Israel will be in Group F with Denmark, Austria, Scotland (who Israel faced in both Nations Leagues), Faroe Islands, and Moldova. There will be three matchdays in March, none in June because of Euro 2020 that was postponed to 2021, three in September, two in October, two in November, and the playoffs will be in March 2022. There are ten groups, with A through E having five teams and F through J having six teams. https://editorial.uefa.com/resources/0264-1108c702e548-758110ebe57c-1000/draw_result_sheet.pdf has the groups. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification_–_UEFA_Group_F is for Israel's group. Neither UEFA nor Wikipedia wrote anything about when the schedule will be made, and https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/sports hasn't written anything about the draw. Israel's was 37th of 55 in UEFA in the November 2020 FIFA Rankings, which put them in Pot 4.
A day after the draw, the schedule was announced. Israel has two home games and trip to Moldova in March. After a trip to Faroe Islands to start September, Israel will host Austria and go to Denmark. The third consecutive hard game will be the first game in October at Scotland. Two of the last three are easy by hosting Moldova in October and going to Austria and hosting Faroe Islands in November. Four of the five games from third through seventh will be away. All games will start at 9:45 P.M. Israel/8:45 P.M. CET for Matchdays 1, 9, and 10 and 8:45 P.M. CEST for Matchdays 2-8/2:45 P.M. USA Eastern except for two games that will start 2 hours 45 minutes earlier, meaning 7:00 P.M./6:00 P.M./12:00 P.M. That includes Israel's game at Scotland on October 9. Here is the schedule: March 25: Israel vs. Denmark, Moldova vs. Faroe Islands, and Scotland vs. Austria March 28: Denmark vs. Moldova, Austria vs. Faroe Islands, and Israel vs. Scotland March 31: Austria vs. Denmark, Moldova vs. Israel, and Scotland vs. Faroe Islands September 1: Denmark vs. Scotland, Faroe Islands vs. Israel, and Moldova vs. Austria September 4: Faroe Islands vs. Denmark, Israel vs. Austria, and Scotland vs. Moldova September 7: Austria vs. Scotland, Denmark vs. Israel, and Faroe Islands vs. Moldova October 9: Scotland vs. Israel, Faroe Islands vs. Austria, and Moldova vs. Denmark October 12: Denmark vs. Austria, Faroe Islands vs. Scotland, and Israel vs. Moldova November 12: Austria vs. Israel, Denmark vs. Faroe Islands, and Moldova vs. Scotland November 15: Austria vs. Moldova, Israel vs. Faroe Islands, and Scotland vs. Denmark Faroe Islands and Iceland are defined as "hard winter," meaning they cannot host in March or November. That's why Faroe Islands has three away, five at home, and two away. March 25 is 106 days after today. November 15 is 235 days after March 25.. November 15 is 341 days after today.
I didn't know Faroe Islands couldn't host during those months. I think if Israel can get away with a draw against Denmark and maybe a win over Scotland, they'll have good prospects. They have to at least get a draw with Scotland to keep their hopes alive. Denmark should top the group with relative ease. Kasper Schmeichel is going to be a tough keeper to beat and I expect them to keep a lot of clean sheets. Austria and Scotland have a number of players at top clubs, competing at the highest levels (Sabitzer, Alaba, Robertson, McTominay, etc). This is where Israel is at a major disadvantage, but if Weissman finds his feet with Israel, maybe they can upset the odds.
https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/follow-thursday-s-qualifiers-live# says: "Israel 0-2 Denmark Denmark laid down an early marker in Group F with an accomplished performance and deserved victory in Tel Aviv. The game's first goal came from Martin Braithwaite, and it was one to savour. The Barcelona striker spun and outpaced his marker, racing in on goal before coolly scooping the ball over the advancing Ofir Marciano. Jonas Wind grabbed a second midway through the second half, punishing hesitant defending from Hatem Abd Elhamed, and the Danes held Israel at bay to record their 11th clean sheet in their last 15 internationals." The other games in Group F were Moldova 1-1 Faroe Islands and Scotland 2-2 Austria, so Israel is last, and Israel could lose hosting Scotland.
