Overview
- Italy play Northern Ireland in Bergamo on Thursday in a single-leg semi-final, with the winner to visit Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in Tuesday’s Path A final for a 2026 World Cup place.
- Coach Gennaro Gattuso acknowledged the pressure after failures in 2018 and 2022 and said he “really hope[s] with all my heart” this group reaches the finals.
- Italy are shorthanded with Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca ruled out and Sandro Tonali and Gianluca Mancini doubtful, while Northern Ireland are missing Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard.
- Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said he expects a low-scoring game and urged his young squad to believe, noting they have “everything to gain.”
- Kick-off is 7:45 p.m. GMT on BBC Three in the UK, with Paramount in the US, SonyLIV in India and Stan Sport in Australia, as other semi-finals feature Ukraine vs Sweden in Valencia without Alexander Isak and Poland vs Albania in Path B, plus Wales vs Bosnia and Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland in other paths.