Italy, facing the last opportunity to not miss the World Cup train: there are still six vacancies

There are barely two months left until the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada begins, and the six tickets that close the composition of the 48 teams that will fight from June 11 to July 19 to win the most important trophy in world football have yet to be delivered. Four places will be for UEFA teams and the other two for the rest of the world.

For each of the six places that are still free there will be four teams fighting to win one of them in a small semi-final format, which will be played on March 26, and final, which will be played on March 31. Among these 16 teams from the European zone is Italy, the great favorite to win theirsalthough if he did not achieve it, he would be left without a World Cup place for the third consecutive time, after failing to achieve it in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

The ‘Azzurra’, led by Gennaro Gattuso – world champion with Italy in 2006 – had to go to the play-offs after being beaten by Norway (3-0 and 1-4) in the qualifying phasewhere it came in second position.

Italy has been placed on ‘path A’, where it will be measured in the semi-finals Northern Ireland this Thursday in Bergamo, a venue chosen by Gattuso himself to avoid the pressure of large stadiums like the San Siro.

“We played there on my debut and they applauded us at half-time even though we weren’t performing well. Maybe in other stadiums like San Siro, there is a risk of divisions among fans of Milan and Inter, and there may be some noise due to some imprecise passes,” the ‘Azzurra’ coach justified.

Italy has an affordable playoff

To manage to defeat Northern Ireland In a heads or tails duel, Italy would face the winner of the other semi between Wales and Bosnia. This final would be played on Tuesday, March 31, either in Cardiff or in Zenica, that is, the Italians would play for the World Cup ticket away from home and with only one card.

The drawbacks for Gattuso come in the form of physical problems. Up to five of his players are in trouble -Sandro Tonali, Gianluca Scamacca, Alessandro Bastoni, Gianluca Mancini and Riccardo Calafiori-, but the coach is very clear, only those who are in top shape will play, without the names weighing.

“Thursday’s game comes first, but we cannot risk taking out players who are not feeling well and having to replace them after five minutes. It would be crazy“, revealed the one who was one of the most seasoned midfielders in Europe.

If they achieve the desired place for this summer’s World Cup, Italy would be placed in Group B, along with Canadaone of the three hosts, Qatar and Switzerland.

Four places for Europe and two for the rest of the world

On ‘road B’, this Thursday the 26th, Ukraine will face Sweden in Valencia and Poland to Albania in Warsaw. The final of these semi-finals will be played on Tuesday the 31st in Valencia or Solna. Whoever gets a ticket from here will go directly to complete Group F, with the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia.

The semi-final matches of ‘path C’ will provide a Slovakia vs Kosovo which will be held in Bratislava and a Türkiye vs Romania in Istanbul. The Ottomans came second in the group from Spain. The winners of these semi-finals will play in Bratislava or Pristina. Whoever achieves the grand prize of the classification will be placed in Group D, with another of the hosts, the United States, Paraguay and Australia.

And UEFA’s fourth place in the play-offs will be played on ‘path D’, where Czech Republic will face Ireland in Prague and Denmark to Macedonia in Copenhagen. The winners of these clashes will seek to be in the World Cup in their particular final on the 31st, which will be held either in Prague or in Dublin.

The two remaining spots for the rest of the world will be decided with two semi-final matches on the 26th between Bolivia and Suriname, and Jamaica and New Caledonia. The two winners of these duels will go, respectively, to two finals where Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are already waiting directly.

The winner of the final between Congo vs Jamaica or New Zealand will complete Group K, where Portugal, one of the favorites, Colombia and Uzbekistan are already waiting. The last place for the 2026 World Cup will be disputed in the final between Iraq and the winner of Bolivia and Suriname. Whoever achieves the goal will complete Group I, along with France, a finalist in 2022, Senegal and Norway.