September 9, 2025

What a rollercoaster football match it was on September 8, 2025! Italy and Israel fought a thrilling battle full of goals and drama, ending 5-4 in favor of Italy. The setting? Neutral ground at Hungary’s Nagyerdei Stadium. Italy's Sandro Tonali became the hero by scoring a dazzling goal in stoppage time, sealing the victory and keeping Italy's World Cup hopes alive. Italy’s journey so far has been tough. Earlier in June, a heavy 3-0 loss to Norway left their 2026 World Cup qualification campaign in big trouble. This match wasn’t easy either. Israel took the lead twice, showing fierce fight. But Italy, led by striker Moise Kean, kept bouncing back. Kean cleverly scored two goals, one before and one after halftime, to equalize each time Israel surged ahead. Then came Matteo Politano’s magic 59th-minute goal, featuring a sneaky backheel assist from Mateo Retegui, which put Italy in front for the first time. Giacomo Raspadori added a fourth goal, and it seemed Italy was cruising to victory. But hold on! Israel wasn’t done yet. They shocked fans by scoring twice in just two minutes, with Dor Peretz grabbing his second to level the score once again at 4-4. The drama exploded in stoppage time. Tonali fired a curling shot that looked harmless but miraculously squeezed through a pack of players and into the net! The stadium erupted as Italy snatched an incredible 5-4 win. However, the game had its share of chaos. Italy’s own errors stood out with two own goals and some big slips from their goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma, new from Manchester City. Off the field, tension was high. The match was played less than a month after the Italian Soccer Coaches’ Association urged a suspension of Israel over the Gaza conflict. Some fans whistled during the Israeli anthem. Also, Israel’s team wore black armbands to honor victims of a deadly attack in Jerusalem, where six people died and 12 were injured earlier that day. With this win, Italy jumped ahead of Israel to second place in their Europe Group I. Norway remains top with four wins from four games and will face Moldova next. In other qualifiers drama, Sweden’s campaign hit a snag after losing 2-0 to Kosovo. Switzerland continued strong, beating Slovenia 3-0 to lead Group B. Denmark and Scotland both won 3-0 and 2-0 respectively to share the lead in Group C. Meanwhile, Croatia crushed Montenegro 4-0 in Group L after Montenegro’s Andrija Bulatovic was sent off early in the game. The Faroe Islands also secured a 1-0 win against Gibraltar. The race to the 2026 World Cup is heating up with surprises, fights, and last-minute thrills – the beautiful game never fails to excite!

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Tags: Italy, World cup qualifiers, Sandro tonali, Israel, Football, 2026 world cup,