On Thursday, in a match as part of the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League, Israel faced the French national team — the World Cup runners-up, featuring some of the world’s top active players, including Kylian Mbappé, Theo Hernández, Kingsley Coman, and many others. In their previous encounter, Israel lost 4-1 to the French “Les Bleus.” How did Israel end up in such a tough group, featuring France, Belgium, and Italy? The answer lies in Israel’s promotion to UEFA’s League A due to its recent successes against second-tier teams. With these achievements, however, came greater challenges.
This time, despite the French enjoying the home advantage, Israel stunned with a clean sheet and capitalized on French mistakes, finishing the match 0-0. It marked the first time this year that Israel avoided conceding a goal in the Nations League, both in the first half and throughout the game. This impressive result was largely thanks to an exceptional performance by Israel’s goalkeeper Daniel Peretz. Peretz, who also serves as a backup goalkeeper for the prestigious Bayern Munich team, has recently gained additional public attention due to his engagement to popular singer Noa Kirel.
Against the backdrop of last week’s violent incidents in Amsterdam, where Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were attacked by an angry mob after a game, this match was accompanied by tight security from French police. No fewer than 4,000 officers were deployed to prevent disruptions. During the game, minor clashes occurred between French and Israeli fans in the stands, but the evening ended with 40 arrests but without significant violence.
Israeli fans were asked by Israel not to attend the game for security reasons, and significantly fewer did attend than originally planned to.
Israel is set to play Belgium next and will undoubtedly finish last in its group, likely resulting in a return to League B. However, the team walks away with a valuable point and a measure of national pride after competing on the big stage.