This version of the Danish NT is pretty tough to score goal against and almost impossible to beat. In fact, they have only lost 2 of their past 43 games in a row, and both defeats were to Belgium.
Israel 1-1 Scotland Dor Peretz scored in the 44th minute, and Israel had the only 3 shots on goal of the first half. Scotland equalized in the 56th and had the only 3 shots on goal of the second half. The other games were Denmark 8-0 Moldova and Austria 3-1 Faroe Islands. Denmark has 6 points, Austria has 4, Scotland has 2, and the bottom three have 1. Faroe Islands are fourth with -2 and 2 goals scored, Israel is fifth with -2 and 1 goal scored, and Moldova is sixth with -8. I knew Israel won't qualify, but it's still disappointing to get 1 point from two home games. The third matchday of this set has Israel go to Moldova. If Israel wins, they will pass the loser of Scotland vs. Faroe Islands, and pass both of them if it's a draw. Israel will pass Austria if they make up 5 goal differential or make up 4 goal differential with a lot of goals scored. Austria hosts Denmark. Those games are on Wednesday 31 March.
Adding to that, then the Denmark NT coach had made no less than 10 changes to the starting 11 in compare with the 2-0 away win in Israel, only with Schmeichel getting to play from start in both games. So it was a Denmark reserve team+ that beat Moldova 8-0
Moldova 1-4 Israel Moldova took the lead in the 29th, and Eran Zahavi equalized in the 45+2nd. Moldova got a straight red in the 50th, and Israel scored in the 57th, 64th, and 66th. Israel had 67 percent of the possession, more shots (21 to 11), and more shots on goal (8 to 4). The other games were Austria 0-4 Denmark and Scotland 4-0 Faroe Islands. Denmark has 9 points, Scotland has 5, Israel has 4 and +1, Austria has 4 and -2, Faroe Islands has 1 and -6, and Moldova has 1 and -11. In terms of opponents' difficulty, Israel has 4 of 7 remaining games away, but they still host Moldova and have both games with Faroe Islands. Euro 2020 will be in the summer. Israel's next game is at Faroe Islands on September 1. If Israel beats Faroe Islands and wins hosting Austria, they will have a chance at finishing second to get a playoff the qualify. If Israel is in contention with one game left, they host Faroe Islands while Scotland hosts Denmark. Denmark won 2-0, 8-0, and 4-0, so I'm assuming they will finish first.
Denmark were always going to be favorites in this group. At this rate I won't be surprised if they finish qualifying without conceding a goal and with the most goals scored of any other team in qualifying. It would be wonderful if Kasper Schmeichel were at United. What a keeper. The draw against Scotland was a good result overall. It still gives Israel hope. They're doing about as well as can be expected of them for now.
Here is the upcoming schedule with all games at 9:45 P.M. Israel/8:45 P.M. CET/2:45 USA Eastern: Wednesday September 1: Denmark (9 points) vs. Scotland (5 points) Faroe Islands (1 point) vs. Israel (4 points) Moldova (1 point) vs. Austria (4 points) Saturday September 4: Faroe Islands vs. Denmark Israel vs. Austria Scotland vs. Moldova Tuesday September 7: Austria vs. Scotland Denmark vs. Israel Faroe Islands vs. Moldova Israel needs to win home games against good teams. After losing 2-0 hosting Denmark and drawing 1-1 hosting Scotland, Israel needs to win hosting Austria. If Israel beats Faroe Islands and Austria and loses at Denmark, Israel will have 10 points from 6 games, which is not good in terms of qualifying, and Israel's last four games include trips to Scotland and Austria. If Israel doesn't win their next two games, at the halfway point I will give up on qualification and expect them to finish fourth. Austria lost 4-0 hosting Denmark, so winning at Austria is possible. In the FIFA Rankings, Denmark is 11th, Austria is 23rd, Scotland is 49th, Israel is 81st, Faroe Islands is 114th, and Moldova is 175th. In order to qualify, Israel must finish above Austria who is 58 spots higher and Scotland who is 32 spots higher. In ELO Ratings, Denmark is 9th, Austria is 28th, Scotland is tied for 49th, Israel is 57th, Faroe Islands is 144th, and Moldova is 153rd. Therefore ELO gives Israel a higher chance of qualifying than FIFA. If you are in the USA and pay for ESPN Plus, you can watch all of the qualifiers from UEFA. https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/007615d9-6bc6-4525-9b52-92bc74281a83 will have Israel's game at Faroe Islands tomorrow.
