# Israel at the AFC Asian Cup

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Israel competed at the AFC Asian Cup four times. In 1956 and 1960 Israel finished second, in 1964 they finished first, and in 1968 they finished third. In 1972 Israel qualified for the tournament as hosts but later had to withdraw.
Israel was one of the founding members of the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) following its own independence in 1948 (prior to that it played under the banner of the "British Mandate of Palestine"). After the 1974 Asian Games in Iran, and Israel's 0–1 tense loss to Iran in the finals, Kuwait and other Muslim and Arab countries refused to play them. Following this, Israel were expelled from the confederation and spent a few years trying to qualify from such continental bodies as the OFC (Oceania), before eventually joining UEFA (Europe) officially.

## Record

AFC Asian Cup record :
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | D* | L | GS | GA |
| 1956 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| 1960 | Runners-up | 2nd | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| 1964 | Champions | 1st | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 1968 | Third Place | 3rd | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 |
| 1972 | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew | Withdrew |
| Total | Champions | 4/15 | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 15 |
    Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

## 1956 AFC Asian Cup

Israel competed at the 1956 AFC Asian Cup. This was the first AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s first appearance.
| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 5 |
| Israel | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 |
| Hong Kong | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 2 |
| South Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 1 |
With four goals, Nahum Stelmach is the top scorer in the tournament.

### 4 goals

* Nahum Stelmach

### 2 goals

* Yehoshua Glazer
Head coach: Jackie Gibbons
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1GK | Ya'akov Hodorov | (1927-06-16)16 June 1927 (aged 29) | 12 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 1GK | Ya'akov Vissoker | (1930-09-05)5 September 1930 (aged 25) | 0 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | David Kremer | (1929-04-06)6 April 1929 (aged 27) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | Shaul Matania | (1937-03-08)8 March 1937 (aged 19) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Jerry Haldi | (1935-08-14)14 August 1935 (aged 21) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 3MF | Binyamin Rabinovich | 1936 (aged 20) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Itzhak Schneor | (1925-12-11)11 December 1925 (aged 30) | 11 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Asher Balut | (1932-01-06)6 January 1932 (aged 24) | 5 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Zigi Silberstein | | 0 | 0 | Maccabi Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | Yehoshua Glazer | (1927-12-29)29 December 1927 (aged 28) | 11 | 8 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Yosef Mirmovich | (1924-07-24)24 July 1924 (aged 32) | 11 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Nahum Stelmach | (1936-07-19)19 July 1936 (aged 20) | 2 | 1 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | Boaz Kofman | (1935-03-29)29 March 1935 (aged 21) | 1 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | Rehavia Rozenboim | (1934-04-29)29 April 1934 (aged 22) | 5 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Shmuel Israeli | (1928-10-15)15 October 1928 (aged 27) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Eliezer Spiegel | (1922-06-20)20 June 1922 (aged 34) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Petah Tikva |

## 1960 AFC Asian Cup

Israel competed at the 1960 AFC Asian Cup. This was the second AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s second appearance.

### Qualification – Western Zone

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Israel | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 8 | +2 | 8 |
| Iran | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 10 | +2 | 7 |
| Pakistan | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 10 | –2 | 5 |
| India | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 | –2 | 4 |

### Tournament results

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| South Korea | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | +8 | 6 |
| Israel | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 |
| Republic of China | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| South Vietnam | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 12 | −10 | 0 |

