Israel downed Moldova 4-1 late Sunday night in Chisinau as Roy Revivo scored a brace for his first two international goals to help the blue-and-white finish its World Cup qualifying campaign on a high note despite not advancing to the next round of play.
The match was a home one for Israel, despite being hosted in Moldova's capital, following a goalless draw against Lithuania in friendly play last Thursday.
Coach Ran Ben Shimon’s side finished with a record of 4-4, good for third place in Group I with 12 points, behind first-place Norway, which notched a perfect 24 points and eased into this summer’s World Cup, while Italy came in second with 18 points and advanced to the Play-off Round.
Estonia and Moldova finished the group in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while Israel will now get ready for Nations League play in 2026.
On Sunday, Israel started with a number of chances. Finally, it broke through when Eliel Peretz was pulled down at the top of the box, earning Sergiu Perciun a red card and handing Dor Turgeman a penalty that the striker promptly put into the back of the goal for a 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Peretz, Revivo goals power Israel to 4-1 victory vs. Moldova
Dan Bitton missed a pair of prime chances, which opened the door for Ion Nicolaescu to find the back of the goal with a right-foot stunner to draw Moldova even at 1-1. Gaby Kanichowsky then had a wonderful chance to put Israel back into the lead, but first he hit the bar, then put the ball into a defender as the half ended, all knotted at one apiece.
The blue-and-white poured on the offense at the start of the second half, with chances by Dor Peretz and Oscar Gloukh coming close, while Moldova also had a couple of attempts on the Israeli goal. However, Ben Shimon’s squad finally broke through when Revivo pounced on a loose ball in the box after Turgeman’s shot went off the post and put it past the Moldovan keeper Emil Timbur to give Israel a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute.
Israel kept pushing for an insurance goal with a number of set-piece opportunities, but those came up short. However, as time wound down, Peretz sent a gorgeous strike into the back of the goal while Revivo scored from an almost impossible angle for a 4-1 lead, which held up as the final score to finish off the campaign on a high note.
Ben Shimon gave his thoughts on the win.
“If you don’t allow the opponent to control the game, you will be able to get something out of your efforts. That is what happened as we moved the ball from side to side and played very well in the second half to secure the win.”
Peretz also commented on the overall qualifying experience.
“We wanted to prove more than we did in this campaign, but we are now looking forward to continuing the path that we are on. We have a very united group of guys here, and I hope that we will continue to meet our goals. It would be a dream for all of us to return and play in Israe,l and we are really looking forward to seeing our fans.”