A black-and-white photograph of a football team lining up before a match. Eleven men in old-fashioned association football attire stand in a line: ten wear white shirts, white shorts and black socks, and the other wears a dark shirt. Beside the players stand two suited men, and beside them stands another player in different colours, his dark shirt marked "CCCP".
Israel (in white) line up ahead of a friendly match against the Soviet Union in 1956

The Israel national football team has represented Israel in international association football since 1934, when it played its first official game (as Mandatory Palestine or Eretz Israel—"Land of Israel") against Egypt.[1] It is fielded by the Israel Football Association (IFA), which has governed football in the country since 1928,[2] and has borne its present name since the foundation of the State of Israel in 1948. Israel competed as a member of the Asian Football Confederation from 1956 until 1974, when it was expelled for political reasons;[2] it then played without formal affiliation to any regional bloc for two decades. In 1994 the IFA was made a full member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), enabling the inclusion of Israeli teams in UEFA competitions.[2]

Since 1934, more than 480 players have appeared for the Israel national team;[3] those 105 with 20 or more caps are listed here. The Israel national team's only major honour is the AFC Asian Cup, which it hosted and won in 1964.[4] It has qualified for the FIFA World Cup final tournament once, in 1970, and for the Summer Olympic Games twice, in 1968 and in 1976.[4][5][6]

Israel's all-time top goalscorer is Mordechai Spiegler, who scored 33 international goals in 83 matches between 1963 and 1977.[7][8] Yossi Benayoun, a midfielder, holds the record for the most national team appearances, having played for Israel 96 times between 1998 and 2014.[3][9] The team's highest-capped goalkeeper, Dudu Aouate, represented Israel 78 times between 1999 and 2013.[10] The most-capped player of Arab-Israeli background is Walid Badir, who appeared for the national side 74 times between 1997 and 2007, scoring 12 goals.[11]

Players

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Appearances and goals are composed of FIFA World Cup, Summer Olympic Games, AFC Asian Cup, and UEFA European Championship matches and each competition's required qualification matches, as well as numerous international friendly tournaments and matches. The statistics given here include some matches recognised as official by the Israel Football Association (IFA), but not by FIFA; the tallies maintained by FIFA for a given player may be slightly lower than the IFA's.[12] The years given in the column marked "national team career" are those of each player's first and last international cap. Players are initially listed by number of caps, then number of goals scored. Where two or more players have the same number of caps and goals scored, they are initially listed alphabetically. Statistics are correct as of the match played on 31 March 2015 .[3][8]
Key
Still eligible for the national team[n 1]
GK Goalkeeper
DF Defender
MF Midfielder
FW Forward
UN Unknown
 
Yossi Benayoun is the most-capped Israel international, having appeared in 96 matches, while scoring 24 goals.
 
Arik Benado is the second most-capped Israel international, having appeared in 94 matches.
 
Mordechai Spiegler is the all-time leading goalscorer, with 33 goals in 83 games.
 
Avi Nimni scored 17 goals in 80 international games.
 
Walid Badir is the most-capped player of Arab-Israeli origin, with 74 caps and 12 goals.
 
Itzhak Vissoker is a goalkeeper with 69 international caps.
 
Tal Ben Haim has so far played for Israel 91 times, scoring once.
Israel national team footballers with at least 20 appearances
# Name Position National team
career
Caps Goals Ref
1 Malakai Kainihewe DF 2001–2011 34 5
2 Simione Tamanisau GK 2003–2016 30 0
3 Taniela Waqa DF 2003–2012 30 4
4 Roy Krishna FW 2007–2016 22 14
5 Amir Schelach DF 1992–2001 85 0 [13]
6 Mordechai Spiegler FW 1963–1977 83 33 [7]
7 Nir Klinger MF 1987–1997 83 2 [14]
8 Avi Nimni MF 1992–2005 80 17 [15]
9 Tal Banin MF 1990–2003 78 12 [16]
10 Itzhak Shum MF 1969–1981 78 10 [17]
11 Eyal Berkovic MF 1992–2004 78 9 [18]
12 Dudu Aouate GK 1999–2013 78 0 [10]
13 Walid Badir DF 1997–2007 74 12 [11]
14 Alon Hazan MF 1990–2000 72 5 [19]
15 Gidi Damti FW 1971–1981 69 21 [20]
16 Idan Tal MF 1998–2007 69 5 [21]
17 Itzhak Vissoker GK 1963–1976 69 0 [22]
18 Bonni Ginzburg GK 1984–1996 68 0 [23]
19 Haim Revivo MF 1992–2003 67 15 [24]
20 Avi Cohen DF 1976–1988 64 1 [25]
21 Uri Malmilian MF 1975–1990 62 16 [26]
22 Nahum Stelmach FW 1956–1968 61 22 [27]
23 Ronny Rosenthal FW 1984–1997 60 11 [28]
24 Zvi Rosen DF 1968–1975 58 5 [29]
25 Menachem Bello DF 1965–1975 57 0 [30]
26 Adoram Keisi DF 1994–2006 54 4 [31]
27 Ronen Harazi FW 1992–1999 53 23 [32]

Notes and references

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Notes
  1. ^ Players marked as "still eligible for the national team" are those who have not retired from international football and who are, therefore, still selectable.
References
  1. ^ Goldberg, Asher (4 August 2011). "Defeat at the bottom of the Pyramids in Cairo" (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Israel make their mark". Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "National Team Appearances list" (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  4. ^ a b Goldberg, Asher (20 September 2011). "The Persian Market in Tehran" (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  5. ^ "1968 Mexico City Men's Olympic Football Tournament – Fixtures and Results". International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  6. ^ "1976 Montreal Men's Olympic Football Tournament – Fixtures and Results". International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Mordechai Spiegler". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  8. ^ a b "National Team Goalscorers list" (in Hebrew). Israel Football Association. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference YossiBenayoun was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ a b "Dudu Aouate". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Walid Badir". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.; Wahl, Grant (29 August 2005). "Stars of David". Sports Illustrated. New York: Time Warner. Retrieved 3 June 2012. 'The greatest moment of my life,' proclaimed [Abbas] Suan of his role in the team's comeback, which he celebrated by literally wrapping himself in the Star of David flag. Then, four nights later in Tel Aviv—can you believe it!—an Arab saved Israel again. This time the team's other prominent Muslim, 31-year-old midfielder Walid Badir, headed home the equalizer in the dying minutes to salvage a 1–1 tie against mighty France, and the celebrations raged once more.; Brandes, Shimon (9 December 2010). "From rejection to a full partnership: Israeli Arabs in Israeli football" (in Hebrew). Netanya: Wingate Institute. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  12. ^ Cazal, Jean-Michel; Bleicher, Yaniv (14 February 2011). "Israel National Team – List of Official Games". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  13. ^ "Amir Schelach". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  14. ^ "Nir Klinger". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  15. ^ "Avi Nimni". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  16. ^ "Tal Banin". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  17. ^ "Itzhak Shum". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  18. ^ "Eyal Berkovic". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  19. ^ "Alon Hazan". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  20. ^ "Gidi Damti". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Idan Tal". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Itzhak Vissoker". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  23. ^ "Bonni Ginzburg". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  24. ^ "Haim Revivo". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  25. ^ "Avi Cohen". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  26. ^ "Uri Malmilian". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  27. ^ "Nahum Stelmach". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  28. ^ "Ronny Rosenthal". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  29. ^ "Zvi Rosen". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  30. ^ "Menachem Bello". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  31. ^ "Adoram Keisi". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  32. ^ "Ronen Harazi". Israel Football Association. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
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