Israel fell to Italy 5-4 in a thriller of a FIFA World Cup qualifier that saw the blue-and-white take the lead twice, fall behind by a pair of goals, draw even during second half injury time but concede the winning goal almost seconds later in a heartbreaker in Debrecen, Hungary. The defeat drops Ran Ben Shimon’s squad to third place in Group I behind Italy but level on points with 9 while Norway sits in first place with 12 points giving Israel very little chance to advance to the 2026 World Cup with 3 matches remaining.

Israel jumped out to the lead when Eli Dasa fed Dan Bitton just to the left of the goal who then sent the ball in front of the net but was accidently knocked in by a diving Manuel Locatelli for an own goal and a 1-0 advantage. However, Moise Kean scored his first of two markers with a low liner to the left post and past a helpless Daniel Peretz to head into the break all knotted up at 1-1.

Manor Solomon’s individual effort ran circles around the Italian defense as Dor Peretz blasted the go ahead goal in the 50th minute but was quickly cancelled out less than two minutes later when Kean sent a stunner into the Israel goal for his second strike to draw even at 2-2. Italy pressed for the go ahead goal and found it in the 58th minute when Mateo Retegui’s cheeky backheel in the box found Matteo Politano who easily beat Peretz for a 3-2 lead.

As Israel pressed for the equalizer with solid chances by Solomon and Peretz, both sides made wholesale substitutions to freshen up their lineups but it was Italy who added to their lead when Giacomo Raspadori tapped the ball into the goal to go up 4-2 in the 81st minute.

However, Ben Shimon’s charges continued to push forward and Roy Revivo’s cross in front of the goal caromed off of Alessandro Bastoni and right by keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to cut the gap to just one goal. Israel’s continuous efforts paid off when Dor Peretz headed home the equalizer just as the clock struck the 90th minute to level the game at 4-4 heading into injury time.

But just as the blue-and-white had settled down from the euphoria of tying the match up, Sandro Tonali took a long shot from way outside of the box that skipped past everyone and into the goal as Italy took the lead for good and wrapped up the stunning win.

Israel Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon spoke about what he had witnessed following the contest, “It’s hard to analyze this game. I feel like we have amazing guys who are very serious, but at the end of the day, it’s the result, the victory and the defeat that counts, but there were so many small victories here. There were a lot of things we gained from the players in this game and what needs to be fixed, we will fix. It stinks to concede five goals, but the way we saw the team play is how we want them too as they were extremely brave. All of our promises and talk about a path and a journey for constant improvement is what we saw on the field today.”

Ben Shimon added, “We need to know how to accept the good and the bad from this game. Coaches usually don’t like these types of results, but we have character and a team that doesn’t give up for a second on the pitch and wants to play quality and positive football. I’m sure that even if we’re upset right now, the entire team is constantly moving forward and that’s how we are building success.”

Italy’s Head Coach Gennaro Gattuso commented about the clash from his point of view, “It was a nightmare. They surprised us a bit at the beginning, but every time we went ahead we caused them problems. This game was crazy because we conceded ridiculous goals. We are too fragile, but that is not a criticism of the players, that is my problem. Credit must be given to the guys who had the strength to respond.”

Manor Solomon also gave his thoughts about the game, “I’m both disappointed and proud at the same time, we led twice and came back to draw even at 4-4 against the Italian team. We showed that we don’t break until the very last moment, but ultimately we lost and that’s disappointing.”

“On a personal level, I’m trying to lead the team as much as I can and give everything I have. I had cramps in the last few minutes that slowed me down. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but we have a lot to take from this game and we showed a lot for the next game against them. I saw how we played and we won’t give up until the last second. We’ll get to Italy and Norway and win there. Don’t eulogize us just yet.”

Keeper Daniel Peretz shared his feelings after the defeat, “I’m very, very disappointed with the result. Just the fact that we felt how much we were there and how much we were able to play head-to-head with them. I felt for most of the game that we were even the better team. It hurts but I’m very, very proud of the players that are here on this team.”

“Obviously it’s a delusion that we scored four goals and lost. It was a delusional game, with so many goals and comebacks, but that’s why football is the most beloved sport in the world. As a goalkeeper, to concede five goals is very frustrating, especially when your team scores four goals. We’ll do all the analysis we need and we’ll want to improve.”