Israel's national Under-19 team (Hebrew: נבחרת הנוער של ישראל בכדורגל), also known as Israel Under-19s or Israel U-19s, is considered to be the feeder team for the Israel national under-21 football team.
This team is for Israeli players aged 19 or under at the start of a two-year UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign, so players can be, and often are, up to 20 years old. Also in existence are teams for Under-21s and Under-20s (for non-UEFA tournaments) and Under 17s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, making it possible to play for the U-19s, senior side and again for the U-19s. It is also possible to play for one country at youth level and another at senior level (providing the player is eligible).
Israel U-19s do not have a permanent home. They play in stadia dotted all around Israel in an attempt to encourage fans in all areas of the country to get behind Israel. Because of the lack of appeal compared to the senior national team, smaller grounds are used (such as HaMoshava Stadium).
The idea to form a youth team first came about in 1957, as the IFA considered entering a team to the 1958 UEFA European Under-18 Championship.[1] The youth team, an under-19 squad, played its first match against its England equivalent on 20 May 1962, losing 1–2.[2] Two days later, the team recorded its first victory, winning 2–1 in a rematch against England.[3]
In 1964, the youth team participated for the first time in the AFC Youth Championship, sharing the cup with Burma in its first tournament. The team went on to win the cup five more times in the next 8 years, before Israel was banned from participating in AFC tournaments.[4]
Until 1992, the youth team's only official tournaments were FIFA Youth Championship qualification tournaments, twice participating in the process in the OFC U-20 Championship and once in the South American Youth Football Championship. At the same period of time, to give the youth squad its share of international matches, the IFA established an annual tournament for under-18 teams, which was held in December and January between 1974 and 1989 (after which the tournament became a tournament for under-17 teams).[5]
In 1992, as Israel was admitted to UEFA, the youth started participating in the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (under-18 tournament until 2002), appearing in the final tournament in 1997 and 2014.
Ofir Haim
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