Israel at the AFC Asian Cup
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e4/Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_%28GPO%29_-_The_Asian_Cup.jpg/290px-Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_%28GPO%29_-_The_Asian_Cup.jpg)
Israel competed at the AFC Asian Cup four times. In 1956 and 1960 Israel finished second, in 1964 they finished first, and in 1968 they finished third.[1] In 1972 Israel qualified for the tournament as hosts but later had to withdraw.[2]
Israel was one of the founding members of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) following its own independence in 1948 (prior to that it played under the banner of the "British Mandate of Palestine").[3] After the 1974 Asian Games in Iran, and Israel's 0–1 tense loss to Iran in the finals,[4] Kuwait and other Muslim and Arab countries refused to play them. Following this, Israel were expelled from the confederation and spent a few years trying to qualify from such continental bodies as the OFC (Oceania), before eventually joining UEFA (Europe) officially.[5]
Record
[edit]AFC Asian Cup record | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
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Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
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Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
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Champions | 1st | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
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Third Place | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 |
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Withdrew | |||||||
Total | Champions | 4/15 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 15 |
- Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
1956 AFC Asian Cup
[edit]Israel competed at the 1956 AFC Asian Cup. This was the first AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s first appearance.[6]
Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 5 |
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
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3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 2 |
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3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 1 |
Hong Kong ![]() | 2 – 3 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Au Chi Yin ![]() |
Glazer ![]() Stelmach ![]() |
Israel ![]() | 1 – 2 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Stelmach ![]() |
Woo Sang-kwon ![]() Sung Nak-woon ![]() |
Israel ![]() | 2 – 1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Stelmach ![]() |
Trần Văn Tổng ![]() |
With four goals, Nahum Stelmach is the top scorer in the tournament.
- 4 goals
- 2 goals
Head coach: Jackie Gibbons
1960 AFC Asian Cup
[edit]Israel competed at the 1960 AFC Asian Cup. This was the second AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s second appearance.[6]
Qualification – Western Zone
[edit]Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 8 |
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6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 7 |
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6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | –2 | 5 |
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6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 | –2 | 4 |
Tournament results
[edit]Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 |
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 |
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 |
South Korea ![]() | 3 – 0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Cho Yoon-Ok ![]() Woo Sang-Kwon ![]() |
South Vietnam ![]() | 1 – 5 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Trần Văn Nhung ![]() |
R. Levi ![]() Stelmach ![]() S. Levi ![]() Menchel ![]() Aharonskind ![]() |
Israel ![]() | 1 – 0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
S. Levi ![]() |
Goal scorers
[edit]- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Squad
[edit]Head coach: Gyula Mándi
1964 AFC Asian Cup
[edit]Israel competed at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. This was the third AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s third appearance.[6]
Host nation
[edit]The tournament used a round-robin system with the winners from the West, Central 1 and 2 and East Asia zones and the team from the host nation (Israel) competing for the title. 11 of the 16 nations withdrew including Iran and Japan with the result that only one zone (combined Central 1 and 2) played any qualifying matches and the 'winners' of 2 zones and host Israel qualified uncontested. In this diminished competition Israel won the title with three wins.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
Venues
[edit]Ramat Gan | Haifa | Tel Aviv | Jerusalem | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ramat Gan Stadium | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Bloomfield Stadium | Hebrew University Stadium | |
Capacity: 41,583 | Capacity: 17,000 | Capacity: 22,000 | Capacity: 16,000 | |
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Qualification
[edit]Israel as the host nation automatically qualified for the tournament.[14]
Tournament results
[edit]Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
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3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
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3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |
Goal scorers
[edit]- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Squad
[edit]Head coach: Yosef Merimovich
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Haim Levin | 3 March 1937 (aged 27) | 1 | 0 | ![]() | |
GK | Itzhak Vissoker | 18 September 1944 (aged 19) | 4 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Avraham Kalmi | 1 | 0 | ![]() | ||
DF | David Primo | 5 May 1946 (aged 18) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Haim Bahar | 10 April 1943 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Moshe Leon | 9 January 1944 (aged 20) | 7 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Shaul Matania | 8 March 1937 (aged 19) | 17 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Amatzia Levkovich | 27 December 1937 (aged 18) | 36 | 1 | ![]() | |
MF | Gideon Tish | 13 October 1939 (aged 16) | 34 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Mordechai Spiegler | 19 August 1944 (aged 19) | 4 | 1 | ![]() | |
MF | Nahum Stelmach | 19 July 1936 (aged 27) | 45 | 20 | ![]() | |
MF | Yehezkel Katsav | 1945 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Yosef Mahalal | 25 December 1939 (aged 24) | 4 | 2 | ![]() | |
FW | Einstein Kalish | 1939 (aged 25) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
FW | Rahamim Talbi | 17 May 1943 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
FW | Roby Young | 15 May 1942 (aged 22) | 13 | 2 | ![]() | |
FW | Shlomo Levi | 1 June 1934 (aged 29) | 11 | 6 | ![]() | |
FW | Yohai Aharoni | 8 June 1943 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | ![]() |
1968 AFC Asian Cup
[edit]Israel competed at the 1968 AFC Asian Cup. This was the fourth AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s fourth and last appearance.[6]
After the 1968 tournament Israel did not compete in a regional football tournament for many years. Israel was expelled from the AFC in the early 1970s and eventually became a member of UEFA.[15] After joining the UEFA Israel began competing in the UEFA European Championship in 1996.
