Israel vs England facts

There is a rapid reunion for Group C rivals Israel and England as they meet in the first UEFA European Under-21 Championship semi-final at the Batumi Arena – also the venue for the final on 8 July.

While England have reached the last four for the tenth time – one short of the competition record – albeit just the second in the last six tournaments, Israel are making their debut in the knockout stages.

Both teams came through tight quarter-finals, Israel knocking out hosts Georgia on penalties in a dramatic contest in front of a record crowd while England – who are still to concede in the 2023 tournament – knocked out Portugal 1-0 with a goal from Anthony Gordon.

Previous meetings

This is only the sides' third competitive U21 fixture. On Matchday 2, goals from Gordon (15) and Emile Smith Rowe (68) gave England a 2-0 victory at the Shengelia Arena in Kutaisi.

The first European U21 Championship game between the teams ended in a 1-0 Israel win in Jerusalem on Matchday 3 of the 2013 finals thanks to Ofir Krieff's 80th-minute effort. That meant hosts Israel, led by current head coach Guy Luzon, finished third in Group A on four points, with Stuart Pearce's England bottom of the section having lost all three games.

The teams' other two U21 meetings have been friendlies. Paul Rideout's 61st-minute goal gave England a 2-1 victory in Ramat Gan in February 1985; Martyn Waghorn (58), Marvin Sordell (60), Nathan Delfouneso (82pen) and Henri Lansbury (90) were all on target in Barnsley in September 2011, Mohammed Kalibat (25) scoring for the visitors in a 4-1 defeat.

Tommy Doyle's 29th-minute penalty at the Proact Stadium in Chesterfield set hosts England on their way to a 2-1 win against Israel on Matchday 1 of the 2018 European U17 Championship. James Garner also featured for England.

England beat Israel 1-0 in the group stage and 3-1 after extra time in the final of the 2022 European U19 Championship, Callum Doyle, Carney Chukwuemeka and Aaron Ramsey were on target as England lifted the trophy in Slovakia, Oscar Gloukh having opened the scoring for Israel.

Tomer Tzarfati, Roy Revivo and Stav Lemkin also started that final for Israel with Idan Gorno and Dor Turgeman coming on as substitutes.

Form guide

Israel

Israel are the 24th nation to play in the U21 semi-finals and the first newcomers since Romania in 2019. They are aiming to become the first new finalists since Switzerland in 2011 and the 18th finalists overall.

Israel are making their third finals appearance and a first since hosting the event in 2013 when, as on their 2007 debut, they were unable to progress from the initial group stage.

Having lost all three of their games in 2007, that 2013 tournament represented Israel's most successful finals campaign prior to this one. As hosts, they finished third in Group A on four points, recording their only win on Matchday 3 with a 1-0 defeat of England.

Israel finished second behind Germany in qualifying Group B for the 2023 finals, winning six of their ten matches. Alon Hazan oversaw the initial eight games but took over the senior national side in May 2022, Luzon returning to the post he had left in 2013 to take charge for the final two qualifiers and the play-off against the Republic of Ireland, which Israel won 3-1 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw (1-1 a, 0-0 h).

Fourteen different players found the net for Israel in qualifying, Omri Gandelman finishing as top scorer with three goals. Turgeman, who did not feature during the qualifying campaign, made it 15 in the competition overall with his goal on Matchday 1 against Germany.

That opening 1-1 draw against the holders was followed by a 2-0 defeat against England, but Gandelman's 82nd-minute header was enough for a 1-0 win against Czechia in their final group game to take Israel through from Group C in second place with four points, one more than Czechia and three more than Germany.

That was only the fourth of Israel's nine matches at the U21 finals in which they had found the net; they have scored just five goals at the tournament, conceding 15.

It was also just their second clean sheet at the finals. They made it three in the quarter-finals, holding hosts Georgia 0-0 after extra time before winning 4-3 on penalties in front of 44,338 fans – a finals record. Daniel Peretz, who had saved two penalties against Germany on Matchday 1, kept out another spot kick in the shoot-out to help his side through.

Israel have lost only four of their last 14 qualifying and final tournament matches (W6 D4).

England 

This is England's tenth semi-final at U21 level, one behind joint record holders Spain and Italy. Their record is W3 L6 with defeats in four of the last five:
1978 Yugoslavia L 2-3 aggregate (1-2 h, 1-1 a)
1980 East Germany L 1-3 aggregate (1-2 a, 0-1 h)
1982 Scotland W 2-1 aggregate (1-0 a, 1-1 h)
1984 Italy W 3-2 aggregate (3-1 h, 0-1 a)
1986 Italy L 1-3 aggregate (0-2 h, 1-1 a)
1988 France L 4-6 aggregate (2-4 a, 2-2 h)
2007 Netherlands L 1-1 aet, 12-13 pens
2009 Sweden W 3-3 aet, 5-4 pens
2017 Germany L 2-2 aet, 3-4 pens

England's last three semi-finals have been settled by penalty shoot-outs.

England are in the knockout stages for the fourth time since an eight-team final tournament was introduced in 1998. Before this tournament they had won only one of their four knockout ties in those finals, that win on penalties against Sweden in 2009. Their only regulation defeat was 4-0 to Germany in that year's final.

This is England's ninth successive final tournament campaign – the longest ongoing sequence in the competition – and an 11th overall; they last missed out in 2006.

Champions in 1982 and 1984, England also reached four further semi-finals in the first six editions of the European U21 Championship.

However, this is only the second time in their last seven finals campaigns that the Young Lions have progressed from the group stage, reaching the semi-finals in 2017. Going into this tournament they had won just four of their previous 19 finals matches, losing ten.

In 2021, a late Croatia goal in England's 2-1 Matchday 3 victory meant Aidy Bothroyd's side finished level on three points with their opponents but were eliminated on goals scored in a three-way head-to-head also involving Switzerland, finishing bottom of the section.

Before this tournament the win against Croatia was England's only victory in seven finals games (D2 L4).

Lee Carsley's team won eight of their ten qualifiers to finish three points clear of Czechia in the 2023 preliminaries, although a 2-1 home loss to Slovenia in the last game in their group on 13 June 2022 ended England's record 54-game unbeaten run in U21 qualifying (W47 D7), dating back to 14 November 2011.

Folarin Balogun, who is not in the final tournament squad, was England's top scorer in qualifying with six goals. Taylor Harwood-Bellis made the most appearances, starting all ten matches.

England finished top of Group C having beaten Czechia, Israel and Germany all 2-0, before Gordon's 34th-minute strike proved enough to see off Portugal in the third quarter-final.

Smith Rowe and Gordon were among ten players on two goals after the quarter-finals, one behind top scorer Georgiy Sudakov of Ukraine.

England could emulate Spain in 2013, who reached the final with a 100% winning record and no goals conceded before beating Italy 4-2 in the decider.

Links and trivia

Luzon was manager of English side Charlton Athletic between January and October 2015, winning 12 of his 36 matches in charge.