The last rust for the world. And among the teams that can still bring their tickets to the United States is Italy. The Italian selection will host Northern Ireland in March in the European play-off semi-finals, an initial step in a bid to win one of the final six spots for the 2026 World Cup (June 11 – July 19) after twice missing out on the World Cup.
By far the most star-studded selection in the play-off draw held on Thursday at FIFA headquarters, with four world titles under their belt, Nazionale could then face the winners of Wales – Bosnia-Herzegovina, who will host the A table final.
After leaving the FIFA Top 10 on Wednesday evening (12th, -3), the Azzurri remain eliminated in the play-offs, against Sweden in the 2018 World Cup (lost 1-0, drew 0-0), and against North Macedonia (lost 1-0) in the 2022 World Cup.
DRC faces New Caledonia or Jamaica
In table B, the semifinals will bring together Ukraine – Sweden and Poland – Albania, while table C will bring together Turkey – Romania and Slovakia – Kosovo, and table D Denmark – North Macedonia and the Czech Republic – Ireland. The semi-finals will be played on March 26 and the final on March 31, 2026, all in one match.
In addition to the four places allocated to the European zone, two other places will be at stake for the rest of the world: the two best teams in the FIFA ranking, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo, will await the winner of the two pre-playoffs between the other four teams in the final.
In the first table, New Caledonia and Jamaica will meet to face DR Congo, and in the second table, the winner of Bolivia – Suriname will challenge Iraq.
The intercontinental tournament will be held during the international window scheduled for March 23 to 31, 2026, at the stadiums of Guadalajara and Monterrey, Mexico, with the exact distribution of matches unknown.
