Estonia and Israel meet in Group I of World Cup qualifying in Europe. Both teams are currently on three points and really need to win this match to stand any chance of qualification, with Norway and Italy for company in this group.
Of the two, it’s certainly Israel that has a better shot at mixing it with the two favourites. However, their 2026 World Cup dreams are hampered by having to play home games on neutral turf, and they were beaten 4-2 by Norway in Hungary in their most recent qualifier in March.
They had made a winning start to their campaign, with an own goal from Karl Hein and a strike from full-back Eli Dasa seeing off Estonia three days earlier at the same venue.
The two sides head into the reverse fixture level on points after the Baltic side bounced back with a 3-2 win in Moldova. Jurgen Henn doesn’t have a huge amount of quality to call upon in terms of this Estonia squad, and he hasn’t been helped so far by his team being reduced to 10 men in each of their opening two qualifiers.
How the bookies view it: Israel backed to win in Tallinn
Israel are the 1/2 favourites with Boyle Sports to win the game, and boost their chances of making it across the Atlantic to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, Estonia are priced at 11/2, with the draw on offer at 11/4.
Recent head-to-head: No joy for the Baltic side
Prior to Israel’s 2-1 victory in the reverse fixture in the spring, these nations hadn’t met since being paired together in qualifying for Euro 2008. Israel also won both of those clashes, with Roberto Colautti scoring the only goal on their last trip to Estonia in 2006.
Players to watch: Solomon to shine?
The visiting team’s chances are bolstered by the brilliant form of Manor Solomon. The 25-year-old has scored in three of his last five games for Leeds, also registering four assists across those games. He could be one of the chief attacking threats in this game, and the winger is available at 2/1 to score anytime with Boyle Sports.
Predicted Lineups
We’ll see at least two changes from Estonia. That’s because Kevor Palumets is serving a suspension after his red card in Moldova, while Rasmus Peetson, a scorer in that game, is out injured.
The visitors are still missing defender Sean Goldberg to injury, while forward Tai Baribo has also been forced to pull out of the squad.
Estonia: Hein, Saliste, Kuusk, Paskotsi, Schjonning-Larsen, Ainsalu, Miller, Yakovlev, Kait, Simyavskiy, Sappinen.
Israel: Peretz, Shlomo, Lemkin, Nachmias, Abada, E.Peretz, D.Peretz, Jaber, Solomon, Gloukh, Turgeman.
Anything else catch the eye?
The visitors have a bit more quality on paper, but they were made to work for their victory in the reverse fixture and they’ve not won a match by more than a single goal this season. Given that, odds of 23/10 for Israel to win by one goal with Boyle Sports look pretty good.
Estonia have been looking vulnerable at the back though, conceding two goals against a weak Moldovan side last time out. You can back Israel to score over 1.5 goals at 7/10 with the same bookmaker here.
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