Serie A star's goal not enough for Italy's automatic World Cup qualification

Italy will have to settle for a play-off place in their hopes of World Cup qualification, after being humbled by Norway in their final qualifer on Sunday. 

Gennaro Gattuso's men went into the game having beaten Moldova last week thanks to goals from Roma defender Gianluca Mancini and Francesco Pio Esposito of Inter. 

However, their efforts in the end were in vain due to Norway's 4-1 victory against Italy, despite Gattuso's side taking the lead through another Esposito goal. 

Those results mean that Italy's only chance of qualifying for next summer's finals is by way of the play-offs. 

The 2026 World Cup playoff draw will take place next Thursday, with sixteen teams participating. The 12 runners-up in the European World Cup qualifying groups and the four best group winners of the 2024-25 Nations League. 

Italy are guaranteed a spot among the four seeded teams and will play the semi-final at home, but they have bad memories of the play-offs from previous qualifying campaigns. 

In 2018, Sweden prevented their path to the World Cup in Russia via the play-offs, and then four years later, they succumbed to the same fate at the hands of North Macedonia. 

With that path the only route left to get to North America next summer, Gattuso will hope to banish the nightmares of the last two play-off experiences and see Italy make their first finals since 2014. 

 

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