however, were not good enough to avoid being eliminated from contention.
Norway finished in first place with a perfect 32 points and a ticket to the big show in North America this coming summer, while Italy came in second and will feature in the Play-off round.
Head coach Ran Ben Shimon promised a much more dynamic squad with entertaining play, and in a sense, he delivered on that goal. However, by playing a more wide-open style, Israel also conceded 2.5 goals per game, which was the most since its first-ever European campaign in the early 1990s.
The 5-0 loss to Norway in October was no question a difficult defeat to digest, so there’s no question that Israel’s defense will need to improve should it hope to punch its ticket to the 2028 European Championship that will be co-hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - UEFA Qualifiers - Israel Training - Bluenergy Stadium, Udine, Italy - October 13, 2025 Israel's Manor Solomon during training (credit: Matteo Ciambelli/Reuters)The bench boss is well aware of both his side’s positives and negatives as he went back to sum up the entire campaign by beginning to look back at the win over Moldova to end on a sweet note.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“If you take care of yourself and don’t let the opponent control the game, you’ll eventually find a way to score,” noted Ben Shimon. “This is a very important win as we really wanted to win and finish the campaign on a good note. It was important that we look good, move the ball, and press. I think that in a match where the result isn’t critical, the players still managed to maintain amazing seriousness.”
The 54-year-old coach didn’t shy away from accountability.
The harshest criticism we hear is the criticism we direct at ourselves
“The harshest criticism we’ll hear is the criticism we direct at ourselves. We have a goal, and we know and will know how to reach it. I’m very proud of the players, of their approach. You come into the matches against Lithuania and Moldova, games that seemed less critical, with the most serious and committed attitude, and for a moment it felt to me like it was our most important match,” he added.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOne of the highlights of the campaign was, without a doubt, the crazy game against Italy that saw nine goals scored between the two squads. Giacomo Raspadori gave the Azzurri a 4-2 lead in the 81st minute, but then Alessandro Bastoni scored an own-goal to make it 4-3.
With Israel pressing and fans on the edge of their seats, Dor Peretz astonishingly drew Israel even at 4-4 as he beat all-world ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Unfortunately, those incredible moments of ecstasy lasted all of a minute, when Sandro Tonali scored an unforgettable strike to give the Italians the victory.
“The 5–4 match against Italy was a very impressive performance by us,” said Ben Shimon. “We lost because of small mistakes; we were no worse than they were. The next step is to win these kinds of games, games in which we’re actually better. We’ve gotten closer to those teams ahead of us and moved further away from those below us. The team has improved and we need to keep improving, but not get carried away.“
Ben Shimon especially commented on the national pride associated with the side.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“This is a very genuine national team. I feel the crowd in Israel as I go around the country and many people feel connected to the team. There’s a good vibe around the national team. Home matches will help us a lot in the future. I have a mission, I’m focused on it and I don’t allow background noise to get in or negative energy from the outside. We need to maintain quiet inside our camp and carry out a process that I hope will be good and lead to results.”
The bench boss preached unity and that the team is not an individual here or an individual there but a collective unit. “I don’t believe there’s one person or one player or one chairman who will lead us to achievement. There are amazing teams here and each one has its importance. We need to move forward together – sometimes it’s slower, but it’s a safer way to reach our goal. We will be in a major tournament, I have no doubt about that.”
There were a number of players who had impressive campaigns, including Manor Solomon, Dan Bitton, as well as both Dor Peretz and Eliel Peretz, but Ben Shimon didn’t want to single out an individual player but rather the team as a whole, including all of the staff and players.
“I’m the biggest believer in this national tea,m and I’m sure we’ll reach a major tournament. We need to be like a team and maintain that, because only then can we achieve great things.”
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