Belgium at the FIFA World Cup Finals matches until the 2018 world cup when Romelu Lukaku also scored his 5th World Cup goal. In 2014, Belgium started as group favourites and beat all group opponents with the smallest margin. Thereafter, they played a round of 16 match against the United States in which American goalkeeper Tim Howard made 15 saves, crowning himself man of the match. The Red Devils needed the extra time to proceed to the next stage (2–1), where they faced Argentina. In a balanced quarter-final against the "Albiceleste", the World Cup ended for Belgium as they failed to equalize after Gonzalo Higuaín's early
Israel at the FIFA World Cup that had participated in previous competitions in the 1930s was actually the forerunner of today's Israel team and as such bears no relation to the national team of the Palestinian authority. However, the region currently known as Palestine is considered "one of the first Asian teams to compete in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers". At the 1970 FIFA World Cup, Israel participated for the first time. Israel qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 1970, along with El Salvador and Morocco. Although it was reported in the build-up to the final draw that seedings would be