Israel vs. Iran: A Friendly Not Likely to Occur Anytime Soon
FIFA is divided into 6 confederations (well, 5 and a half now that Australia has left Oceania), each representing a region of the world. They are: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe).
Most of the member countries of each confederation are based on geography, with a few exceptions. Most of these anomalies are of fairly inconsequential teams, at least in terms of soccer pedigree. Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana are members of CONCACAF despite being firmly placed in South America, Kazakhstan (very nice!) recently “moved” from Asia to Europe (presumably in order to suffer more humiliating losses than it had previously), while Australia grew tired of beating up on American Samoa, Vanuatu, and the like and left Oceania to join Asia.
But the most interesting geographic anomaly in the world has to be Israel. Despite being located in the heart of the Middle East (and how could you forget that today?), Israel is a member of UEFA. While FIFA strives to be apolitical, it is often the case that the soccer governing body’s work is reflected by and even shapes the politics of the day. How else can a country that borders countries that are all members of the Asian confederation be considered European?
The answer is simple to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Middle Eastern politics. Israel is the only Jewish state in the heart of the Arab world. At a time of great conflict in that region, soccer games between Israel and most of its neighbors would have the potential to cause serious problems.
Religious and ethnic conflict have blighted the history of the Middle East for thousands of years and have grown even more intense since Israel’s founding. With several wars, an occupation, and enough vitriol spewed on both sides to fill the Dead Sea, relations between Jews and Arabs are not, let’s say, genial.
So perhaps it is a bit of a surprise that it was only as recently as 1994 that Israel was fully inducted into UEFA. But which confederation hosted Israel prior to this? Well, it turns out the Israeli national team is nearly as nomadic as the Jews themselves.
The current Israeli Football Association was founded in 1928 as the “Palestine Football Association.” Its first official international match was a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Egypt (click here for a complete list of Israel’s international matches). At this time, Israel / Palestine was a member of the Asian confederation and (unsuccessfully) attempted to qualify for the 1934 World Cup against Asian opponents Egypt, Greece, and Lebanon.
After the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, the newly renamed team played its first match against none other than the United States (a 3-1 loss in a game played in New York). The opponent was not a surprise, as the Americans were the first country to recognize the newly created state.
During the 1950, 1954, 1958, 1960, and 1966 World Cup qualifying cycles, Israel competed in Europe, never making it to the finals. However, at the same time Israel competed in Asia for Olympic qualifying matches and in regional competitions. Despite being situated in the Western part of the Asian confederation geographically, Israel was placed in qualifying groups with mostly East Asian teams. The intent was obvious: to avoid fixtures that might spark conflict.
But politically sensitive placement could not achieve the goal of avoiding match-ups between Israel and its rivals. On several occasions at the Asian Nations Cup, Israel was drawn against countries with whom they shared a high degree of enmity. It seems amazing today, but in 1968 Israel went to Iran, losing 2-1 to the hosts in the semi-finals.
Soon after, teams began to refuse to play Israel. In 1974, North Korea (huh?) and Kuwait refused to play their matches and Israel won by forfeit (interestingly, Iran — pre-Islamic revolution, of course — took on Israel and again won, this time 1-0).
Israel went through World Cup qualifying in 1970 as a member of the even more geographically remote Oceania region, this time making it to the finals of the tournament, their only ever appearance. In 1974 and 1978, Israel returned to Asian qualification, though against East Asian opponents as before. 1982, it was back to Europe. 1986 and 1990, Oceania again. Since 1990, Israel has attempted to qualify for the World Cup from Europe and it seems likely they will remain here in the future.
Israel’s soccer nomadism is not self-imposed; it has been forced to globe trot looking for a home nearly since its founding. The geographically natural place for Israel to play is Asia, but the idea of Israel playing away in Tehran, Damascus, or Riyadh today is nearly inconceivable. Indeed, Israel’s neighbors refused to play against the Jewish country, thus leading to Israel’s expulsion from the Asian confederation. After being kicked out of Asia in the early 1970s, Israel remained unaffiliated for over 20 years.
It is sad but true that politics weasels its way into soccer despite the best efforts of FIFA and others to keep them separate. Having Israel play in Europe to avoid conflict surrounding matches against their enemies is the most sensible solution for now. But one can only hope, foolish as such hope might seem today, that future peace in the Middle East might be solidified by games between Israel and its neighbors.
