Nations League & Women's EURO Live football scores & stats
Get
UEFA.com works better on other browsers
For the best possible experience, we recommend using Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

Israel v Belgium background

Israel and Belgium are meeting in a competitive game for the first time since 1965, with the home side eager to show how much they have come on in UEFA EURO 2016 Group B.

Preview: European qualifiers on 29 and 31 March ©Bongarts

In UEFA EURO 2016 Group B, Israel are on the lookout for a first competitive success against Belgium in Jerusalem as they bid to bounce back from Saturday's 3-0 defeat by Wales.

• This fixture was originally scheduled for the opening day of Group B on 9 September 2014. It was postponed following an agreement between the two concerned national associations.

Previous meetings
• Israel's record in five matches against Belgium is W1 D0 L4.

• Israel lost the nations' only previous competitive encounters – a pair of 1966 FIFA World Cup qualifiers – without scoring, with their lone victory against Belgium a 1-0 home win in a 1978 friendly.

• Those competitive meetings came in 1966 World Cup qualifying. Armand Jurion's penalty (24) gave Constant Vanden Stock's Belgium a 1-0 home win against Milovan Ćirić's Israel in Brussels on 9 May 1965. They beat their hosts again in Tel Aviv on 10 November that year, Paul Van Himst registering a hat-trick (24 33 69) and Johnny Thio (31) and Wilfried Puis (48) contributing a goal each in a 5-0 triumph.

Form guide
• Israel won their first three UEFA EURO 2016 qualifiers and were one of only four countries to have a 100% record at the end of 2014. They suffered a setback in Haifa on Saturday, though, as Wales triumphed 3-0 to leapfrog them at the section summit.

• Belgium, who are unbeaten in six away qualifiers (W5 D1), won 5-0 at home to Cyprus on Saturday.

Trivia and links
• Israel defender Tal Ben Haim I turns 33 on the day of the Belgium game.

• Israel defender Rami Gershon (KAA Gent) and midfielder Lior Refaelov (Club Brugge KV) play their club football in Belgium. Belgium's Thomas Meunier and Laurens De Bock are among Refaelov's team-mates in Bruges.

• Israel's record in seven UEFA age-group competiton meetings with Belgium is W4 D0 L3.

• In 12 meetings between the nations' clubs in UEFA competitions, the Israeli sides' record is W3 D2 L7.

Selected for you