Introduction
Some football matches are tense. Others are unforgettable. Italy’s 5:4 win over Israel in Debrecen belongs in the second category: a breathless, seesawing World Cup qualifier that compressed joy, fear, chaos, and composure into a few irretrievable minutes.
Italy seemed safe at 4:2 with the clock nudging toward full time. Then came an own goal, then an equalizer, and finally a stoppage-time winner from Sandro Tonali that tore the air open. If you needed a ninety-minute lesson in resilience and nerve, you got it.
In this long-form breakdown, I’ll reconstruct the decisive moments, highlight how the tactical battle produced such volatility, and explain what Italy can learn from a night that looked destined to slip away. This is not just a match report: it is a study in momentum, decision-making under pressure, and the psychology of elite teams when the scoreline starts to wobble.
Setting The Stage
The venue and vibe
Debrecen in Hungary served as the neutral stage for a drama that felt anything but neutral. The acoustics of a partially shared crowd can create unusual pressure: roars and groans merge; players sense anxiety at both ends. That atmosphere fed the game’s frantic final movement.
The Narrative: From Comfort To Panic To Catharsis
Italy seize the initiative
Italy’s opening was assertive without being reckless. The midfield built in triangles, the fullbacks offered width, and early possession pulled Israel from side to side. The first Italian goals grew from tempo control: quick switches, a runner arriving from deep, and a final pass threaded just early enough to beat the defensive line. Italy looked like the cleverer team, moving the ball with the calm of a side that trusts its patterns.
Israel refuse the script
Israel answered not with caution but with ambition. They found cracks between Italy’s lines, targeted transitions after turnovers, and asked direct questions of the center-backs. The visitors were particularly effective at catching Italy with numbers committed forward: a diagonal into the channel, a cutback to the penalty spot, and suddenly the deficit narrowed. What seemed simple became complicated.
4:2 and the illusion of safety
By the time Italy re-asserted control and pushed to 4:2, the logical expectation was a steady close. The fourth goal looked like a dagger: it capped a spell of possession where Italy’s structure reappeared, and the technical gap told. With three minutes of normal time left, most teams would mentally start the cool-down. That is precisely when danger creeps in.
The avalanche: an own goal and an equalizer
Football punishes assumptions. An unfortunate own goal from Alessandro Bastoni reopened the door. Own goals are double-edged: they change the score and jolt the group’s psychology. Italy, momentarily stunned, faced a revitalized Israel sensing an epic comeback. Dor Peretz, already a standout on the night, struck again in the 89th minute. 4:4. Stoppage time loomed. The emotional swing was whiplash.
Tonali’s winner in stoppage time
Here is where elite habits matter. Instead of retreating into panic, Italy took two deep breaths and executed a final sequence with clarity. The ball moved crisply through midfield, a carry broke a line, and Sandro Tonali timed his run with calm. The finish was authoritative: low, true, and decisive. In matches like this, the shot is only part of the skill; the greater talent is finding composure when the brain screams. Tonali found it. Italy 5:4. Full time.
Why The Game Went Wild
Tactical stretch and transition exposure
Italy’s willingness to push fullbacks high created overlaps but also exposed the half-spaces during defensive rest moments. When possession broke, Israel launched early diagonals, pulling one center-back wide and leaving the other to defend large zones. The first and third Israeli goals, especially, felt born from that stretch: Italy were expansive; Israel were opportunistic.
Pressing triggers on both sides
Both teams recognized similar triggers: a back-to-goal midfielder receiving under pressure, a heavy touch from a center-back, a switch that hung in the air half a second too long. When these moments occurred, the press accelerated. This generated the broken-field sequences that make 5:4 possible. If you diagrammed the match, you would draw more arrows in transition than in settled play.
Substitutions and the late-game swing
Fresh legs can stabilize or turbo-charge chaos. Israel’s late changes prioritized directness and second-ball aggression, which multiplied the number of duels inside Italy’s defensive third. Italy’s adjustments added control in the middle but did not fully restore rest defense until deep into stoppage time. That imbalance tilted the final minutes toward volatility.
Individual Performances That Defined The Night
Sandro Tonali: the cold nerve
Tonali’s stoppage-time finish will headline, but his broader contribution mattered just as much. He read the moments when Italy needed an extra body behind the ball, slid into passing lanes to slow counters, and, when the winner came, arrived in the box with exactly the right blend of courage and restraint. That is midfield maturity: know when to hold, know when to step, and know when to decide.
