Israel’s qualification group for the 1996 European Championships consisted of Poland, Slovakia, France, Romania and Azerbaijan, in all a tough section. They got off to a decent start with a fine 2-1 home win over Poland, following that by a 2-2 draw against the dark horses, Slovakia. The good run continued as they comfortably beat Azerbaijan 2-0 away from home. Israel remained unbeaten in their following two matches as they earned credible home draws against France and Romania.
However after a great start in their first five matches, the final five games played saw Israel lose four of them. Israel travelled to Poland and were unlucky to lose 4-3 in a most thrilling international match. They narrowly lost away to Slovakia, Romania and France.
They finished the group in fifth position ahead of Azerbaijan.
Israel had a much easier qualifying group for the 1998 world cup finals, consisting of Russia, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Luxembourg. They got off to a fantastic start as they earned four points from a possible six against the groups toughest nations, Russia and Bulgaria. Israel were expected to win in Cyprus, however against all the odds, they suffered a crushing 2-0 defeat away from home. Israel were far from convincing in their 1-0 home win over the tiny Luxembourg, however qualification was still within reach. The return fixture in Luxembourg brought about a much improved performance as Israel crushed the minnows 3-0. Their following match produced a 2-0 home win over Cyprus and Israel now had a decent chance of qualifying, needing three points from their final two matches. However that proved to be too difficult for Israel to achieve. Russia comfortably beat Israel 2-0 at home and Israel suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Bulgaria, ending any hopes of qualification for the 1998 world cup finals.