Summary of Israel's 2:2 home draw against Iceland/Sport1
Voices continue to be heard in Iceland calling for a boycott of the decisive match against Israel in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, but for the time being it is mostly background noise in the local media - which has been taking a decidedly anti-Israel line in recent months.
Israel will play against Iceland in the semi-finals of the playoffs on March 21 and the winner will face Ukraine or Bosnia.
Whoever wins the final, will win a ticket to Euro 2024 in Germany and play in the fifth group, to which Belgium, Slovakia and Romania were also drawn.
Due to the security situation, Israel will once again host in Budapest.
At the weekend, a petition was opened in Iceland calling on the local football association to boycott the game, but so far less than 800 signatures have been collected.
A rather low amount even in terms of a small country like Iceland.
The initiators of the petition wrote, among other things: "The International Court of Justice in The Hague has ruled that there are suspicions that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, Palestine. Therefore, we call on the Icelandic Football Association to cancel participation in the game in March. This way it can send a clear message to the Icelandic people, that it opposes the killing of innocents A crime in Gaza and Judea and Samaria. In 2022, the association decided that no Icelandic representative would play against a representative from Russia because of the war in Ukraine, so it is natural that a similar decision will be made at the association's meeting on February 24."
Iceland national team players/GettyImages, Pixsell/MB Media
In Iceland, there is a clear anti-Israel streak that has of course spilled over into the sports world as well.
Politicians, publicists and even the coach of the national team, Oga Hareida, voiced strong opinions against Israel following the war in Gaza - without, of course, mentioning the murderous invasion of Israel by the Palestinians on October 7.
Many have raised a demand to boycott the game, even at the cost of punishment against the Icelandic association.
In an interview about a week and a half ago, the head of the soccer department of the Icelandic association, Jórondur Sveinsson, clarified: "We hear the voices in our country to boycott the game, but this is a possibility we did not consider. From our point of view, it is clear that as long as UEFA does not suspend Israel, we will show up for the game as planned .
The goal is to win.
We will make life difficult for Israel and we will advance to the playoff finals."
The president of the soccer association, Wanda Sigurseyrdóttir, also made it clear on several occasions that the possibility of boycotting the game was not considered at all - as long as FIFA and UEFA did not impose sanctions on Israel, as they did on Russia.
More on the same topic:
Iceland national team
Israel's national team
Euro 2024