### Goal scorers
#### 2 goals

* Shlomo Levi

#### 1 goal

* Amnon Aharonskind
* Rafi Levi
* Avraham Menchel
* Nahum Stelmach

### Squad

Head coach: Gyula Mándi
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1GK | Ya'akov Hodorov | (1927-06-16)16 June 1927 (aged 33) | 23 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 1GK | Ya'akov Vissoker | (1930-09-05)5 September 1930 (aged 30) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | Amatzia Levkovich | (1937-12-27)27 December 1937 (aged 22) | 14 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 2DF | Dov Atzmon | | 0 | 0 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2DF | Mordechai Benbenishti | (1938-03-01)1 March 1938 (aged 22) | 3 | 0 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2DF | Zvi Moisescu | (1939-08-13)13 August 1939 (aged 21) | 3 | 0 | Maccabi Netanya |
| 3MF | Avraham Klemi | | 0 | 0 | Maccabi Jaffa |
| 3MF | Avraham Menchel | (1935-12-12)12 December 1935 (aged 24) | 13 | 4 | Maccabi Haifa |
| 3MF | Gideon Tish | (1939-10-13)13 October 1939 (aged 21) | 16 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Yosef Goldstein | (1932-03-29)29 March 1932 (aged 28) | 20 | 1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Aharon Amar | 1937 (aged 23) | 8 | 0 | Maccabi Haifa |
| 4FW | Amnon Aronskind | | 0 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Nahum Stelmach | (1936-07-19)19 July 1936 (aged 24) | 23 | 13 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | Rafi Levi | (1938-02-22)22 February 1938 (aged 22) | 14 | 10 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Shlomo Levi | (1934-06-01)1 June 1934 (aged 26) | 0 | 0 | Hapoel Haifa |
| 4FW | Shlomo Nahari | (1934-10-17)17 October 1934 (aged 25) | 8 | 1 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | Yehoshua Glazer | (1927-12-29)29 December 1927 (aged 32) | 32 | 15 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |

## 1964 AFC Asian Cup

Israel competed at the 1964 AFC Asian Cup. This was the third AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s third appearance.

### Host nation

The tournament used a round-robin system with the winners from the West, Central 1 and 2 and East Asia zones and the team from the host nation (Israel) competing for the title. 11 of the 16 nations withdrew including Iran and Japan with the result that only one zone (combined Central 1 and 2) played any qualifying matches and the 'winners' of 2 zones and host Israel qualified uncontested. In this diminished competition Israel won the title with three wins.

### Venues

| Ramat Gan | Haifa | Ramat GanHaifaTel AvivJerusalem | Tel Aviv | Jerusalem |
| Ramat Gan Stadium | Kiryat Eliezer Stadium | Ramat GanHaifaTel AvivJerusalem | Bloomfield Stadium | Hebrew University Stadium |
| Capacity: 41,583 | Capacity: 17,000 | Ramat GanHaifaTel AvivJerusalem | Capacity: 22,000 | Capacity: 16,000 |

### Qualification

Israel as the host nation automatically qualified for the tournament.

### Tournament results

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Israel | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 |
| India | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 |
| South Korea | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 0 |

### Goal scorers
#### 2 goals

* Mordechai Spiegler

#### 1 goal

* Yohai Aharoni
* Moshe Leon
* Gideon Tish

### Squad

Head coach: Yosef Merimovich
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1GK | Haim Levin | (1937-03-03)3 March 1937 (aged 27) | 1 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 1GK | Itzhak Vissoker | (1944-09-18)18 September 1944 (aged 19) | 4 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | Avraham Kalmi | | 1 | 0 | Maccabi Jaffa |
| 2DF | David Primo | (1946-05-05)5 May 1946 (aged 18) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 2DF | Haim Bahar | (1943-04-10)10 April 1943 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | Moshe Leon | (1944-01-09)9 January 1944 (aged 20) | 7 | 0 | Maccabi Jaffa |
| 2DF | Shaul Matania | (1937-03-08)8 March 1937 (aged 19) | 17 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Amatzia Levkovich | (1937-12-27)27 December 1937 (aged 18) | 36 | 1 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Gideon Tish | (1939-10-13)13 October 1939 (aged 16) | 34 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Mordechai Spiegler | (1944-08-19)19 August 1944 (aged 19) | 4 | 1 | Maccabi Netanya |
| 3MF | Nahum Stelmach | (1936-07-19)19 July 1936 (aged 27) | 45 | 20 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 3MF | Yehezkel Katsav | 1945 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | Maccabi Jaffa |
| 3MF | Yosef Mahalal | (1939-12-25)25 December 1939 (aged 24) | 4 | 2 | Bnei Yehuda |
| 4FW | Einstein Kalish | 1939 (aged 25) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Jaffa |
| 4FW | Rahamim Talbi | (1943-05-17)17 May 1943 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Roby Young | (1942-05-15)15 May 1942 (aged 22) | 13 | 2 | Hapoel Haifa |
| 4FW | Shlomo Levi | (1934-06-01)1 June 1934 (aged 29) | 11 | 6 | Hapoel Ramat Gan |
| 4FW | Yohai Aharoni | (1943-06-08)8 June 1943 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Hapoel Mahane Yehuda |

