Israel competed at the AFC Asian Cup four times. In 1956 and 1960 Israel finished second, in 1964 they finished first, and in 1968 they finished third.Asian Nations Cup In 1972 Israel qualified for the tournament as hosts but later had to withdraw.Israel was one of the founding members of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) following its own independence in 1948 (prior to that it played under the banner of the "British Mandate of Palestine"). After the 1974 Asian Games in Iran, and Israel's 0–1 tense loss to Iran in the finals, Kuwait and other Muslim and Arab countries refused to play them. Following this, Israel were expelled from the confederation and spent a few years trying to qualify from such continental bodies as the OFC (Oceania), before eventually joining UEFA (Europe) officially.
Record
AFC Asian Cup recordYearRoundPositionGPWD*LGSGA 1956Runners-up2nd320165 1960Runners-up2nd320164 1964Champions1st330051 1968Third Place3rd4202115 1972WithdrewTotalChampions4/15139042815
Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.
1956 AFC Asian Cup Israel competed at the 1956 AFC Asian Cup. This was the first AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s first appearance.Asian Cup: Know Your History – Part One (1956-1988)
Team321096+35320165+14302167−12301269−31
With four goals, Nahum Stelmach is the top scorer in the tournament. 4 goals Nahum Stelmach
2 goals Yehoshua Glazer
Head coach: Jackie Gibbons
1960 AFC Asian Cup Israel competed at the 1960 AFC Asian Cup. This was the second AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s second appearance.
Qualification – Western Zone Team6321108+2863121210+276213810–25620479–24
Tournament results Team330091+86320164+24310222023003212−100
Goal scorers 2 goals Shlomo Levi 1 goal Amnon Aharonskind Rafi Levi Avraham Menchel Nahum Stelmach
Squad
Head coach: Gyula Mándi
1964 AFC Asian Cup Israel competed at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. This was the third AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s third appearance.
Host nation The tournament used a round-robin system with the winners from the West, Central 1 and 2 and East Asia zones and the team from the host nation (Israel) competing for the title. 11 of the 16 nations withdrew including Iran and Japan with the result that only one zone (combined Central 1 and 2) played any qualifying matches and the 'winners' of 2 zones and host Israel qualified uncontested. In this diminished competition Israel won the title with three wins.
Venues
Ramat Gan Haifa Tel Aviv Jerusalem Ramat Gan Stadium Kiryat Eliezer Stadium Bloomfield Stadium Hebrew University Stadium Capacity: 41,583 Capacity: 17,000 Capacity: 22,000 Capacity: 16,000
Qualification Israel as the host nation automatically qualified for the tournament.Asian Nations Cup 1964
Tournament results Teamwidth=25width=25width=25width=25width=25width=25330051+46320153+24310224−22300315−40
Goal scorers 2 goals Mordechai Spiegler
1 goal Yohai Aharoni Moshe Leon Gideon Tish
Squad
Head coach: Yosef Merimovich
1968 AFC Asian Cup Israel competed at the 1968 AFC Asian Cup. This was the fourth AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s fourth and last appearance.
After the 1968 tournament Israel did not compete in a regional football tournament for many years. Israel was expelled from the AFC in the early 1970s and eventually became a member of UEFA. After joining the UEFA Israel began competing in the UEFA European Championship in 1996.
Qualification – West Zone 1 Israel qualified for the tournament by default after all other teams in their zone withdrew from the tournament.Asian Nations Cup 1968
Tournament results Team4400112+98421154+154202115+644022310−724013211−91
Goal scorers With 4 goals, Giora Spiegel and Moshe Romano of Israel tied with Homayoun Behzadi of Iran as the top scorers of the tournament.
4 goals Giora Spiegel Moshe Romano
2 goals Mordechai Spiegler
1 goal Shmuel Rosenthal
Squad
Head coach: Milovan Ćirić
See also AFC Asian Cup qualifiers#All-time table Israel at the Asian Games Israel at the FIFA World Cup
References