Israel is improving and I don't think Scotland is any better when looking at their squad, which has quite a lot of players from the Scottish PL and players who perhaps are top English Championship level but not really regular starters in the English PL or top-4 league level. Austria is more or less an average looking German Bundesliga side with very few players from other top-5 leagues. The reason Denmark is on top is not really because of an "Eriksen" or Star quality names, but because of the key regular starters and top-5 league depth and that they are more than a highly solid unit, experienced at playing at top level abroad in highly different top leagues (mainly England, Italy, Spain and Germany) which makes them highly flexible and add a kind of a tactical advantage. In fact, since the year 2000, Denmark have only lost 1 out of 6 games vs. Germany, so the rankings that have Denmark above Germany are not really getting it wrong, though most people probably would think so because Germany is a much bigger country. Denmark do not really have a "Ronaldo" or "Messi" , but "only" the likes of a Schmeichel (who do not want to play for a bigger club unless he gets an offer from Man United), Kjær (rated among the 2 best CB's last season in the Italian Serie A by La Gazzetta dello Sport), a highly flexible Christensen (Chelsea) who can play both as CB and in central midfield and likewise Pierre-Emile Højbjerg who can play both as a DM and a creative attacking midfielder and young fairly unknown (before the Euro-20) players from the top-5 leagues, like (the Eriksen "replacement") Damsgaard and Mæhle ... Denmark has been doing great at U-21 level the past many years, and the next generation (besides Damsgaard and Mæhle) you are going to know about is CB Victor Nelsson, AMF Mohamed Daramy (newly sigend by Ajax), the only 18-yo Denmark U-21 international Wahid Faghir (who has just been signed by VfB Stuttgart) and in my opinion, the U-21 NT winger Gustav Isaksen who is still playing for my sworn "enemy" Midtjylland, but I have to admit is just brilliant.
https://www.flashscore.com/match/xOdiqwcJ/#match-summary says: "Currently off World Cup qualification (WCQ) Group F’s bottom spot on goal difference only, the Faroe Islands (D1, L2) come into this fixture as clear underdogs. That is a familiar tag for the nation currently ranked 114th by FIFA, and an unlikely win here would hand them just an eighth victory in 74 WCQ matches, and their first since September 2017. Despite their poor reputation, the Faroe Islands are on an upward trajectory by their own standards, as in terms of WCQ action, the ‘Landsliðið’ have lost just two of their previous five home fixtures. Plus, instant entertainment is usually a given here, as four of the Faroe Islands’ previous five home matches overall have produced over 1.5 goals before HT. Israel have eyes on qualifying for a first World Cup since 1970, and have made a solid start in their pursuit of doing so (W1, D1, L1). While sterner tests lie ahead, Israel will be eager to prove themselves, as the 1998 World Cup qualifiers (3rd – eliminated) mark the last occasion on which they managed to win at least half of their fixtures in a WCQ campaign. The visitors’ most recent WCQ assignment saw them register a commanding 4-1 rout of Moldova, and they followed that up with another impressive win away (3-1) vs Montenegro in a June friendly. Striking an early blow will likely be key for Israel, as they have ultimately won each of the previous five occasions where they’ve scored first as visitors. Players to watch: Faroe Islands forward Klæmint Olsen has scored a brace in each of his previous home appearances for both club and country. Mu'nas Dabbur scored in his last Israel appearance, and he’s started the season well for Hoffenheim, with two goals across his first four competitive appearances. Hot stat: Israel have finished third in four of their last six completed WCQ campaigns." Israel should root for Denmark to beat Scotland and Moldova to beat Austria. Moldova is very unlikely to win, but even a draw would help Israel. Scotland got a draw in Israel, and if they win or draw in Denmark, it will be really hard for Israel to finish above Denmark or Scotland. 15 of today's 19 qualifiers are at about the same time, with 12 of the 13 in UEFA starting at 8:45 P.M. CET/2:45 P.M. USA Eastern, and 3 of 6 in Africa starting 15 minutes later.
