Switzerland Qualifies Automatically For 2022 World Cup, Italy Forced To Participate In Play-offs

Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci against Northern Ireland (Twitter @azzurri_EN)

JAKARTA - The Swiss national team won an automatic ticket to the 2022 World Cup finals after winning the final match of Group C qualifying for the European zone when in another match, Italy was held to a 0-0 draw by Northern Ireland.

Entertaining Bulgaria at the Swissporarena Stadium, Lucerne, Monday local time (Tuesday WIB), Switzerland shaved off his guest with a convincing 4-0 victory.

Noah Okafor opened the scoring for Switzerland three minutes into the second half with a close-range header finishing off Xherdan Shaqiri's cross.

Switzerland, which had almost 69 percent of possession, were able to capitalize on their dominance to widen the margin thanks to additional goals from Ruben Vargas, Cedric Itten, and Remo Freuler.

In another match that took place simultaneously at Windsor Park, Belfast, Italy failed to penetrate the tight defense applied by Northern Ireland and had to go home with a 0-0 draw.

#WCQ 🌍

⏱️ FT - The play-offs it is...#NIRITA 0️⃣-0️⃣#Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/45Qf4sPa3e

— Italy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri_En) November 15, 2021

In the second half, Italy was able to create several chances, including Federico Chiesa's curling effort which unfortunately shot across the side of the net in the 64th minute.

Italy even came close to losing if captain Leonardo Bonucci did not finish in a crucial finish to Conor Washington's shot, which had outwitted goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, before crossing the line.

The results of these two matches made Switzerland take over the position of winners of Group C with 18 points and are entitled to a ticket to the 2022 World Cup finals.

Italy, who finished second with 16 points, will have to enter the play-offs scheduled for March next year if they are to follow Switzerland to Qatar, UEFA's official website notes.

This achievement seems to be anticlimactic for Italy, which last summer successfully lifted the Euro 2020 trophy.