Italy vs. Northern Ireland World Cup qualifier: Will Azzuri face an upset for the third straight cycle?

The Azzurri will host Northern Ireland in the semifinal of the playoffs for UEFA World Cup qualifying

Italy are by far the biggest team involved in the playoffs this week and the side coached by Gennaro Gattuso has the opportunity to end a negative streak that led the Azzurri to miss both editions of the World Cup in 2018 and 2022. Italy will play the UEFA playoffs, which are split into four paths, groups A, B, C and D to determine the final four spots from UEFA during this international window. Each path has two single-legged semifinals and then one single-legged final between the winners of each path's semis. These will take place on March 26 and March 31, meaning that by the end of March, all 48 World Cup teams will be known. The winner of the tie between Italy and Northern Ireland will face the winning team of the other semifinal between Wales and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which will host the final. 

All the pressure is on the Azzurri, as Gattuso underlined, speaking to the media ahead of the match that will be played in Bergamo. "It's up to us. If we are out there and give the sensation that we're focused, then the rest will come as a consequence of that. We cannot ask anyone for anything; we are in charge of our own destiny. We need to be calm and aware that we're up against players with blood pumping through their veins. People say we have no identity, and that's fine for them to say that. We've got to prove ourselves ready. Easy games no longer exist. The responsibility is not on the fans; they suffered two huge disappointments. This is not the time to talk about the past. We must go to this World Cup, because it is fundamental for us. The objective is to get back where we were for many years, and to do it as protagonists too."

FIFA 2026 World Cup qualifiers explained: Intercontinental playoffs, UEFA playoffs, who has qualified so far Francesco Porzio

Here's what you need to know:

Viewing information

• Date: Thursday, March 26 | Time: 3:45 p.m. ET
• Location: New Balance Arena -- Bergamo, Italy
• Live stream: fuboTV
• Odds: Italy -475; Draw +460; Northern Ireland +1100

Possible lineups

Italy XI: Gianluigi Donnarumma; Gianluca Mancini, Alessandro Bastoni, Riccardo Calafiori; Matteo Politano, Nicolo Barella, Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali, Federico Dimarco; Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui.

Northern Ireland XI: Pierce Charles; Ruairi McConville, Paddy McNair, Ciaron Brown; Terry Devlin, Trai Hume; Ethan Galbraith, Shea Charles, Alistair McCann, Justin Devenny; Isaac Price.

Prediction 

After losing the chance to play the 2018 and the 2022 World Cups, Italy have at least to play the final of the playoffs. Pick: Italy 2, Northern Ireland 0.