Israel leads 2-0 at halftime. Eran Zahavi scored in the 12th to break a tie with Yossi Benayoun for second in career goals for Israel, and Zahavi scored in the 44th to go up 2-0 and make 26 goals for Israel at age 34. Denmark leads Scotland 2-0. Moldova vs. Austria is scoreless in the 24th, and the start was delayed.
Zahavi had stoppage time goal for a hat trick in a 4-0 win. Denmark beat Scotland 2-0. Austria beat Moldova 2-0.
Israel 5-2 Austria Israel scored in the 5th, Austria thought they equalized in the 8th but VAR called a handball to take it away, Israel scored in the 20th, Israel scored in the 33rd, Austria scored in the 42n, Austria scored in the 55th to go down 3-2, Israel scored in the 59th, and Israel scored in the 90th. Eran Zahavi scored in the 33rd and 90th. Austria dominated first half shots 14 to 3 before each team had 6 in the second half to finish 20 to 9. Austria had 57 percent of the possession, 59.7 percent of the attempted passes, and 61.5 percent of the completed passes. Israel had 60 percent of the free kicks and corner kicks combined, which were free kicks 14 to 9, and corner kicks 4 to 3. For a while Israel's only 4 shots were goals. Each team had 7 shots on goal. Denmark had a hard time scoring at Faroe Islands. Faroe Islands went down a man in the 84th, and Denmark scored the only goal in the 85th. Scotland won 1-0 hosting Moldova. At the halfway point each team has played each team once, which I like. The standings are: Denmark: 15 points, 17 goals scored, 0 goals allowed Israel: 10 points, 14 goals scored, 6 goals allowed Scotland: 8 points, 8 goals scored, 5 goals allowed Austria: 7 points, 9 goals scored, 12 goals allowed Faroe Islands: 1 point, 2 goals scored, 13 goals allowed Moldova: 1 point, 2 goals scored, 16 goals allowed If Israel finishes tied for second, they could win the goal differential tiebreaker. Austria lost 3-0 today and 4-0 hosting Denmark to hurt their goal differential. On Tuesday, Israel is at Denmark, Austria hosts Scotland, and Faroe Islands hosts Moldova. If Denmark beats Israel, and Austria wins or draws, second through fourth will be separated by 2 points. If Austria loses they will be 4 points behind second with 4 games left unless Israel wins in which case Austria would be 6 points behind second.
FIFA's daily World Cup Qualifying scores page says "Big wins for the likes of Israel, Serbia and the Netherlands." They tweeted "Israel boost hopes in 7-goal thriller." https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/s...-austria-in-world-cup-qualifying-match-678724 is titled "Israel wins 5-2 against Austria in World Cup qualifying match." Israel coach Willi Ruttensteiner is Austrian. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/s...-qualifying-with-duel-at-faroe-islands-678296 is titled "Israel resumes World Cup qualifying with duel at Faroe Islands." It was written before any September games, and coach Willi Ruttensteiner made the game at Faroe Islands sound hard.
Amazing win over Austria. Congratulations. Denmark look to be in the best form of any team in qualifying, but Faroes almost threw a banana skin (despite being part of Denmark).
It should said that the Danish NT coach was resting regular starters and had made no less than 9 changes to the starting 11 in compare with the 2-0 vs Scotland, players who will be back for the game vs Israel. In any case, as you wrote, the Faroe Islands is a tiny province of the Kingdom of Denmark that kind of "masquerade" as a country of it's own, so they hardly ever play against each other unless they have to, and Denmark would never want them to suffer a a real humiliating defeat.
