Israel national under-21 football team

 Israel Under-21
הנבחרת הצעירה

Association	Israel Football Association
Head coach	Michael Nees
Captain	Eli Dasa
Most caps	Arik Benado (39)[1]
Top scorer	Alon Mizrahi (15)[2]
FIFA code	ISR
First colours Second colours
First international
Greece U-21 2-2 Israel U-21 (Greece; 1990)
Biggest win
Israel U-21 6-0 Austria U-21 (Israel)
Biggest defeat
Israel U-21 0-4 Spain U-21 (Israel) Israel U-21 0-4 Italy U-21 (Israel; 2013)
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances	2 (First in 2007)
Best result	Group Stage, 3rd Place

Israel's national Under-21 team (Hebrew: הנבחרת הצעירה של ישראל בכדורגל‎), also known as Israel Under-21s or Israel U-21s, is considered to be the feeder team for the Israel national football team. It has recently qualified for the European Championships to be held in the Netherlands after beating the French under-21 team 2-1 on aggregate.

This team is for Israeli players aged 21 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 23 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments), Under-19s and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-21s, senior side and again for the U-21s, as Shlomi Arbeitman has done recently. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible).

The U-21 team came into existence, following the Israel's acceptance as a full member of UEFA. A draw in a qualifier against Greece in Greece was Israel U-21s' first result.

Israel U-21s do not have a permanent home. They play in stadia dotted all around Israel in an attempt to encourage fans in all areas of the country to get behind Israel. Because of the lack of appeal compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds are used (such as HaMoshava Stadium).

Competition History

There is no Under-21 World Cup, although there is an Under-20 World Cup. European U-21 teams compete for the European Championship, with the finals every even-numbered year. It will be held in odd-numbered years from 2007. Israel has never fared well in European Under-21 Football Championships.

The current campaign started shortly after the 2006 finals - the qualification stage of the 2007 competition. UEFA have decided to shift the next tournament forward to avoid a clash with senior tournaments taking place in even-numbered years. The competition has therefore been reduced as qualifying must be completed in a year's less time. In their three-team qualification group, Israel finished ahead of Turkey and Wales. In the two-legged play-off against France for a place in the final stage, the team achieved a surprising 1-1 draw in France and won the home match 1-0, with Amir Taga scoring in stoppage time.

Note: The year of the tournament represents the year in which it ends.

Competitive Record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1992	Qualifying Stage	6	3	2	0	17	3
1994	Qualifying Stage	10	3	1	6	17	16
1996	Qualifying Stage	10	3	3	4	12	11
1998	Qualifying Stage	8	5	2	1	17	9
2000	Qualifying Stage	8	2	2	4	6	13
2002	Qualifying Stage	8	4	0	4	16	13
2004	Qualifying Stage	8	3	1	4	6	11
2006	Qualifying Stage	8	4	3	1	11	7
2007	Group Stage	5	1	1	3	3	8
2009	Qualification Playoffs	8	5	2	1	16	5
2011	Qualifying Stage	8	5	1	2	18	8
2013	Group Stage	3	1	1	1	3	6
2015	Qualifying Stage	1	1	0	0	7	2
Total	2/13	88	39	18	34	146	106

Players

Top Appearances

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Caps
1	Arik Benado	Maccabi Haifa, Beitar Jerusalem	1992–1995	39
2	Nir Sivilia	Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda, Beitar Jerusalem	1993–1997	34
2	Shay Holtzman	Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Haifa, Tzafririm Holon	1992–1995	34
3	Dekel Keinan	Maccabi Haifa, Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi Netanya	2003–2007	30
4	Alon Halfon	Maccabi Netanya, Hapoel Haifa	1993–1995	29
4	Tom Almadon	Maccabi Haifa	2004–2007	29
5	Ofer Talker	Ironi Ashdod, Hapoel Haifa	1992–1995	28
6	Ofir Kopel	Maccabi Haifa	1994–1997	27
7	Lior Jan	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2006–2008	26
8	Moshe Ohayon	F.C. Ashdod	2001–2005	24

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Top Goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Goals
1	Alon Mizrahi	Bnei Yehuda	1992–1993	15
2	Shay Holtzman	Maccabi Netanya, Maccabi Haifa, Tzafririm Holon	1992–1995	14
3	Nir Sivilia	Maccabi Tel Aviv, Bnei Yehuda, Beitar Jerusalem	1993–1997	12
3	Moanes Dabour	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2011–	12
4	Ben Sahar	Chelsea, Espanyol	2007–2010	8
4	Maor Buzaglo	Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Bnei Sakhnin, Maccabi Tel Aviv	2007–2010	8
5	Eli Abarbanel	Hapoel Petah Tikva	1994–1999	7
5	Amir Turgeman	Ironi Ashdod	1992–1993	7

Note: Club(s) represents the permanent clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Italy	3	2	1	0	6	1	+5	7
Norway	3	1	2	0	6	4	+2	5
Israel	3	1	1	1	3	6	−3	4
England	3	0	0	3	1	5	−4	0

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2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2015 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification Group 8

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	8	8	0	0	22	6	+16	24	Play-offs
2	Israel	8	5	0	3	22	15	+7	15
3	Norway	8	3	0	5	11	19	−8	9
4	Azerbaijan	8	2	1	5	9	15	−6	7
5	Macedonia	8	1	1	6	4	13	−9	4

Fixtures

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Coaching staff

As of 8 October 2013^[3]

Position	Name
Manager	Michael Nees
Assistant Manager	Ofer Fabian
Assistant Manager	Alon Hazan
Goalkeeper Coach	Nir Davidovich
Fitness Coach	Yossi Kakun

Current squad

The following players were named in the squad for Friendly Match against Cyprus.

