🇮🇹 Another play-off for Italy? The Azzurri’s World Cup hopes in the balance | OneFootball

Italy runs the risk of writing a new bitter chapter in its recent history: for the third consecutive time, it could end up in the playoffs to qualify for a World Cup.

After the painful eliminations of 2017 (against Sweden) and 2022 (against North Macedonia), the Azzurri are once again between a rock and a hard place.

But, what needs to happen for Italy to qualify directly without going through the playoffs?

👀 The scenarios

The group situation is complicated: Italy does not only depend on itself.

⚠️ The danger of Israel

It's not enough to just look at Norway: Israel can still snatch second place from Italy.

It will play away from home against both Italy and Norway in October: these will be two key matches that could completely change the standings.

💔 The specter of the playoffs

If it does not achieve first place, Italy will have to risk everything in the playoffs.

A déjà vu that makes fans shudder: the last two World Cup qualifiers have been a nightmare.

To repeat would mean risking another sensational exclusion.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

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