Denmark 5-0 Israel Shots on goal were 9 to 0. Nobody scored more than once. Thank you Ceres for saying how many changes Denmark made against Faroe Islands. The other games were Austria 0-1 Scotland and Faroe Islands 2-1 Moldova. In the 90+2nd, Austria got the ball in the goal, but it was offside. The standings through 6 of 10 games are: Denmark: 18 points, 22 goals scored, 0 goals allowed, +22 Scotland: 11 points, 9 goals scored, 5 goals allowed, +4 Israel: 10 points, 14 goals scored, 11 goals allowed, +3 Austria: 7 points, 9 goals scored, 13 goals allowed, -4 Faroe Islands: 4 points, 4 goals scored, 14 goals allowed, -10 Moldova: 1 point, 3 goals scored, 18 goals allowed, -15 If Israel draws at Scotland and Austria, and wins hosting Moldova and Faroe Islands, Israel will finish with 18 points. If Scotland wins at Faroe Islands and Moldova, draws hosting Israel, and loses hosting Denmark, they will have 18 points. Austria could be eliminated next month. If Scotland wins hosting Israel and at Faroe Islands, and Austria loses at Denmark, Austria will be eliminated from the top two, but they won't be eliminated because their Nations League performance will qualify them for the playoffs if other group winners finish in the top two. Austria is 23rd in the FIFA Rankings and 14th in UEFA, so they're doing worse than expected. Denmark's goal different is on pace for +37. In World Cup 2018 Qualifying, Germany was the only perfect team in UEFA, and they led UEFA with a +39 goal differential. England and Spain tied for the fewest goals allowed with 3. Denmark is done playing Israel, who has the next most goals scored.
Israel gained 22.11 FIFA Ranking points, which was the most in UEFA and third most in the world. Israel moved up one spot to 80th. Israel is a much better 50th in ELO.
Scotland 1-2 Israel in the 55th minute Eran Zahavi scored again, which gave Israel the lead in the 5th. John McGinn equalized in the 30th. Munas Dabbur scored in the 32nd, and Ofir Marciano saved Lyndon Dykes's penalty kick in the 44th to let Israel keep the lead. Scott McTominay, who I'm used to playing midfield for Manchester United (who I like) is playing defense, and even with him Scotland started only three defenders according to https://www.flashscore.com/match/r91H6cy1/#match-summary/lineups as they used a 3-5-2 formation. Israel used a 4-3-3, so they used 3 forwards in a game at a good team. In addition to Zahavi and Dabbur, Nir Bitton started at forward. Zahavi entered today tied with Poland and Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski for third in UEFA with 6 goals. Lewandowski gets to host San Marino today, while leaders Memphis Depay of Netherlands and Alexander Mitrovic of Serbia have played their fourth-to-last game. If Israel holds on; wins hosting Moldova and Faroe Islands; and gets more, the same amount, or 1 fewer point at Austria than Scotland gets hosting Denmark; Israel will finish second. I don't expect Israel to win two playoff rounds to qualify. Since they joined UEFA, Israel has finished third or worse in all seven World Cup Qualifying groups and all seven Euro groups except for finishing second in their group for Euro 2000 and losing the playoff to Denmark 5-0 and 3-0. Even if Denmark is qualified before they end against Scotland, I hope Denmark uses their best players to try to win every game and/or to help their FIFA Ranking to help their World Cup draw pot. Edit: Scotland equalized.
Scott McTominay scored his first goal for Scotland off a corner kick in the 90+4th minute to win 3-2. Scotland dominated second half shots 10 to 1. Dangerous attacks for the game were 63 to 19. Israel now needs Scotland to not beat Moldova and/or Faroe Islands. Israel hosts Moldova on Tuesday.
In 7 games, Israel has scored 16 goals and 14 allowed 14 goals. Eran Zahavi is in a three-way tie for the most goals in UEFA with 7. Of the 55 teams in UEFA, Israel and Turkey are the only teams averaging at least 2 goals scored and at least 2 goals allowed. Only five teams are averaging at least 1.5 goals scored and at least 1.5 goals allowed. The others are Czech Republic, Estonia, and Hungary. Israel is tied for the fourth most combined goals scored and goals allowed.
Eran Zahavi scored the first goal of Israel's 2-1 win hosting Moldova. Moldova had more shots, more shots on goal, and scored in the 90+5th minute while down a man. Israel has 13 points from 8 games. Scotland scored in the 86th minute to win at Faroe Islands. Scotland leads Israel with 4 points with 2 games left, and Israel needs to win at Austria, win hosting Moldova, have Scotland not win at Moldova, and have Scotland lose hosting Denmark.