Israel national under-19 football team

Israel's national Under-19 team (Hebrew: נבחרת הנוער של ישראל בכדורגל‎), also known as Israel Under-19s or Israel U-19s, is considered to be the feeder team for the Israel national under-21 football team.

 Israel under-19

Association	IFA
Confederation	UEFA (Europe)
Head coach	Alon Hazan
Most caps	Maor Buzaglo (36)
Top scorer	Maor Buzaglo (22)
Home stadium	Netanya Stadium
FIFA code	ISR
First colours Second colours
Biggest win
Israel 14 - 0 San Marino  (Israel, 1997)
AFC U-19 Championship
Appearances	9 (first in 1964)
Best result	Winners, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972
OFC Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 1985)
Best result	Runners-up, 1985, 1986
European Championship
Appearances	2 (first in 1997)
Best result	Group stage, 1997, 2014

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

Israel U-19s 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).

History

The idea to form a youth team first came about in 1957, as the IFA considered entering a team to the 1958 UEFA European Under-18 Championship.[1] The youth team, an under-19 squad, played its first match against its England equivalent on 20 May 1962, losing 1–2.[2] Two days later, the team recorded its first victory, winning 2–1 in a rematch against England.[3]

In 1964, the youth team participated for the first time in the AFC Youth Championship, sharing the cup with Burma in its first tournament. The team went on to win the cup five more times in the next 8 years, before Israel was banned from participating in AFC tournaments.[4]

Until 1992, the youth team's only official tournaments were FIFA Youth Championship qualification tournaments, twice participating in the process in the OFC U-20 Championship and once in the South American Youth Football Championship. At the same period of time, to give the youth squad its share of international matches, the IFA established an annual tournament for under-18 teams, which was held in December and January between 1974 and 1989 (after which the tournament became a tournament for under-17 teams).[5]

In 1992, as Israel was admitted to UEFA, the youth started participating in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (under-18 tournament until 2002), appearing in the final tournament in 1997 and 2014.

International records

AFC U-19 Championship

Edition	Round	MP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1964	Champions*	4	3	1	0	10	0
1965	Champions	6	6	0	0	32	4
1966	Champions*	5	3	2	0	16	2
1967	Champions	5	4	1	0	14	1
1968	Third Place*	7	4	2	1	16	2
1969	Fourth Place	6	4	0	2	8	3
1970	Quarter-finals	4	2	1	1	10	1
1971	Champions	6	5	1	0	12	1
1972	Champions	6	6	0	0	20	0
Total	9/9	49	37	8	4	138	14

• Champions* : Title shared
• DNP : Did Not Participate
• DNQ : Did Not Qualify

OFC U-20 Championship

Edition	Round	MP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1985	Runners-up	5	3	1	1	15	6
1986	Runners-up	4	2	2	0	11	3

South American Youth Championship

Edition	Round	MP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1988	Group Phase	5	3	0	2	6	4

UEFA European Under-19 Championship

Edition	Round	MP	W	D*	L	GF	GA
1992	Did not qualify
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997	Group phase	3	0	1	2	1	6
1998	Did not qualify
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014	Group Stage	3	0	0	3	1	8
2015	Did not qualify
2016
2017
2018	To be determined
2019

Honours

• AFC U-19 Championship:
  • Winners (6): 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1972
  • Third Place (1): 1968
  • Fourth Place (1): 1969
• OFC Championship:
  • Runners-up (2): 1985, 1986

Current squad

This squad is the squad selection for the Exhibition game against Netherlands on 14 October 2019.

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
Goalkeepers
1	GK	Omer Nir'on	April 17, 2001	11	0	Bnei Yehuda
18	GK	Sharif Kaiouf	June 25, 2001	5	0	Hapoel Kfar Shalem
Defenders
3	DF	Nir Drori	December 25, 2001	5	1	Ironi Kiryat Shmona
4	DF	Dan Lugasi	February 27, 2001	6	0	Hapoel Hadera
5	DF	Ronny Laufer	February 18, 2001	7	0	Maccabi Haifa
13	DF	Shalev Avitan	March 15, 2001	4	0	Sektzia Nes Tziona
15	DF	Nadav Nidam	April 11, 2001	5	2	Hapoel Tel Aviv
17	DF	Itamar Efrat	October 2, 2001	3	0	Hapoel Tel Aviv
20	DF	Tom Ahi Mordechai	May 9, 2001	4	0	Hapoel Kfar Shalem
Midfielders
2	MF	Guy Mizrahi	March 30, 2001	5	0	Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam
6	MF	Mohamad Ghadir	January 10, 2001	6	0	Maccabi Haifa
7	MF	Ido Shahar	August 20, 2001	9	0	Hapoel Haifa
8	MF	Bar Cohen	March 10, 2001	5	0	Hapoel Haifa
14	MF	Roy Korine	September 10, 2002	4	1	Maccabi Netanya
16	MF	Amit Meir	January 7, 2001	7	0	Maccabi Petah Tikva
Forwards
9	FW	Liel Abada	October 3, 2001	12	4	Maccabi Petah Tikva
10	FW	Ibrahim Gobara	January 3, 2001	7	0	Hapoel Iksal
11	FW	Osher Davida	February 18, 2001	7	0	Maccabi Ironi Bat Yam
12	FW	Abdallah Abu Abaid	December 14, 2001	5	0	Hapoel Kfar Shalem
19	FW	Stav Nachmani	October 6, 2001	2	0	Maccabi Haifa

Recent results

14 February 2017 Friendly	Cyprus	0-3	Israel	Haifa
11:00		Report

28 February 2017 Friendly	Ukraine	1-3	Israel	Haifa
11:00		Report

2 March 2017 Friendly	Ukraine	0-1	Israel	Haifa
13:00		Report

22 March 2017 Friendly	Bulgaria	1-1	Israel	Haifa
20:00		Report

See also

• UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship
• Israel national football team
• Israel national under-21 football team
• Israel national under-18 football team
• Israel national under-17 football team

References

1. The Israeli Youth Team to the Luxembourg World Championship Herut, 17 November 1957, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
2. The English Youth Team Bested Israel (3:1) Herut 21 May 1962, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
3. Israel Youth Repaid the English in the Haifa Match – 2:1 Shlomo Mozar, Davar, 23 May 1962, Historical Jewish Press (in Hebrew)
4. Time is right for Israel to return to its Asian roots James Montague, 27 February 2008, The Guardian
5. Winter U-18/U-17 Tournament in Israel RSSSF