There have been so, so many times that Israel soccer has come up short. Whether it has been in World Cup qualifying, European Championship qualifying or most recently the UEFA Nations League, time and time again the blue-and-white have always found a way to disappoint.

However at about 2am early Sunday morning, a group of young, up and coming Israeli footballers put all of that to bed as the Under-20 team punched their ticket to the Round of 16 at the World Cup with a 2-1 win over Japan.

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds and head coach Ofir Haim’s squad needed to battle plenty of adversity in their third and final group stage game against Japan, but somehow, they had the wherewithal to find that resilience on the South American pitch to do the absolute unthinkable.

Despite giving up a goal at one of the worst times in a soccer game and then being issued a red card, Israel looked doomed, but with Haim’s charges, anything is possible.

Israel entered their last group contest having fallen to Colombia in dramatic fashion 2-1 having conceded in the 90th minute and then drew 1-1 against Senegal giving up a 1-0 lead in the 80th minute to split the points.

With just a lone point in their first two games, the blue-and-white knew that they had pretty much no choice but to beat Japan in game three in order to leap frog them into second place in Group C and earn a spot in the Round of 16.

Sure, Haim’s squad could have drawn and then hoped that they would have had one of the best third place records to see if they would advance to the knockout rounds. But anytime you don’t control your own destiny, you just never know what will be the outcome and that takes the power out of your own hands.

Israel knew that only a win would do in Mendoza to guarantee that they will make history and that is exactly what they did.

As kickoff loomed at midnight in Israel and 6pm local time in Argentina, the blue-and-white stumbled out of the gate as Japan controlled the pace of play right from the get go. Chance after chance the Island nation had, but keeper Tomer Tzarfati made the saves whether it was diving to the right on the ground or in the air to the left in order to keep the ball out of the goal. The Maccabi Netanya shot stopper almost singlehandedly kept Haim’s team in the game and even gave them a chance to take a lead just ahead of the break but Dor Turgeman just came up short in the 44th minute.

Israel looked to take that momentum into halftime, but in typical fashion the tables turned just as the whistle was about to be blown when Isa Sakamoto headed home a poor clearance attempt by Or Israelov off a free kick to give Japan a 1-0 lead after 45 minutes.

Haim made a number of wholesale substitutions over the opening quarter hour of the second half but Ran Binyamin who entered the fray in the 60th minute received a yellow card five minute later and then was issued his second after a reckless tackle in the 68th minute as Israel’s situation went from bad to worse. After being reduced to 10-men over the final 20 or so minutes, it looked as if Haim’s crew would be heading home after not getting out of the group stages.

But somehow, this group of scrappy young footballers, with their never say die attitude found a way to make the impossible, possible.

Maccabi Tel Aviv striker Dor Turgeman’s free kick went into the Japanese wall and caromed right to team captain Ilay Madmon who sent the ball towards the goal. But as it looked like the ball would be heading out for a goal kick and a wasted opportunity, Roy Nawi was in the right place at the right time and redirected the shot with his head into the Japan goal to draw even 1-1 in the 77th minute.

All of a sudden Haim’s squad was flying despite being a man down on the field. Japan began to refresh their players on the pitch with substitutions but it was Nawi and Turgeman who kept plugging away to try and help Israel find in explicable winner.

And find it they would.

Israel is a nation of miracles and what happened deep into second half injury time is what this country is made of.

Omer Senior came down the right flank sent the ball to Stav Lemkin who handed it off to Dor Turgeman in the box who with a cheeky backheel gave it back to Senior who stabbed the ball home into the Japanese goal as the celebrations began.

Israel had done it.

Onto the Round of 16 where Israel will take on ironically the champions of Asia, Uzbekistan.

When Israel had begun playing international soccer it was in Asia, but eventually with too many teams boycotting the Zionist State, the blue-and-white eventually moved to Europe.

However, the only other time Israel played in a major international competition was at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico when they were still a representative of Asia.

Israel will have a chance to show the world that they are more than worthy to be a part of the European federation.

To add insult to injury to those who continue to boycott Israel, Indonesia who are part of Asia were originally supposed to host this tournament but had it pulled out from under their feet by FIFA when they refused to host the blue-and-white.

With the tournament shifted to Argentina which has one of the world’s largest Jewish populations, the locals have come out to support Israel in droves.

This also allowed the opportunity for Chabad Rabbi Uriel Lapidus to walk 4km on the Shavuot Holiday from Chabad to the Plaza Hotel with a Sefer Torah in order to read the 10 Commandments with Israel Team. Rabbi Lapidus also came back on Saturady night to recite Havdala with the fans outside of the stadium to a rousing applause by the dozens who were in attendance.

Israel is a nation of miracles and that is tied to our tradition and while at times we are at odds with one another, there is always something that can pull us together and that’s exactly what the Under-20 team has done.

“This is for the entire nation of Israel and I dedicate this to them,” head coach Ofir Haim said following the win. “We wanted to unite the country just like we did when we were playing in the European championship. This was a heroic win, the biggest game in the history of Israeli soccer. We are not afraid of anyone. For us the sky’s the limit.”