Switzerland missed early qualification for the European Football Championship in Germany by conceding a late goal. In Granit
Bundesliga professional Ruben Vargas from FC Augsburg gave Switzerland the lead in the 36th minute. Shon Weissman (88th) equalized for Israel. The Swiss Edimilson Fernandes from FSV Mainz 05 was shown a red card in added time for rough play.
With a win, Switzerland would have qualified for the European Championship two match days before the end of the group games. Despite the draw, coach Murat Yakin’s team took the lead in the table with 16 points ahead of the Romanians with the same number of points. Israel, which scored its first point in the second international match after the Hamas terrorist attacks after a 1-0 defeat in Kosovo, is third with twelve points and can also still hope to take part in the European Championship.
119th international match for Xhaka
Thanks to his efforts on Wednesday, Swiss captain Grani The Bayer Leverkusen midfielder completed his 119th international match, leaving behind Heinz Hermann, who played 118 times for Switzerland.
Israel’s games were not played in October due to the Gaza war. That’s why the team is now playing four games in just over a week. After the matches in Kosovo and against Switzerland, the games against Romania (Saturday) and three days later in Andorra are on the program. Israel plays its home games on neutral grounds.
The war was triggered by the massacre that terrorists from the Islamist Hamas and other extremist Palestinian organizations carried out in the border area on October 7th.
