FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifier
Scotland v Israel
Saturday, 9 October, kick-off 5pm
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Live on Sky Sports
Scotland come face-to-face with familiar foe Israel on Saturday night – the seventh time they have played in the past three years.
Scotland sit in second place in the group – crucially, in the all-important play-off spot – after back-to-back wins against Moldova and second seeds Austria in September.
Israel sit one point behind, having also emerged victorious against Austria in September. A victory for Scotland would set them on course to clinch second place behind top seeds Denmark.
The match will be played in front of a full-house at Hampden Park, the first capacity crowd at the national stadium since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tickets for the match are sold out.
Previous meetings
This will be the tenth meeting between the two nations since they first locked horns in World Cup qualifying in 1981. Scotland ran out victors in both matches in that campaign, winning 1-0 in Israel thanks to a Kenny Dalglish goal and 3-1 at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of more than 60,000.
A Paul McStay goal in a friendly in Ramat Gan in January 1986 gave the visitors, managed by Sir Alex Ferguson, a narrow victory.
It would be 32 years before the two countries would meet again, in the qualifiers for the inaugural Nations League competition, and Israel won 2-1 at home in October 2018. Alex McLeish’s side took the lead through a Charlie Mulgrew penalty in the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa before a John Souttar red card helped Israel come back came back strongly to win 2-1.
In the return game in Glasgow, Celtic winger James Forrest grabbed a sensational hat-trick in a 3-2 win, with Kayal and Zahavi scoring for the visitors, who were denied a late equaliser by an Allan McGregor save. The victory clinched top spot in the UEFA Nations League for Scotland, earning the prized EURO 2020 play-off spot that would end the nation’s 23 year wait for a major tournament finals.
Somewhat ironically, that play-off match would eventually be contested against Israel themselves, with the sides playing out a tense 0-0 draw in a match played behind closed doors at Hampden Park. Scotland would go on to win their first ever penalty shoot-out, with Kenny McLean scoring the vital winner.
The two sides had also met at Hampden the previous month, after they were again drawn together in the same Nations League group, Ryan Christie scoring Scotland’s goal from the penalty spot.
The teams met for a third successive month when Scotland lost 1-0 in Netanyaon the back of a play-off final win against Serbia and narrow defeat by Slovakia. The result saw Scotland drop off top spot in their Nations League group and miss out on promotion to League A.
The teams met for a fourth successive international fixture window on 28 March this year, drawing 1-1 in Tel Aviv in a World Cup qualifier with Ryan Fraser equalising for Scotland in the second half.
25 Feb 1981 Israel 0-1 Scotland FIFA World Cup qualifier
28 Apr 1981 Scotland 3-1 Israel FIFA World Cup qualifier
28 Jan 1986 Israel 0-1 Scotland International friendly
11 Oct 2018 Israel 2-1 Scotland UEFA Nations League
20 Nov 2018 Scotland 3-2 Israel UEFA Nations League
04 Sep 2020 Scotland 1-1 Israel UEFA Nations League
08 Oct 2020 Scotland 0-0 Israel* UEFA European Championship**
18 Nov 2020 Israel 1-0 Scotland UEFA Nations League
28 Mar 2021 Israel 1-1 Scotland FIFA World Cup qualifier
*Scotland won 5-3 on penalties ** Play-Off Semi-Finals
Team News
Centre half Grant Hanley will miss the match due to suspension after picking up his second yellow card of the campaign in Vienna last month.
The squad have reported no other issues this week. Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay and Southampton’s Stuart Armstrong will be in contention after missing September’s internationals due to injury.
Pre-match thoughts
Scotland Assistant Coach John Carver: “We are going into this game with a huge amount of confidence because if you go to Austria and get the performance and result that we got, then it gives you confidence.
“We do have some momentum and I am pleased with the fact that we have actually sold the stadium out.
“It is good for me because it will be the first time I have been involved at a game at Hampden with a full crowd.
“That just shows you how far we have come, how well the lads have done and it is nice to see that the fans and nation itself are getting right behind the team.'
“We keep talking about raising the bar and setting the standard and I think we did that in Austria in a difficult environment against an excellent team who did well in the Euros so we knew it was going to be tough.
“But we set a standard and went there with no fear and that's what impressed me more than anything.
Match Information
If you are attending the match, please be aware of some important match information – available here.
How to follow the match
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports Football, kicking off at 5pm.
You can also receive live updates via the official @ScotlandNT Twitter account.