Italy keeps World Cup hopes alive as Azzurri face Bosnia and Herzegovina next week.
Italy defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 to advance to the World Cup playoff final, as a tense evening of football at the Stadio di Bergamo ended in relief and celebration.
Italy will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday in a match that will determine whether the Azzurri end their torturous absence from football’s greatest stage.
Gennaro Gattuso called Thursday’s fixture the biggest match of his coaching career, and the tension was palpable both in the stands and on the pitch.
Italy remain under enormous pressure to qualify having failed in their last two attempts – a miserable run that has seen the four-time world champions absent from Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022 – and for much of the evening it looked as though another night of torment might be in store.
A cagey first half
Northern Ireland held out until half-time in Bergamo after surviving Italy’s early onslaught when a cross struck their left post before Pierce Charles saved well from Federico Dimarco inside the opening 10 minutes.
Italy held 67 per cent of the possession but struggled to translate that control into a clear advantage, with Michael O’Neill’s disciplined backline successfully neutralising the Azzurri’s attempts to penetrate the final third.
Northern Ireland were missing Ali McCann, skipper Conor Bradley, and Daniel Ballard through injury, having qualified for the playoffs largely thanks to their Nations League results.
Yet they were far from passive. Ethan Galbraith led a rare moment on the counter-attack but saw his deflected shot comfortably saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma when passing to Isaac Price was the better option.
Gattuso did not mince his words about his side’s first-half performance: “We could have done better in the first half. Locatelli was pushing up too high and we were getting squeezed – we hadn’t prepared it that way.”
Tonali breaks the deadlock
The deadlock was broken in the 56th minute when Sandro Tonali capitalised on a poor clearance from Isaac Price to thrash the ball home from the edge of the box with an unstoppable first-time finish.
Cheers of relief swept the New Balance Arena, though the goal did not immediately loosen the tension gripping the stadium.
Northern Ireland continued to threaten on the break, and Trai Hume made a second goal-saving intervention in the 73rd minute, keeping out Pio Esposito’s header on the line.
Moise Kean tried an audacious bicycle kick five minutes later that whistled just wide, but then delivered the killer blow when Tonali lofted the ball forward and the Fiorentina striker cut inside Ruairi McConville before sweeping a left-footed shot in off the inside of the far post.
Substitute Jamie Reid stabbed wide from a corner in stoppage time but Northern Ireland’s chance had gone.
Gattuso and O’Neill react
“It wasn’t easy at all – they surprised us, because we thought they would play direct but instead they kept the ball,” Gattuso admitted afterwards. “We also made things difficult for ourselves, but in the second half we gave it more rhythm. Now let’s go and play this final. We have to recover – it’s tough and we knew it would be.”
O’Neill was magnanimous in defeat: “I cannot ask much more from the players. Our game plan worked very well in the first half and Italy struggled to create chances. There is courage and energy in this team. I’m very proud because we are a very young team, with an average age of around 22. This game will be important for the rest of their careers.”
Tonali, who was outstanding throughout, told RAI: “We didn’t create all that much but we did well to make the most of what we did create.”
What comes next
Italy will now travel to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday after Bosnia outlasted Wales on penalties — Edin Dzeko levelling the score and 18-year-old Kerim Alajbegovic converting the winning spot-kick in a 4-2 shootout following a 1-1 draw.
“We have to win. We have no other choice,” Gattuso said. Should Italy prevail, they will join Group B of the 2026 World Cup alongside co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar, with games scheduled in Toronto, Los Angeles and Seattle.
For a nation that has endured two devastating qualification failures in a row, the final cannot come quickly enough.
Photo credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp / Shutterstock.com
