Israel and Kosovo play out scoreless draw in tight Nations League clash

Neither Israel nor Kosovo could break the deadlock at Nagyerdei Stadium, a neutral venue that ended up mirroring the nature of the match itself: tight, with chances at both ends but no cutting edge. The 0-0 draw leaves each side with different takeaways. Kosovo picks up a point in the fight for the top spots in the group, while Israel continues to struggle for goals in this UEFA Nations League campaign.

The match hit its best stretch in the first half, when Israel produced the clearer chances. Liel Abada tested the goalkeeper in the 29th minute with a low shot from the center of the box that was well saved, and a minute later Tai Baribo went looking for the far post with his left foot, again without luck. Kosovo answered with long-range efforts, including one from Lumbardh Dellova in the 35th minute that sailed over the bar from the center, and another from Dion Kacuri in the 40th minute that was also kept out.

In the second half, Kosovo took more control of the game and piled on shots from outside the box through Dion Kacuri, Ermal Krasniqi and, in the closing minutes, substitutes Milot Rashica, Edon Zhegrova and Veldin Hodza. Ermal Krasniqi had the visitors' best look in the 64th minute, heading just over the crossbar. Israel sat back in a low block and looked to hit on the counter through Oscar Gloukh and Ilay Feingold, who also went close with a header in the 77th minute off a Gabi Kanichowsky cross, but the breakthrough never came.

What the numbers say

Kosovo dominated possession and time spent in the final third, but couldn't turn that edge into quality chances. Israel, with less of the ball, was more direct and finished with more shots on target despite taking fewer shots overall.

The post-match expected goals figure, calculated from shot locations, favors Israel at 1.27 against Kosovo's 0.75, a number that backs up what was seen in the first half: the hosts created the higher-quality chances, even if they couldn't turn that into a result on the scoreboard.

The outcome also stands in contrast to what was projected before kickoff. Our model gave Kosovo a 48% chance of winning, against 27% for an Israel win and 25% for a draw, with a combined 3.17 expected goals between the two sides. In the end there were no goals from either team, well short of that offensive forecast.

What the result means for the table

In Group B3, Kosovo holds onto second place with 4 points from 3 matches played (1 win, 1 draw, 1 loss), while Israel remains in last place with just 1 point from the same number of games (0 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses). The gap between the two in the standings is 3 points. Austria leads the group with 7 points, and Ireland shares Kosovo's 4 points in third place.

For Israel, the draw confirms just how difficult this tournament has become, with only a single point to show so far. For Kosovo, meanwhile, splitting the points doesn't change much about its position in the group, though it does leave the sense that, with 18 shots to just 3 on target, it lacked the precision needed to take all three points from Hungary.