Israel – Belarus

The Israelis will do everything to win and finish second in the group

After five rounds played, qualifying Group I is becoming one of the most competitive formats. Even Switzerland, which started qualification with three confident victories, faltered in the last matches and finished them in a draw. The Swiss team is now in first place, but has only a two-point advantage over Romania and a three-point advantage over Israel. Belarus was not and is not on the list of contenders for a trip to UEFA EURO 2024, but the last two rounds brought this team a total of four points, which makes us pay attention to it. The first meeting with Israel was held on neutral territory and brought Kondratiev's wards a bitter defeat. Belarus won from the 16th minute of the game, but conceded two crucial goals in the 85th minute. Bookmakers consider the hosts as favourites for the upcoming match with odds of 1.40 on the victory. Alon Hazan's wards showed themselves quite well in the qualifying for the World Cup, missing only Scotland and Denmark. The scourge of the Israeli team was their defensive play, which resulted in an average of two goals conceded per game. That said, Israel's success in the Nations League has been systematic. The Israelis played their first tournament in League C, the next two - in League B, and the next one will start in League A - the company of the strongest national teams in Europe. In the current qualifying tournament, Hazan's team is conducting at a good level, losing only an away game to Switzerland. Last Saturday, Israel drew the match with Romania in Bucharest, and with a win over Belarus, they can break into the coveted second place. Belarus has become one of the worst teams in Europe in recent years. In the 2021 World Cup qualification, the Belarusian squad finished last in one of the weakest qualifying groups, leaving behind even Estonia. The team's failures continued in 2022, when in the same company with Slovakia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, it failed to win a single game, dropping into League D to teams of the level of Gibraltar and San Marino. Belarus started to show signs of life in the current qualification only in June, when it beat Kosovo. The Belarusians drew 0-0 in Andorra last Saturday, but Israel are a more threatening force at home. The visitors are unlikely to pick up at least one point.