Italy moved closer to ending a 12-year absence from the World Cup after a 2-0 victory over Northern Ireland on Thursday, securing a play-off final clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meanwhile, Wales and the Republic of Ireland were eliminated following agonising penalty shootouts.
Sandro Tonali opened the scoring for Italy with a powerful strike, before Moise Kean added a second-half finish in Bergamo to keep Gennaro Gattuso’s team on course for a return to football’s biggest stage.
“We had to work hard because it was not easy tonight,” said Gattuso. “We knew this game would be tough, all we can do now is try to recharge the batteries.” Italy will face Bosnia in Zenica next Tuesday.
Bosnia reached the play-off final after a dramatic 4-2 penalty shootout win over Wales in Cardiff. A late header from Edin Dzeko cancelled out Dan James’ opener for Wales, forcing extra time.
“We’re lost for words. We prepared as well as we could have and I thought we played well,” Wales captain Ethan Ampadu said. “We can hold our heads up high because we fought for everything, sometimes in life things don’t go your way.”
Elsewhere, Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick as Sweden edged Ukraine 3-1 in Valencia, Spain, moving one step closer to the finals despite a difficult group stage. Gyokeres opened the scoring from close range, doubled after the break, and converted a penalty to complete his treble, with Matvii Ponomarenko grabbing a late consolation for Ukraine. Sweden will face Poland in Stockholm for a remaining European spot.
Poland survived a scare from Albania, with Robert Lewandowski heading in an equaliser before Piotr Zielinski secured the 2-1 win. Czech Republic goalkeeper Matej Kovar was the hero in a shootout against Ireland in Prague after the game finished 2-2, denying Ireland a first World Cup trip since 2002.
Other playoff highlights included Denmark’s 4-0 win over North Macedonia in Copenhagen, Kosovo’s historic 4-3 comeback victory against Slovakia, and Turkey’s 1-0 win over Romania courtesy of Ferdi Kadioglu.
Kosovo will face Turkey for the right to go to the World Cup, potentially marking their first appearance at a major tournament since joining UEFA and FIFA competitions a decade ago.
Below are the full results ;
Turkey 1, Romania 0
Kosovo 4, Slovakia 3
Italy 2, Northern Ireland 0
Wales 1, Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 (Bosnia and Herzegovina wins penalty shootout, 4-2)
Sweden 3, Ukraine 1
Poland 2, Albania 1
Denmark 4, North Macedonia 0
Czechia 2, Ireland 2 (Czechia wins penalty shootout, 4-3)
