Despite a lengthy injury list, manager Jürgen Henn, marking almost a year to the day since his first competitive match in charge, says Estonia will be ready for the clash.

Estonia and Israel are currently both on three points after two matches, behind only Norway on six points.

Henn has faced the most challenges with defenders, with Karol Mets (St. Pauli), Joonas Tamm (Botev Plovdiv) and Rasmus Peetson (Levadia) all out due to injury.

Speaking at a press conference, Henn said: "We tried out several different combinations to get information, so that the players could sense each other in different positions," adding this will form the basis of the final starting eleven.

"Even during the game, there may be a need to switch out players into different positions. We paid attention to that in training. Based on the sessions, I believe the players' mutual understanding steadily improved," Henn continued.

Estonia lost the first away game, held in Hungary back in March, after initially holding the lead, with the final scoreline 2-1 to the Israelis.

"We've been, on several occasions, pretty close to getting a result against teams that are objectively stronger than us in terms of scoreline," Henn noted.

Estonia went on to beat Moldova in the same Group I campaign later that month.

The Israel match kicks off at 9.45 p.m. Friday and is being carried live by ETV2, with coverage starting 9.30 p.m.

Estonia has yet to play either Norway or group favorites Italy (who have not played at all yet).

Notwithstanding developments since January, the 2026 World Cup will be hosted jointly by Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

Mexico alone hosted the finals back in 1986, with the U.S. following suit in 1994.

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