World Cup 2026 playoffs: Gennaro Gattuso remains cautious after the draw | OneFootball

Gennaro Gattuso

Will Italy make it through the playoffs to qualify for the 2026 World Cup? Gennaro Gattuso is showing serious caution following Thursday's draw.

Now, Italy knows its path to the 2026 World Cup. The Azzurri will have to overcome Northern Ireland in the European playoff semi-final before a potential final against either Wales or Bosnia.

After the draw, Gennaro Gattuso shared his thoughts. "It's definitely a team within our reach, and we'll give everything in this one-off match. They're very strong physically and play a lot for second balls. We'll need to put in a big performance, but we can do it. We're only thinking about the first match. We know that Wales and Bosnia both have very inspiring stadiums, while in the second case, we'll play in stadiums that aren't the most modern. Let's focus on the semi-final, then we’ll see." said the Italian coach.

As a reminder, Italy has failed in its last two playoff campaigns, losing to Sweden (0-1, 1-1) in 2017 and then to North Macedonia (0-1) in 2022.