Qualification – West Zone 1
[edit]Israel qualified for the tournament by default after all other teams in their zone withdrew from the tournament.[16]
Tournament results
[edit]Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 8 |
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4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 |
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4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 4 |
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4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 2 |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 1 |
Burma ![]() | 1–0 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Suk Bahadur ![]() |
Israel ![]() | 4–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Romano ![]() Rosenthal ![]() Spiegel ![]() |
Li Huan-wen ![]() |
Iran ![]() | 2–1 | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Behzadi ![]() Ghelichkhani ![]() |
Spiegel ![]() |
Goal scorers
[edit]With 4 goals, Giora Spiegel and Moshe Romano of Israel tied with Homayoun Behzadi of Iran as the top scorers of the tournament.
- 4 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Squad
[edit]Head coach: Milovan Ćirić
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GK | Itzhak Vissoker | 18 September 1944 (aged 23) | 14 | 0 | ![]() | |
GK | Haim Levin | 3 March 1937 (aged 27) | 15 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Menahem Bello | 26 December 1947 (aged 20) | 14 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Dani Shmulevich | 29 November 1940 (aged 27) | 23 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Itzhak Marili | 12 May 1945 (aged 22) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | David Karako | 11 February 1944 (aged 24) | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Itzhak Drucker | 3 June 1947 (aged 20) | 6 | 0 | ![]() | |
DF | Zvi Rosen | 23 June 1947 (aged 20) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Dani Borsuk | 16 February 1944 (aged 24) | 6 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Haim Nurieli | 1 May 1943 (aged 25) | 2 | 0 | ![]() | |
MF | Moshe Asis | 9 October 1943 (aged 24) | 13 | 1 | ![]() | |
MF | Shmuel Rosenthal | 22 April 1947 (aged 21) | 14 | 1 | ![]() | |
FW | George Borba | 12 July 1944 (aged 23) | 9 | 4 | ![]() | |
FW | Giora Spiegel | 27 July 1947 (aged 20) | 10 | 5 | ![]() | |
FW | Mordechai Spiegler | 19 August 1944 (aged 23) | 27 | 13 | ![]() | |
FW | Moshe Romano | 6 May 1946 (aged 22) | 5 | 1 | ![]() | |
FW | Rahamim Talbi | 17 May 1943 (aged 24) | 18 | 5 | ![]() | |
FW | Roby Young | 15 May 1942 (aged 25) | 37 | 5 | ![]() |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Asian Nations Cup
- ^ "Malaysia, Singapore stay in Asian Cup central zone". The Straits Times. 16 August 1970.
- ^ "Site-Map-Israel-Football-Facts—Stats". Archived from the original on 6 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
- ^ "Bayati recalls Iran's tense win over Israel". Archived from the original on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ Montague, James (27 February 2008). "Time is right for Israel to return to its Asian roots". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
- ^ a b c d Asian Cup: Know Your History – Part One (1956-1988)
- ^ Smith, Matt (4 June 2014). "Amnesia, not admiration for Israel's 1964 heroes | Reuters". Uk.reuters.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Dann, Uzi (22 January 2015). "Israel erased from Asian Cup history video - World - Israel News". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Michael Safi (22 January 2015). "Israel omitted from Asian Cup video history | Football". The Guardian. Theguardian.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Israel wiped from AFC history | The Australian Jewish News". Jewishnews.net.au. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Dominic Bossi (30 January 2015). "Winners and losers of the 2015 Asian Cup". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Football: Israel's forgottten heroes who brought Asian Cup in 1964 - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ "Asian Eye - Indian football still finding its feet :: Total Football Magazine - Premier League, Championship, League One, League Two, Non-League News". Totalfootballmag.com. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
- ^ Asian Nations Cup 1964
- ^ "About the IFA". The Israel Football Association. Archived from the original on 2 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
- ^ Asian Nations Cup 1968