Israel's World Cup qualifier against Italy on Tuesday evening will proceed under a tense atmosphere. The match is set to take place in Udine, Italy, amidst heightened security measures.
Security Concerns and Protests
A pro-Palestinian march is scheduled to commence in the city center a few hours before kickoff, with an expected attendance of around 10,000 people. Authorities plan to keep the demonstration away from the stadium, which is located on the city's outskirts. The match has been placed in the highest-risk category, resulting in a high police presence and helicopters surveilling the city throughout the day.
Recent Ceasefire and Hostage Release
The match will be played four days after a ceasefire in Gaza took effect, which paused two years of conflict. The day before the match, all 20 remaining living Israeli hostages in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were released as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Winger Manor Solomon admitted that the team is used to this. However, the heightened emotions stemming from events back home could impact the players. Solomon said that everything that happened should give more motivation to everyone and that it’s one of the happiest days of their lives. He added that they prayed for two years for this moment and that it was hard to sleep because they wanted to wake up early to see the images of them coming home and everyone on the streets of Israel celebrating.
Ticket Sales and Atmosphere
Just over 9,000 tickets have been sold for the qualifier at the 25,000-seat Stadio Friuli. Even that represents a late flurry, with ticket sales having doubled over the past week. The demonstration could feature more people than the match. Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso expressed his disappointment that so many families wanted to bring their children but also thanked the stadium spectators because they will be very important for the team.
Implications for World Cup Qualification
Italy is second in its group, six points behind Norway and three ahead of Israel. Both Israel and Italy have played one game more than the Azzurri. Only the group winner advances directly to next year's tournament in North America. The second-place finisher progresses to a playoff. Italy is at risk of failing to qualify for their third consecutive World Cup finals and may have to rely on the play-off route to confirm a place at next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Gattuso has claimed that his Italy side "can't afford to make mistakes" ahead of their must-win clash with Israel on Tuesday.
Previous Encounter
Italy beat Israel 5-4 last month in a chaotic qualifier that Gattuso called “the craziest game I've been involved with as a coach". Israel's players wore black armbands during the playing of the national anthems, in honor of the victims of Monday's deadly terrorist attack in Jerusalem. There were also angry scenes on the field at the end of the game, with players from the two sides arguing and confronting each other before calm was restored.