Dor Peretz: Israel’s relentless heartbeat
A brace in a nine-goal thriller says plenty. Peretz timed late runs into the box and exploited the small hesitations that appear when defenders argue with their own positioning. His second goal, the 89th-minute equalizer, showed the kind of persistence that often flips qualifiers on their head. On another night, his contribution secures a famous point.
Alessandro Bastoni: a tough lesson and a response
The own goal will play on loop, but the story cannot end there. Bastoni’s distribution earlier created attacking platforms, and his aerial interventions prevented harm more than once. The teaching moment: when lines are stretched late, communication and depth control must be immaculate. He will file this under experience gained the hard way.
The wide threats
Italy’s wing play produced most of the structural advantages: stretching Israel’s back line, isolating fullbacks, and creating cutback angles. The execution varied, but the intent was clear. On nights like this, wingers and fullbacks are both creators and early defenders: the first defenders when possession flips. That two-way demand explains some late looseness.
Turning Points And “What Ifs”
The psychology after 4:2
At 4:2, the only team capable of losing the game’s thread was Italy. The late own goal proved how quickly a sense of comfort mutates into tension. The lesson is universal: champions finish routines. That means fresh concentration after scoring, clean set-piece organization, and immediate restoration of rest defense.
The equalizer’s aftermath
Many teams concede again within ninety seconds of an equalizer because shape and emotion both fracture. Italy avoided that trap by treating the kick-off as a reset. The next two passes were short and safe, and the next action was progressive. That micro-sequence paved Tonali’s runway.
What Italy Can Take Forward
Rest defense as a habit, not a situation
Rest defense is the backbone of modern elite football: your structure when you have the ball that protects you when you lose it. Italy must hardwire two principles: the backside fullback tucks in one step earlier, and the weak-side midfielder drops five meters sooner when the ball approaches the final third. Those small calibrations erase easy diagonals and halve the risk of late-game avalanches.
Game-state management in the last ten minutes
From minute eighty onward, possession needs a purpose: drain adrenaline and pull defenders, yes, but also preserve counter-pressure. Italy can choreograph two or three “cooling” sequences late in matches: sixty seconds of secure circulation ending in a corner or a throw-in high up the pitch. Control is not just technical; it is emotional choreography.
Trust in the team’s spine
The winners in chaotic matches usually have a calm central triangle: center-back, holding midfielder, and central forward who make stabilizing choices. Italy’s spine stood up when it mattered most. That creates a bank of confidence they can access in the next tight qualifier.
What This Means For The Campaign
Momentum and message
A 5:4 is not a template you want to repeat, but as a narrative pivot it can be priceless. It sends a message to the group: we can weather storms and still impose our will at the end. It warns future opponents that Italy will not wilt when the script turns.
Goals for and goals against
The attacking output, five in a qualifier, is a meaningful signal that movement patterns are producing chances from multiple zones. The four conceded are a reminder that ambition without compactness is a trade-off that becomes risky in the final stretch. The staff’s job is to keep the former and trim the latter.
Key Moments: A Quick Timeline
First half rhythm
Italy establish control through midfield rotations and wide overloads, finding early goals that express their best traits: crisp circulation, third-man runs, and a decisive finish.
Middle-phase turbulence
Israel’s transitions force hurried recoveries. Italy still create, but the game’s pulse speeds up, and duels multiply around the box.
Minute 87 to 90
An own goal flips anxiety back into the stadium. Peretz equalizes in the 89th. Italy face the abyss and choose composure.
Stoppage time
A clean breakout, a perfectly weighted final ball, and a Tonali finish deliver the release. It is the kind of moment players carry with them for seasons.
Conclusion
“We’re a crazy team” works as a headline because this match made rational analysis feel slightly beside the point. Yet the truth beneath the chaos is practical. Italy won because they combined attacking clarity with late composure and found the courage to make one more correct decision when everything around them was unraveling. Israel’s bravery and quality pushed the game toward mayhem; Italy’s resilience pulled it back.
Nights like this do not happen often. When they do, they either fracture belief or fuse it. For Italy, Debrecen felt like fusion: a shared scar and a shared smile. The film room will linger on rest-defense tweaks, late-game habits, and cleaner exits under pressure. The dressing room will remember something simpler: a wild qualifier, a stoppage-time strike, and the feeling that no matter how the narrative twists, this team can still write the final line.
I am the Editor in Chief at Mivtoa. I work from Nagpur, India. I have spent a decade on sports desks. I started as a copy editor. I grew into a reporter. Now I lead a small newsroom that loves clear writing.