JAKARTA - Italy faced an uneasy opponent, Northern Ireland, in the 2026 World Cup playoffs. Italy coach Gennara Gattuso did not underestimate Northern Ireland which he called a team that never gave up. Italy acted as host in the playoffs and the winner faced Wales or Bosnia Herzegovina in the final playoffs.
Italy is still unlucky in the World Cup qualifying round. For the third time in a row, Italy had to play a playoffs. In the previous two playoffs, Italy was defeated by Sweden and North Macedonia. As a result, Italy, who won the 2020 European Cup, even missed the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
Now, Italy is back in the playoffs after losing to Norway in the qualifying round. They are in second place in Group I after failing to complete an "immission impossible" against Norway in the last match and losing 4-1. The match became impossible because Gli Azzurri had to win with a very big score. Because Norway has a very large goal margin that is difficult to catch Italy.
As a result, Italy had to return to play in the playoffs and from the draw results carried out on Friday, November 21, 2025 in the morning WIB, Gianluigi Donnarumma et al met Northern Ireland. Italy, which was placed as the seed, benefited slightly from hosting the semifinal match which was held on March 27, 2026 local time.
If they manage to get rid of Northern Ireland handled by Martin O'Neill in the semifinals, Italy will still have to appear in the final playoffs.
They face Wales or Bosnia and if they win, Italy can only advance to the 2026 World Cup finals which for the first time will be followed by 48 participating countries.
There are 16 teams from the European zone that compete in the playoffs with 12 teams to host the runner-up group in the qualifying round. Meanwhile, four other teams qualified for the playoffs through the Nations League 2024/2025 route. They were divided into four Paths, A, B, C and D with only one match and the winner appeared in the final on March 31, 2026. There were no home and away matches because the final match took place once.
Italy's journey to the United States, Canada and Mexico remains difficult because they face teams that rely on physicality.
"They are a team that relies on physicality and never gives up," Gattuso said in response to the Northern Ireland team against Italy in the semifinals of the playoffs.
"Whatever, we really have to live with it. I said three months ago that we were going through a playoffs. But we also know that we have to continue to improve ourselves. We are facing this playoff with confidence," he said again as quoted by belfesttelegraph.
Gattuso stated that Italy's failure to get an automatic ticket to the 2026 World Cup was not a problem with team play tactics. It's just that Italy is less competitive and not a strong team. They also made a lot of mistakes as they lost to Norway in the last match despite playing at home.
The problem is not a matter of tactics. Every tactic or system of play must have pros and cons. What is clear, we have to improve the team's weaknesses and we have to be able to show we can do everything right. We will be a more competitive team," said Gattuso.
Gattuso also confirmed that he would study the strength of Northern Ireland in order to avoid mistakes in that match. "We make sure we don't make mistakes again like in the last game. That's my priority, which is to make improvements in every aspect. We will also study the strength of Northern Ireland as well as possible. Don't let us make the slightest mistake," he said firmly.
2026 World Cup playoff Draw European Zone
Path AITalia vs Northern Ireland Whales vs Bosnia Herzegovina
Path Bukraina vs SwedenPoland vs Albania
CTurki vs Romania Path
Slowakia vs Kosovo
Path DDenmark vs North MacedoniaRep. Czech vs Ireland
Final Playoff
Path A: Wales/Bosnia Herzegovina vs Italy/Northland
Path B: Ukraine/Sweden vs Poland/Albania
Path C: Slovakia/Kosovo vs Turkey/Romania
Path D: Rep. Czech / Ireland vs Denmark / North Jakarta
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