Sergei Kleshchenko counted on Virgiliu Postolaki (in red), but he performed poorly in the match against Israel // Photo: fmf.md .
The score was opened in the 15th minute by the efforts of Israeli midfielder Dora Peretz, assisted by Manor Solomon. In the 35th minute, the author of the goal was Solomon himself, who finished off a pass from Dan Biton. After the break, the initiative remained with the guests. Tai Baribo shot at the goal of the national team of Moldova and in the 59th minute from the right side directed the ball into the opponents’ goal. The final score on 77 minutes was set by Oscar Gluh, who finished a pass from Yarden Shua.
The Israeli national team outperformed the hosts in many respects. Ran Ben-Shimon’s side had more possession (57% of the time), made 16 shots towards the goal, nine of which were on goal (Moldova had 10 and three shots respectively), earned five corners against three for the opponents. The number of accurate passes made by the Israelis is also significantly higher – 400 against 272 for Serghei Kleshchenko’s wards.
The meeting was officiated by a team of referees from Scotland, headed by John Beaton. The match was held in the presence of 7,200 fans.
In the current qualifying cycle, the Moldovan national team suffered its fourth consecutive defeat and is behind all other opponents in Group I(see table).
In another match of Group I the Italian national team defeated the opponents from Estonia with the score 5:0. The double was scored by striker Mateo Retegi, one goal each was scored by Moise Ken, Giacomo Raspadori and Alessandro Bastoni. The meeting, held at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, was Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as head coach of the four-time world champions.
In the next, sixth round on September 8, the national team of Israel will take on Italy. A day later, the national team of Moldova will play away with the national team of Norway. The first round match with the Vikings, held in Chisinau, ended with the defeat of the “tricolor” with the score 0:5.
|
Position in Group I of the qualifying cycle for the World Cup-2026 after five rounds |
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|
№ |
National team | P | W | D | L | G |
Pts |
|
1 |
Norway* | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13-2 |
12 |
|
2 |
Israel** | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 11-6 |
9 |
|
3 |
Italy | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7-3 |
6 |
|
4 |
Estonia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5-13 |
3 |
|
5 |
Moldova | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2-14 |
0 |
| * The first place team in the group directly qualifies for the World Championship
** The second-placed team qualifies for the playoffs, in which 16 teams will play for the four spots. |
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