MILAN: Italy have one more obstacle standing between them and a return to the World Cup in the shape of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who host the Azzurri on Tuesday in what promises to be a tense qualification play-off final in Zenica.
A battling win over Northern Ireland in last week’s semi-final did little to ease Italian supporters’ fears about missing out on a third straight World Cup, goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean stopping a lacklustre display from turning into another disaster.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso called Tuesday’s showdown in Zenica “Everest” due to the weight of expectation weighing on his shoulders as he tries to guide Italy back to the world’s biggest football tournament after 12 years away.
The prize for Italy is a spot in Group ‘B’ at this summer’s finals alongside co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar, and something to look forward to for a powerful football nation that has fallen behind its rivals since last lifting the World Cup in 2006.
Gattuso said that he’s not “interested in the performance” of his players in what will be a soaking and rowdy Bilino Polje Stadium, which has seen snow in the last few days.
But his players have also come under fierce criticism for the way they greeted Bosnia’s win on penalties over Wales in Tuesday’s other semi-final.
A group of players, most prominently full-back Federico Dimarco, were filmed fist-pumping in celebration when Kerim Alajbegovic shot Bosnia’s winning spot-kick in Cardiff.
That gesture led former AS Roma and Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic to tell the Gazzetta Dello Sport that “Bosnia is waiting for them with open arms”.
The controversy even caused former Italy goalkeeper Dino Zoff, a World Cup winner in 1982, to criticise the current team for making their task in Bosnia more difficult than it needs to be.
“It wasn’t a good thing to do because it will just further fire up our opponents, I would have behaved differently,” Zoff told newspaper Il Giornale.
Dimarco was wheeled out on Sunday to put an end to the controversy, the Inter Milan star insisting that he “wasn’t showing disrespect for Bosnia or the Bosnian people”.Bosnia captain Edin Dzeko showed with his late equaliser in Cardiff that at the age of 40 he can still do damage up front.
Meanwhile, Kosovo are dreaming of a first ever appearance at a major tournament.
Kosovo, the lowest ranked team to make the play-offs, are potentially 90 minutes away from reaching a first major tournament, a decade on from their admission to UEFA and FIFA.
They edged Slovakia 4-3 in Bratislava to set up a clash with Turkey, who have not played at the World Cup since a surprise third-place finish in 2002.
Turkey beat Romania 1-0 with a goal from Brighton and Hove Albion’s Ferdi Kadioglu.
Kosovo will have home advantage in Pristina against Euro 2024 quarter-finalists Turkey.
A place in Group ‘D’ alongside the United States, Australia and Paraguay awaits the winner.
ON THE CUSP
Victor Gyokeres’ hat-trick last-week against Ukraine put them on the cusp of just a second World Cup in 20 years.
Graham Potter’s Sweden, whose win over Ukraine was their first of the qualifying campaign, will be at home in Stockholm against a Poland side seeking to go to a third successive World Cup.
Robert Lewandowski scored his 89th international last week as Poland came from behind to beat Albania in the semi-finals. The winner of this tie will go into Group ‘F’ with the Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia.
In the other playoff on Tuesday, the Czechs will look to make sure that Denmark don’t crash the party in Prague.
The Czechs rallied from two goals down to get past the Republic of Ireland on penalties, while Denmark missed out on automatic qualification after a dramatic defeat in Scotland, but four second-half goals saw them comfortably brush aside North Macedonia in Copenhagen to stay in the hunt.
The Czech Republic last went to the World Cup in 2006, while Denmark have played at three of the last four finals. Tuesday’s winning team will complete Group ‘A’ with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.
Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2026