Romania has qualified for the European Championship at the expense of Israel. Switzerland has also secured a spot in the tournament in Germany on Saturday night, removing much of the suspense in Group I.
Israel started Saturday night's home match with a four-point deficit to Romania. Therefore, a victory was necessary to have a chance of overtaking the Romanians on the last matchday. Due to the significant unrest in their own country, Israel hosted Romania in the Hungarian town of Felcsút and got off to a strong start thanks to a familiar face from the Eredivisie.
The now 36-year-old Eran Zahavi opened the scoring in the second minute. The 1-0 marked the former PSV player's 34th international goal. The Israelis couldn't enjoy the lead for long, as George Puscas equalized in the tenth minute. Israel had to take the most risks thereafter, with consequences. In the 63rd minute, the Romanians struck on a counter. Ianis Hagi received the ball back after a blocked attempt and scored with a shot into the near corner: 1-2.
Hagi became the matchwinner in Hungary, where Romania took the final step towards qualifying for the European Championship. Romania can become the group winner by at least drawing against Switzerland on Tuesday at home. Valentin Mihaila won't be available, as he received a red card in the closing stages against Israel and is suspended.
