San Marino advice for Italy: ‘Bosnia are slow and predictable’ | OneFootball

San Marino faced Bosnia and Herzegovina recently, so coach Roberto Cevoli has a warning for Italy ahead of the World Cup play-off. ‘They are slow and predictable.’

It kicks off at the Stadion Bilino Polje in Zenica on Tuesday March 31 at 19.45 UK time.

BERGAMO – MARCH 26: Manuel Locatelli, Federico Gatti and Gianluigi Donnarumma of Italy interact after the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Italy and Northern Ireland at Stadio di Bergamo on March 26, 2026 in Bergamo (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

The Azzurri struggled to get the better of Northern Ireland 2-0 in the semi-final, while Bosnia needed extra time and penalties to eliminate Wales in Cardiff after a 1-1 draw on Thursday.

There is some advice from Italian coach Cevoli, whose San Marino visited Bosnia in June 2025 and lost 1-0 during the World Cup qualifying group stage.

They were eventually beaten by an Edin Dzeko strike at the 66th minute.

Italy getting ready for Bosnia

UDINE – OCTOBER 14: Gennaro Gattuso, Head Coach of Italy, sings the Italian national anthem prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Israel at Stadio Friuli on October 14, 2025 in Udine. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

“We played in Bilino Polje on June 7, it was 32 degrees C and the heat was intense,” Cevoli told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“It’s a small stadium, falling apart at the seams. However, the stands are very close to the pitch and you can really feel the fans.”

Although San Marino eventually lost, their coach believes Bosnia won’t manage to stop Italy.

BERGAMO, ITALY – MARCH 26: Matteo Politano of Italy is challenged by Brodie Spencer of Northern Ireland during the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Italy and Northern Ireland at Stadio di Bergamo on March 26, 2026 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

“We were still at 0-0 until 25 minutes from the end, Dzeko was on the bench wearing his sneakers, he wasn’t meant to come on, but then the coach changed his mind, and Dzeko ended up scoring the decisive goal.

“We nearly made it 1-1 at the last minute on the counter-attack. The whole stadium celebrated our mistake, but they were scared. They assumed they’d win easily at home to San Marino, but instead they ran a big risk.

“Bosnia are very slow in their movement, which is a positive for the Azzurri. We pressed them high in Zenica and doubled up on whoever had the ball.

“They are rather predictable, and don’t have anyone particularly fast, but watch out, don’t underestimate the environmental factors.”

Bosnia did learn from that experience, because they crushed San Marino 6-0 the second time in September 2025.

“Dzeko is evergreen and still decisive at age 40, but in that second game I was really impressed by Alajbegovic, who scored his first international goal against us. He runs, dribbles, is two-footed, so Italy have to keep an eye on him.”