An editorial note re: The 42’s reporting on the Uefa Nations League matches between Ireland and Israel is available to read here.

Austria 3

Israel 1

AUSTRIA BEAT ISRAEL in the other game in Group B3 of the Uefa Nations League in Linz on Wednesday.

While Kosovo defeated the Republic of Ireland 1-0 in Pristina, Austria also made a winning start at home after taking advantage of Sayed Abu Farchi’s red card to beat Israel 3-1.

Abu Farchi was controversially sent off for a second booking after he grabbed the corner flag when celebrating his equaliser. A player can be booked for a goal celebration that acts in a provocative manner, but it is not yet clear if the booking was due to a gesture that was deemed inflammatory or for the player removing the corner flag.

The red card came in 56th minute, moments after the goal which cancelled out Romano Schmid’s penalty before half-time.

Late Austrian pressure told with goals in the 90th minute from Phillipp Mwene and in the 93rd minute from Sasa Kalajdzic.

Ireland face both sides in the coming days, playing Israel on Sunday night in Debrecen, before next Thursday’s game against Austria at the Aviva Stadium.

Austria play Kosovo this Sunday evening in Vienna with a 5pm kick-off time.

– © AFP 2026

Additional reporting by The42