Israel lost to Norway 4-2 in a match where the visitors broke a 1-1 tie with three second-half goals, securing the victory and three points in 2026 World Cup qualifying.
The blue-and-white entered the “home” clash, played in Debrecen, Hungary, due to the security situation in the Holy Land, after having slipped by Estonia 2-1 over the weekend. Head coach Ran Ben Shimon’s squad was confident that it would be able to record a positive result against the likes of superstar striker Erling Haaland and company.
However, the size and physicality of the Norwegians were just too much for Israel to handle as it split the opening two matches of the campaign.
Norway opened the game with a number of chances, but Israel was able to match it throughout the opening half-hour of play. However, the visitors continued to press for a goal ahead of halftime and finally broke through via David Moller Wolfe, who put home a Martin Ødegaard ball for a 1-0 advantage at the break.
Israel began to look for the equalizer as the second half got underway, with chances from Oscar Gloukh and Manor Solomon, but it was Muhammed Abu Fani who finally found the back of the net from a distance to draw the hosts even at 1-1 in the 55th minute.
Norway did not take the tally lightly and began to hammer away at Daniel Peretz’s goal, as the Bayern Munich protégé made one spectacular save after another until Alexander Sørloth scored off a corner to give Ståle Solbakken’s team a 2-1 lead in the 59th minute.
From there on, it was all Norway, as Kristoffer Ajer was left all alone in the box and scored to double the advantage, while Manchester City’s Haaland also finally got on the board in the 83rd minute to bump the lead up to 4-1.
Dor Turgeman was able to pull a second goal back for the blue-and-white in second-half injury time, but that would be as close as Israel would get, as it ended their first two games with three out of a possible six points. Next up for Ben Shimon’s side will be an away trip to Estonia in June, followed by a pair of qualifiers at Moldova and home against Italy.
'We are in the process of progress'
“These are players at a very high level, and we had a hard time against them,” Ben Shimon said following the game. “We tried. The players played football and moved the ball, but it is difficult to reduce the gaps on the set-pieces. The loss hurts, but as I have said every time, we are in the process of progress, and we can see that this team can play and compete.”
Ben Shimon continued: “The issue now is how we will lift ourselves up, continue on our path, and show improvement from game to game. There was a good level of fight, and I have no qualms about how we played. Part of the process is experiencing these types of games. At 1-1, we should have held on for a few more minutes, but we were quickly exposed on the transition, and there was a little bit of imbalance between the defense and the attack.”
Norway head coach Solbakken praised his side’s effort.
“Israel played strong at the beginning of the second half and was very good at counterattacks,” he said. “They have a lot of power on the left wing. But we are happy with the performance and the three points. Perhaps we were stronger physically in this game, but they also have strong players. This is one of the most difficult games for us, as Israel is a good team. They drew 0-0 with France and beat Belgium 1-0 in the Nations League just a few months ago. We know they can cause trouble for anyone.”
Abu Fani, Israel’s goal-scorer also reflected on the game.
“I really think we faced a very strong team. They have top-of-the-world players. We managed to keep the game close and were able to draw even at 1-1. But it’s really a shame. Now we have to move forward.”
“I think Ran really believes in me, and I'm happy about that,” Abu Fani continued. “The most important thing is to get back on the pitch, and whoever is playing well will feature for the team. Of course, I expect to lead the team. This is my time to lead. I played great when I was with Maccabi Haifa and won titles, as well as with Ferencváros, so I hope to continue that way.”
Solomon, the acting captain for the match, also shared his thoughts on the game.
“There is no doubt that they were better than us. We saw the differences in physicality and size – they are tall and strong, and they have great players. We played amazingly in the second half and came back into the game, then a goal was conceded on a set-piece. Then we went ahead and conceded two more goals and were pretty disappointed. No matter how hard we work on the set-pieces, once there are such height differences, it shows. Unfortunately, they had a lot of set-pieces, and that made the difference.”
