Italy take on Northern Ireland at the New Balance Arena in Bergamo, Italy on Thursday, with their hopes of FIFA World Cup qualification on the line. The Azzuri have missed out on the last two World Cups (2018, 2022) and will be aiming to end a 12-year absence from global football's premier competition.
Northern Ireland, meanwhile, will hope to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, as they remain the least populous country to have qualified for multiple world cups or even scored in one.
The two teams last met in qualification for the 2022 World Cup, with Northern Ireland losing 2-0 in Italy, but earning a 0-0 draw at home that prevented the Azzuri from topping the group -- and thus their eventual failure to qualify.
The winner of this one-legged playoff tie will move on to face the winner of Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina to vie for a spot in the 48-team 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Here's everything you need to know about the FIFA World Cup Qualification Playoff.
How to watch:
The match will be shown on BBC Three in the UK, VIX in the U.S., SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Kick-off time: Thursday, March 26 at 7:45 p.m. GMT (2:45 p.m. ET; 1:15 a.m. IST, Friday and 5:45 a.m. AEST, Friday).
Venue: Stadio di Bergamo, Italy
Referee: Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)
VAR: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
Injury and Team News:
Italy:
Federico Chiesa, F: OUT, discomfort
Gianluca Scamacca, F: OUT, muscle
Gianluca Mancini, D: DOUBT
Sandro Tonali, M: DOUBT
Northern Ireland:
Alistair McCann, M: OUT, ankle
Dan Ballard, D: OUT, hamstring
Conor Bradley, D: OUT, knee
Talking Points:
Gattuso vs Chiesa
The Gennaro Gattuso show never disappoints.
After having left Federico Chiesa out of his entire reign, the former Milan midfield general handed the Liverpool winger a surprise call-up, perhaps in desperation given the enormity of these rounds of fixtures.
Yet, Chiesa has been unceremoniously sent home, with Gattuso claiming he's shown up with a minor physical problem and that it was "useless" to stay. When it was put to him that his squad still has players nursing injury but staying with the team, Gattuso defended his decision, saying "Not every player has the same frame of mind. When I hear that someone is wavering that's when I know I need to make a choice. We decided it together. He felt he wasn't up to it and he went home. I need to accept it."
Yes, Chiesa has only started one game for Liverpool this season, but his penchant for late, game-changing cameos is unrivalled and might have been the difference between Italy's presence in North America this summer or not.
How will Northern Ireland deal with absentees (Bradley, Ballard) at the back?
Northern Ireland finished third with nine points in their qualification group, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Michael O'Neill's side expectedly won both their games against minnows Luxembourg, but managed a surprise 2-0 win over Slovakia at home. An injury-time goal gave Slovakia the win in the reverse fixture, and Northern Ireland fell by the same scoreline as they pushed group winners Germany all the way at home after having lost 1-3 in Germany.
O'Neill can boast of four Premier League players in his usual squad, but two of them - Dan Ballard and captain Conor Bradley have been missing through injury multiple times, which is also the case against Italy. While Bradley's replacement is obvious in Trai Hume of Sunderland, it is Ballard's absence that could really trouble the visitors in Bergamo.
The Sunderland centre-back has been a revelation in the Premier League this season and would have fancied his chances of keeping any of Italy's centre-forwards (Mateo Retegui / Pio Esposito / Moise Kean) quiet, with his combination of defensive nous and physical presence. O'Neill doesn't have ready-made replacements for Ballard with the same qualities in what will likely be a three-man backline, and this could be a weakness that Gattuso targets.
Much has been made of O'Neill's decision to also take up the Blackburn Rovers managerial role, but given how well he used his team's underdog status in achieving Euro 2016 qualification a decade ago, his club role might be inconsequential if Northern Ireland achieve a World Cup dream.
Can Italy deal with the pressure of a potential 16-year absence from the World Cup?
Northern Ireland might be considered very beatable opponents for Italy, but so were Sweden and North Macedonia. The legacy of being four-time World Cup champions proved to be a burden as even pedigreed players, some of whom had won the UEFA Champions League, crumbled under the pressure of the World Cup playoffs.
Lose this tie and Italy would be in the veritable wilderness of international football for 16 years, despite having won the Euros in between. It's somewhat ironic that Italy's most poor spell in football comes at a time when the country is making strides in other sports.
The FIFA World Cup is what the nation wants (and expects) and perhaps that explains Gattuso's choice of venue. The San Siro has proved unintentionally hostile - "At the first errant pass you start hearing the whistles," Gattuso said. "Whereas when we played in Bergamo we got cheered at halftime when it was 0-0."
The Italian manager has been at pains to not overburden his players with video sessions and tactics, preferring to focus on keeping them in a serene state of mind, ahead of one of the nation's biggest ever fixtures in history.
Even victory won't assuage fears with a tough trip to Wales / Bosnia to come
Even if Italy get past Northern Ireland, they face a potentially tougher fixture in the next round, as they will be away to either Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina.
While Italy have an excellent historic record against Wales (8 wins, 2 losses), the last time they played each other was in the 2022 Euros, with Italy nervously holding on to a 1-0 lead against ten-man Wales. It was the same scoreline when Italy last met Bosnia, with an unimpressive showing in a 1-0 win in 2024.
Facing up to a partisan crowd that will be cheering their team on just one win away from a place at the World Cup, Italy will have to display nerves of steel to ensure they make it to Group B of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where Canada, Qatar and Switzerland await.
What do the numbers say?
Italy have never lost to Northern Ireland in their history, having won five and drawing two games - without conceding a single goal, going back to 1958
Northern Ireland have conceded four in five games (0.8 gpg) with Dan Ballard, and ten in five games (2 gpg) without the Sunderland defender.
Italy scored 21 goals in qualification (2.625 gpg), with Mateo Retegui top-scoring with five goals. Northern Ireland scored seven goals (1.16 gpg) in qualification, with seven different goalscorers.
Italy's last competitive game at the World Cup was in 2014 against Uruguay in the group stage, with the infamous Luis Suárez - Giorgio Chiellini 'biting' incident.
