Israel's World Cup dream suffered a fatal blow as they were beaten 3-1 by Fabio Capello's Russia in St Petersburg on Tuesday afternoon.

Having drawn 1-1 at home to Azerbaijan on Saturday, Israel needed to win to keep alive their Group F playoff hopes, but they had no answer to the power and technical ability of the Russians.

The match came to life in the second half when experienced defender Vasily Berezutsky produced an excellent run and finish following a neat in a one-two with Roman Shirokov after 49 minutes.

Israel's fate was sealed three minutes later as Kokorin smashed the ball past Dudu Awat from just outside the box.

Russia opened up a 3-0 lead when Denis Glushakov fired home the rebound after Roman Shirokov had sent a penalty against the post.

Eran Zahavi grabbed a last-minute consolation for Israel, but it was too little too late for Eli Gutman's men.