Italy – Northern Ireland

Fans at the stadium in Bergamo will see at least three goals.

Italy in the current World Cup qualifying has become one of the most discussed national teams. Special attention to the 'Squadra Azzurra' is drawn by the fact that one of the greatest teams in football history, the four-time World Cup winner, failed to qualify for the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 tournaments. Right now Italy stands on the edge of a third failure. Interestingly, at the World Cup in the United States in 1994, the Italians reached the final, where they experienced the most dramatic defeat in their football history. Even young football fans have seen footage of Roberto Baggio's miss in the post-match penalty shootout, the world's best player of 1993 and the main star of that World Cup. Now the Italians have more grounded but quite achievable goals – to reach the playoff semi-final against Northern Ireland. The British national team is one of the oldest in the world, but has always been in the shadow of the English. Over the last 96 years the 'green-and-whites' have appeared at the World Cup three times. The best achievement was recorded in 1958 in Sweden, where Northern Ireland went out at the quarterfinal stage. The winner of the Bergamo playoff match in the final will meet the team that won the Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina match. Bookmakers have made the home side the favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.30 on their victory. In June of last year the head coach of the Italy national team, Luciano Spalletti, resigned after a defeat in the first qualifying round to Norway with a score of 0:3. Now under the leadership of Gennaro Gattuso the Italians lost to the Netherlands and company again. And again by a margin of three goals. This failure left the Italians in second place in the group and sent them to the playoff qualification. Northern Ireland in the group stage finished third behind Germany and Slovakia, but earned a UEFA playoff spot thanks to successes in the Nations League. The British have a young and fast team, which in several matches in 2024-2025 has shown itself very brightly. This opponent is definitely not a walkover for the Italians and may leave its mark on the scoreboard. The hosts' goals are also not in doubt, even without Federico Chiesa. Let's bet on a high-scoring Bergamo match.