Israel and Kosovo are drawn in the same group as Switzerland, Romania, Belarus, and Andorra. Given the presence of the rapidly progressing Swiss in this company, the other five national teams can expect to fight for only a second berth to UEFA EURO 2024. In this competition, bookmakers see Romania and Israel as the favourites, but they describe Kosovo's chances as slim. However, thematic resource transfermarkt considers the transfer value of the visiting team one and a half times greater than that of the hosts. The Kosovo players are valued at a combined €91.25 million, while the Israeli players are valued at €61.25 million. The hosts are ranked 76th in the FIFA rankings, the visitors occupy 107th position. Ahead of the meeting between the rivals, bookmakers have identified Israel as the favourite to win at odds of 1.93.

Alon Hazan's side have fared reasonably well in the World Cup qualifiers, trailing only Scotland and Denmark. The scourge of the Israeli team was their defensive play, which resulted in an average of two conceded goals per game. That said, Israel's success in the Nations League has been systematic. The Israelis played their first tournament in League C, the next two in League B, and the next one will start in League A, the company of Europe's strongest teams. Last year, the Israeli team took full advantage of Russia's disqualification and beat Iceland and Albania in the group.

Kosovo's qualification for the 2021 World Cup has been unable to compete with their rivals, leaving them as the last team standing in the group alongside Georgia, Greece, Sweden and Spain. The same Greece were a stopgap for the Kosovo side in last year's Nations League, which saw them finish second with three wins in six games.

The Israelis played three friendlies at the end of last year, two of which ended in defeats to Malta and Cyprus, inexplicable even by the status of the matches. The hosts have not yet played Kosovo, but they look fairly evenly matched, which will allow the visitors to take away at least one point.