[2] Therefore, the region currently referred to as Palestine (Israel) is confusingly considered "one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualification".
[6] Instead, the sixteen teams were divided into four 'geographical groupings', which also took into account the teams' strengths and even political considerations;[7] the system ensured that Israel and Morocco would not be drawn to face each other after Morocco had earlier threatened to withdraw from the tournament, as they had done from the Olympic football tournament two years earlier,[8] if that were the case.
In the second round, North Korea, quarter-finalists at the previous tournament, were disqualified after refusing to play in Israel for political reasons.
Assistant referees: Seyoum Tarekegn (Ethiopia) Kurt Tschenscher (West Germany) Head coach: Emmanuel Scheffer
At the 1934 FIFA World Cup, Mandatory Palestine competed in the Africa and Asia Group 12 qualifying round.
[2] However, the region currently known as Palestine is considered "one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers".
Scorers: 1-2 Peri Neufeld (36') Half-time:1-2 Competition:World Cup qualifier 1938 (Group 5) Date:Saturday22 January 1938 Kick off:3.30 p.m. Venue:Maccabiah Stadium, Tel Aviv Attendance: 5000 Referee:Mohamed Youssef EGY Assistants:?
Half-time:0-0 Competition:World Cup qualifier 1938 (Group 5) Date:Sunday20 February 1938 Kick off:3 p.m. Venue:Leoforos Alexandras, Athens Attendance: 12000 Referee:Mika Popović YUG Assistants:?
Scorers: - Head coach: Egon Pollak At the 1950 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 3 qualifying round.
FIFA had imposed a rule that no team would qualify without playing at least one match, after it had happened in several previous World Cups.
A special play-off was created between Israel and the runner-up of one of the UEFA Groups, where the teams played against each other on a home-and-away basis, with the winner qualifying.
The five teams in this group played in a knockout stage on a home-and-away basis, with Israel finishing in second place, after losing to Italy in the finals.
Head coach: Gyula Mándi At the 1966 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 1 qualifying round, finishing in third and last place.
[23] Head coach: Milovan Ćirić At the 1974 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the AFC and OFC qualifying round, losing in the Zone A finals.
At the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the AFC and OFC Group 2 qualifying round, finishing in second place.
[27] At the 1982 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 6 qualifying round, finishing in fifth and last place.
Israel, as the winning team of the OFC qualification tournament played the CONMEBOL group winner with the weakest record in a home-and-away play-off.
At the 1994 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 6 qualifying round, finishing in sixth and last place.
[30] At the 1998 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 5 qualifying round, finishing in third place.
[33] At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 7 qualifying round, finishing in third place.
[34] At the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 4 qualifying round, finishing in third place.
At the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group 2 qualifying round, finishing in fourth place.
[37] At the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Israel competed in the UEFA Group F qualifying round, finishing in third place.
Israel's sole international goal at a FIFA World Cup final-tournament was scored by team captain Mordechai Spiegler in their 1–1 draw against Sweden on 7 June 1970.