In the early morning of Thursday (16th) in Group I of the UEFA Europa League, Israel, who will never lose, scored a goal in the 88th minute of the match to force Switzerland to a 1-1 draw, and keep their hopes of going straight to the final, and Israel's next match against Romania will be a battle of survival for the two sides.
The Swiss, who can qualify for the World Cup if they win this match, played very well. 36 minutes into the match, striker Ruben Vargas scored a goal to open the record books, and they thought they were on their way out of the tournament, but in the 88th minute they could not hold off the counter-attacks of their opponents, and Israel tied the match 1-1 with a shot by reserve striker Shuan Westhuizen in the penalty area.
With 2 rounds left in Group I, Switzerland and Romania both have 16 points in hand, while Israel is 4 points behind in 3rd place. If they want to qualify for the top 2, they have to win against Romania next time.
Israel won the Asian Cup in 1964 and reached the final of the 1970 World Cup as an Asian team, but after joining the UEFA in 1994, they have not been able to make it to the final of an international tournament, so we'll have to wait and see if they can break their fate this time around.
As for Switzerland's next match at home against Kosovo, it should not be difficult for them to get all 3 points to qualify.
