Goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma is confident he can lead Italy through the play-off round - Photo: Reuters
The draw for the 2026 World Cup play-offs in the European region took place in the early hours of November 21st, with a total of 16 teams divided into 4 brackets. The winner of each bracket will qualify for the biggest football event on the planet next summer.
Bracket A is determined by the two semi-final matches between: Italy - Northern Ireland and Wales - Bosnia and Herzegovina. The winners of these two matches will meet in the final to determine who qualifies for the 2026 World Cup.
Since UEFA introduced the play-off format, Italy has suffered two consecutive bitter defeats. The first was before the 2018 World Cup, when Italy lost 0-1 to Sweden in the first leg and drew 0-0 in the second leg at San Siro, a result that meant the Azzurri were absent from the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
This painful experience repeated itself in 2022, shortly after winning Euro 2021 when Italy lost 0-1 to North Macedonia in the play-off semi-finals, conceding a goal in the 92nd minute. Now, having reached this stage for the third consecutive time, they will undoubtedly be very cautious and determined.
Bracket B is also worth watching with two semi-final clashes between Ukraine - Sweden and Poland - Albania. Bracket C consists of two semi-final matches: Slovakia - Kosovo, Türkiye - Romania. Bracket D is Czech Republic - Ireland, Denmark - North Macedonia.
The play-off semi-finals will take place on March 26th, and the finals on March 31st.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/y-gap-bac-ireland-o-vong-play-off-world-cup-2026-20251121055809424.htm
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