Israel's national team coach Avraham Grant said on Thursday that his team was unlikely to qualify for the World Cup finals despite two 1-1 draws against Ireland and France in the past week. France and Israel have 10 points from six matches in European qualifying Group Four, one point more than Ireland and Switzerland, who both have a game in hand. "During the campaigns throughout the years our chances of qualifying for the big tournaments were never great and it is no less true this time, certainly now (after the two draws)," Grant said in a television interview on Israel's Channel 5. France and Israel appear to have much the tougher run-in of the four contenders from the group, each with away fixtures to Ireland and the Swiss. The two other teams in the group are Cyprus and the Faroe Islands. Israel have appeared in the World Cup finals only once, in 1970. They became full members of UEFA in 1992 but have failed to reach any major competition finals since then. --More 2226 Local Time 1926 GMT
