Israel downed Moldova 4-1 as Roy Revivo scored a brace for his first two goals in international play to help the blue-and-white to the World Cup qualifying win and finish the campaign on a high note despite not advancing to the next round of play. Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon’s side finished their qualification Group I with a record of 4-4 good for first place with 12 points, behind first place Norway who ended their campaign perfect with 24 points and eased into this summer’s World Cup while Italy came in second with 18 points and advanced to the Playoff Round. Estonia and Moldova finished the group in 4th and 5th places respectively as Israel will now ready for Nations League play in 2026.

Israel started off with a number of chances and finally broke through when Eliel Peretz was pulled down at the top of the box earning Sergiu Perciun a red card and handing Dor Turgeman a penalty that the striker promptly put into the back of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.

Dan Bitton missed a pair of prime chances, which opened the door for Ion Nicolaescu to find the back of the goal with a right footed stunner to draw Moldova even at 1-1. Gaby Kanichowsky had a wonderful chance to out Israel back into the dead but first he hit the bar and then he put the ball into a defender as the half ended all knotted up at 1-1.

The blue-and-white poured on the offense at the start of the second half with chances by Dor Peretz and Oscar Gloukh all coming close while Moldova also had a couple of attempts on the Israeli goal. However, Ran Ben Shimon’s squad finally broke through when Roy Revivo pounced on a loose ball in the box after Turgeman’s shot went off the post and put it past the Moldovan keeper Emil Timbur to give Israel a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute.

Israel kept pushing for an insurance goal with a number of set piece opportunities but those came up short, but as time wound down, Eliel Peretz sent a gorgeous strike into the back of the goal while Revivo scored from an almost impossible angle for a 4-1 lead to finish off the campaign on a high note.

Head Coach Ran Ben Shimon gave his thoughts on the win, “If you don’t allow the opponent to control the game you will be able to get something out of your efforts. That is what happened as we moved the ball from side to side and played very well in the second half to secure the win.”