🇮🇹 Play-offs unavoidable! Dates, draw and opponents: what you need to know ⚠️

In partnership with

OneFootball

·14 de noviembre de 2025

🇮🇹 Play-offs unavoidable! Dates, draw and opponents: what you need to know ⚠️

After the success of Norway in Estonia and Italy's 2-0 victory over Moldova, the verdict is now clear: unless an unlikely 9-0 by the Azzurri at San Siro occurs, it will be Haaland & Co. who qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup.

Watch the entire Serie BKT live on OneFootball for only €9.99 per month. Click here to purchase the LaB Channel Monthly Pass without automatic renewal.

OneFootball Videos

Italy, on the other hand, will once again have to seek qualification through the playoffs, the same path that in the last two editions has only brought disappointments — Sweden and Macedonia are still painful memories.

And those two national teams are currently among the possible opponents for the Azzurri in the March matches: Sweden could appear in the semifinals, while North Macedonia is a potential rival even in the final.

📊 Group I, standings and goal difference

1. Norway - 21 points (+29)

2. ITALY - 18 POINTS (+12)

3. Israel - 9 points

4. Estonia - 4 points

5. Moldova - 1 point

🔍 How do the 2026 World Cup playoffs work?

The playoffs, scheduled for March 2026, will involve 16 national teams.

Who participates

12 runners-up from the European qualifying groups.
4 "rescued" teams: the four best group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League who have not qualified directly either as first or second in their World Cup group.

🏆 The seeding system

The sixteen national teams are distributed into four pots (A, B, C, D), each composed of four teams.

How are they defined?

The 12 runners-up are ordered based on the FIFA ranking of November 2025.
The top four runners-up enter the first pot.
The next four finish in the second pot.
The last four runners-up complete the third pot.
The fourth pot is composed of the four teams from the Nations League.

The pots are used to determine pairings and the path to the World Cup (semifinal + single final).

😮 Italy in the first pot, but watch out for the fourth

1️⃣ First pot

ITALY (9).

Turkey (26).

Poland (33).

Hungary (37)

2️⃣ Second pot

Scotland (38)

Czech Republic (44)

Slovakia (46)

Albania (61)

3️⃣ Third pot

North Macedonia (65)

Iceland (74)

Bosnia and Herzegovina (75)

Kosovo (84)

4️⃣ Fourth pot

Wales

Romania

Sweden

Northern Ireland

👀 How will the playoffs work

The playoff draw - scheduled for Thursday, November 20 at 1 PM in Zurich - will establish the pairings for the semifinals following a precise scheme:

The national teams from the 1st pot will be matched with those from the 4th pot (the ones rescued from the Nations League).
The teams from the 2nd pot will face the national teams from the 3rd pot.

Once the finalists are determined, the paths will cross: the winner of the 1st vs 4th pot match will face the winner of the 2nd vs 3rd pot match in the playoff final.

🏟️ Where will the matches be played?

The semifinals will be played at home by the teams belonging to the 1st and 2nd pot.

If, as expected, the Azzurri finish second in the group, they will play the semifinal at home against one of the four teams rescued from the Nations League.

This provides an important advantage for direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup, but also a possible clash that evokes past nightmares: in the fourth pot, in fact, is Sweden with Gyokeres and Isak.

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

📸 STEFANO RELLANDINI - AFP or licensors