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Italy yet won a lucifer successful the World Cup playoffs. Now the four-time champion needs to triumph 1 much to debar failing to suffice for a 3rd consecutive time.
The Azzurri bushed Northern Ireland 2-0 successful the European semifinals connected Thursday (March 26, 2026).
Sandro Tonali broke the deadlock with a half-volley aboriginal successful the 2nd fractional for Italy astatine location successful Bergamo and past acceptable up different extremity for Moise Kean.
“After taking the lead, we cleared our minds,” Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso said. “We enactment successful a bully performance. This should beryllium a assurance boost for Tuesday. … We person to win. We person nary different choice." Also advancing to the playoff finals scheduled for Tuesday were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Kosovo, Denmark and the Czech Republic.
Italy adjacent visits Bosnia and Herzegovina needing different triumph to scope the upcoming tourney successful North America and debar going astatine slightest 16 years without adjacent playing a lucifer astatine soccer's biggest event.
Bosnia bushed Wales, and the Czech Republic bushed Ireland successful punishment shootouts.
The different finals matchups are: Sweden vs. Poland; Turkey vs. Kosovo; and Denmark vs. the Czech Republic.
Italy was eliminated by Sweden implicit 2 winless legs successful the playoffs for the 2018 World Cup past was stunned by North Macedonia successful the semifinal circular successful 2022.
Italy's World Cup struggles spell backmost each the mode to 2010 and 2014, having failed to beforehand from its radical connected some occasions.
The Azzurri's past World Cup knockout lucifer was erstwhile they won the rubric successful 2006 by beating France successful a punishment shootout.
Italy produced 7 shots connected extremity portion Northern Ireland had none.
For the 2nd goal, Tonali's cross-field walk acceptable up Kean, who made an adept power and finish.
“We didn't person galore moments of quality, but we did good to marque the astir of them erstwhile we did,” Tonali said. “We focused connected not giving them their strengths and were concentrated connected the acceptable plays, truthful erstwhile we bash that, it's improbable we'll concede to this benignant of team.
“We've been feeling affirmative since the manager arrived, we've got to proceed similar this, there's nary different enactment but to win,” Tonali said of Gattuso, who replaced the fired Luciano Spalletti successful June.
Gyökeres scores 3 for Sweden
Viktor Gyökeres deed a chapeau instrumentality to nonstop Sweden past Ukraine 3-1 contempt not having scored for his state since 2024. Until Thursday, Gyökeres was scoreless and Sweden winless successful a miserable qualifying radical campaign.
The crippled was played successful Spain due to the fact that Ukraine hasn't hosted planetary games since the Russian penetration of 2022.
“Viktor Gyökeres made the quality tonight,” Ukraine manager Serhiy Rebrov said. “He showed his prime and proved he's 1 of the champion strikers successful Europe.” Sweden volition look Poland aft 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski scored a important header successful a 2-1 triumph implicit Albania, keeping live the Barcelona striker's bid to scope a 3rd World Cup.
Albania took the pb done Arber Hoxha conscionable earlier halftime aft a antiaircraft blunder by Poland. Lewandowski's header astatine a country got his squad backmost into the crippled earlier Piotr Zielinski's extremity enactment Poland successful front.
Kosovo is simply a crippled distant from its first-ever World Cup aft doubly recovering from a extremity down to upset Slovakia 4-3. That sets up a playoff with Turkey for a World Cup spot.
Gustav Isaksen scored doubly successful 2 minutes successful a Denmark's 4-0 triumph implicit North Macedonia.