## 1968 AFC Asian Cup

Israel competed at the 1968 AFC Asian Cup. This was the fourth AFC Asian Cup and Israel’s fourth and last appearance.
After the 1968 tournament Israel did not compete in a regional football tournament for many years. Israel was expelled from the AFC in the early 1970s and eventually became a member of UEFA. After joining the UEFA Israel began competing in the UEFA European Championship in 1996.

### Qualification – West Zone 1

Israel qualified for the tournament by default after all other teams in their zone withdrew from the tournament.

### Tournament results

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Iran | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | +9 | 8 |
| Burma | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 5 |
| Israel | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 5 | +6 | 4 |
| Republic of China | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 2 |
| Hong Kong | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 1 |

### Goal scorers

With 4 goals, Giora Spiegel and Moshe Romano of Israel tied with Homayoun Behzadi of Iran as the top scorers of the tournament.

#### 4 goals

* Giora Spiegel
* Moshe Romano

#### 2 goals

* Mordechai Spiegler

#### 1 goal

* Shmuel Rosenthal

### Squad

Head coach: Milovan Ćirić
| Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
| 1GK | Itzhak Vissoker | (1944-09-18)18 September 1944 (aged 23) | 14 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 1GK | Haim Levin | (1937-03-03)3 March 1937 (aged 27) | 15 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2DF | Menahem Bello | (1947-12-26)26 December 1947 (aged 20) | 14 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2DF | Dani Shmulevich | (1940-11-29)29 November 1940 (aged 27) | 23 | 0 | Maccabi Haifa |
| 2DF | Itzhak Marili | (1945-05-12)12 May 1945 (aged 22) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2DF | David Karako | (1944-02-11)11 February 1944 (aged 24) | 3 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 2DF | Itzhak Drucker | (1947-06-03)3 June 1947 (aged 20) | 6 | 0 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 2DF | Zvi Rosen | (1947-06-23)23 June 1947 (aged 20) | 2 | 0 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Dani Borsuk | (1944-02-16)16 February 1944 (aged 24) | 6 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Haim Nurieli | (1943-05-01)1 May 1943 (aged 25) | 2 | 0 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Moshe Asis | (1943-10-09)9 October 1943 (aged 24) | 13 | 1 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 3MF | Shmuel Rosenthal | (1947-04-22)22 April 1947 (aged 21) | 14 | 1 | Hapoel Petah Tikva |
| 4FW | George Borba | (1944-07-12)12 July 1944 (aged 23) | 9 | 4 | Hapoel Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Giora Spiegel | (1947-07-27)27 July 1947 (aged 20) | 10 | 5 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Mordechai Spiegler | (1944-08-19)19 August 1944 (aged 23) | 27 | 13 | Maccabi Netanya |
| 4FW | Moshe Romano | (1946-05-06)6 May 1946 (aged 22) | 5 | 1 | Shimshon Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Rahamim Talbi | (1943-05-17)17 May 1943 (aged 24) | 18 | 5 | Maccabi Tel Aviv |
| 4FW | Roby Young | (1942-05-15)15 May 1942 (aged 25) | 37 | 5 | Hapoel Haifa |