• Caps and goals as of 27 March 2015.

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Goalkeepers 1GK Golan Elkaslasy (1994-01-19) 19 January 1994 1 0 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 1GK Mahadi Zuabi (1995-02-13) 13 February 1995 0 0 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Defenders 2DF Eyad Abu Abaid (1994-12-31) 31 December 1994 1 0 Maccabi Netanya 2DF Sean Goldberg (1995-06-13) 13 June 1995 1 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv 2DF Ben Grabli (1994-04-08) 8 April 1994 1 0 Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon 2DF Ayid Habshi (1995-05-10) 10 May 1995 1 0 Bnei Sakhnin 2DF Liran Serdal (1994-07-02) 2 July 1994 1 0 Hapoel Haifa 2DF Dudu Twito (1994-02-06) 6 February 1994 0 0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva 2DF Yuval Yosipovich (1994-02-22) 22 February 1994 1 0 Hapoel Afula Midfielders 3MF Omri Altman (1994-03-23) 23 March 1994 13 3 Hapoel Petah Tikva 3MF Yaniv Brik (1995-05-28) 28 May 1995 0 0 F.C. Nazareth Illit 3MF Ataa Jaber (1994-10-03) 3 October 1994 1 1 Bnei Sakhnin 3MF Adi Konstantinos (1994-09-11) 11 September 1994 1 0 Hapoel Acre 3MF Gadi Kinda (1994-01-01) 1 January 1994 12 0 F.C. Ashdod 3MF Michael Ohana (1995-10-04) 4 October 1995 1 0 F.C. Ashdod 3MF Ben Reichert (1994-03-04) 4 March 1994 6 1 Hapoel Tel Aviv 3MF Ismaeel Ryan (1994-04-24) 24 April 1994 1 0 Bnei Sakhnin 3MF Ramzi Safouri (1995-10-21) 21 October 1995 2 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv 3MF Tambi Sagas (1995-10-21) 21 October 1995 1 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv Forwards 4FW Shoval Gozlan (1994-04-25) 25 April 1994 2 1 Hapoel Ra'anana 4FW Sagiv Yehezkel (1995-03-21) 21 March 1995 1 0 Hapoel Tel Aviv 4FW Niv Zrihan (1994-05-24) 24 May 1994 1 0 F.C. Ashdod

Recent callups

The following players have been called up for the team within the last 8 months:

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up GK Dean Gal (1995-02-13) 13 February 1995 0 0 Maccabi Netanya Training camp, January 2015 DF Orel Horev (1994-01-01) 1 January 1994 0 0 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Training camp, January 2015 DF Omer Mashalla (1994-06-26) 26 June 1994 0 0 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Training camp, January 2015 DF Shahar Piven (1995-09-21) 21 September 1995 0 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Training camp, January 2015 MF Gal Dvir (1994-03-20) 20 March 1994 0 0 Maccabi Herzliya Training camp, January 2015 MF Dan Glazer (1996-09-20) 20 September 1996 0 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Training camp, January 2015 MF Raul Gorshumov (1994-08-13) 13 August 1994 0 0 Maccabi Netanya Training camp, January 2015 MF Matan Hozez (1996-08-12) 12 August 1996 0 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Training camp, January 2015 MF Or Inbroom (1996-01-12) 12 January 1996 0 0 F.C. Ashdod Training camp, January 2015 MF Eden Shamir (1995-06-25) 25 June 1995 0 0 Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona Training camp, January 2015 FW Amit Amzaleg (1994-04-07) 7 April 1994 0 0 Hapoel Acre Training camp, January 2015 FW Raz Cohen (1994-11-11) 11 November 1994 0 0 Hapoel Kfar Saba Training camp, January 2015 FW Yonathan Cohen (1996-06-29) 29 June 1996 0 0 Maccabi Tel Aviv Training camp, January 2015 FW Oz Peretz (1994-04-19) 19 April 1994 0 0 Maccabi Petah Tikva Training camp, May 2014 FW Omri Perl (1994-02-15) 15 February 1994 0 0 Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan Training camp, January 2015

See also

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship
• Israel national football team

References

External links

• Uefa Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21 Championship hosts and additional statistics, such as the Group Winners table for the 1998 qualifiers.

UEFA European U-21 and U-23 Championship Under-23 Championship Without host 1970–1972 1972–1974 1974–1976 Under-21 Championship Without host 1976–1978 1978–1980 1980–1982 1982–1984 1984–1986 1986–1988 1988–1990 1990–1992 With host France 1994 Spain 1996 Romania 1998 Slovakia 2000 Switzerland 2002 Germany 2004 Portugal 2006 Netherlands 2007 Sweden 2009 Denmark 2011 Israel 2013 Czech Republic 2015 Poland 2017 Qualification 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 Finals 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013 Squads 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007 2009 2011 2013

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National under-21 football teams of Europe (UEFA) Active Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Russia San Marino Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales Defunct Czechoslovakia East Germany USSR Yugoslavia