Italy v Northern Ireland in 2026 World Cup play-off semi in Bergamo | OneFootball

The European playoff semifinal for the 2026 World Cup, between Italy and Northern Ireland, will be held on March 26 at Atalanta's stadium in Bergamo (northern Italy), the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced this Thursday (4).

The ‘Nazionale’, which finished second in its group, behind Norway, needs to compete in the playoffs for the third consecutive time.

The Italian team was eliminated by Sweden in the qualifiers for the 2018 Russia World Cup, and by North Macedonia for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

In a statement, the federation highlighted that “Italy is unbeaten in Bergamo, with two wins and two draws in four matches.”

The last time the ‘Azzurra’ played at the Gewiss Stadium, last September, they defeated Estonia 5-0 in Gennaro Gattuso's debut as coach, succeeding Luciano Spalletti in June.

If they beat Northern Ireland, ranked 69th by FIFA, the Italian team, four-time world champions and ranked 12th, will travel on March 31 to face the winner of the match between Wales (32nd) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (71st).

The winning team will secure its spot in the 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

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