Having narrowly failed to qualify for the 1990 world cup finals, Israel had no major tournaments to qualify for until the 1994 world cup. As they had entered the UEFA committee, in future major tournaments, they were to compete against fellow European nations for a position in the major tournaments. All of their friendlies in the early 1990’s were against European opposition. In May 1990, they played the European Championship runners up, USSR, and managed a 3-2 victory. They did not play any matches in the year 1991. In 1992 they played many friendly matches, including a 2-1 victory at home to Cyprus and a great 2-0 away win against Iceland.
In October 1992, Israel played their first match for qualification of the 1994 world cup finals. They could not have got off to a more disastrous opening; they were shattered 5-2 away at Austria. The following month they faced Sweden at home, this time they were beaten 3-1, qualification already seemed impossible. Their two next matches were home ties against Bulgaria and France. They continued their poor run by losing 2-0 and 4-0 respectively. Israel travelled to Sofia in May 1993, earning a respectful 2-2 draw against a decent Bulgarian side. Their darkest hour during qualification came in Stockholm, against Sweden. They were hammered 5-0 and now considered one of the worst sides in Europe. Israel reasonably improved in their final few matches, earning credible draws against Finland and Austria. Their final match of the group, against France, produced a shock 3-2 victory for the Israeli’s, to this day this is considered one of Israel’s greatest ever football performances.
Israel played a string of friendly matches in practicing for Euro 96 qualification. It included home wins over Georgia and the Ukraine; however a 3-0 defeat against Argentina did not help. payday loans online . mugen HLI-I515XL battery