*This content was translated by AI.
Italy, which was humiliated for failing to advance to the World Cup finals for two consecutive times, finally has a golden opportunity to recover its honor.
Italy defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 in the semifinals of the UEFA Playoff (PO) Pass A at 4:45 a.m. on the 27th (Korea Standard Time) at New Balance Arena in Bergamo, Italy.
As a result, Italy has only one win left before advancing to the 2026 FIFA North-China World Cup finals. Italy will face a showdown of fate on April 1 for a ticket to the finals in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Italy, led by head coach Gennaro Gattuso, went all out with all the best available members, including Gianluigi Donnarumma (Manchester City), Nicolo Barella, Federico DiMarco (Inter Milan) and Ricardo Calafior (Arnall). Against this, Northern Ireland put forward Jamie Donley (Oxford United), Shea Charles (Southampton), and Justin Devney (Crystal Palace) from Tottenham Hotspur.
The game was dominated by Italy. Italy continued to dominate the market and did not lose the lead. He also led Northern Ireland by a wide margin of 8-1 in the number of shots on target.
The first goal came in the 11th minute of the second half. Sandro Tonali (Newcastle United) shook the net with a powerful right footed shot and gained momentum. In the 35th minute of the second half, Mois Keane (AFC Fiorentina) scored an additional goal with an elaborate left-footed shot in the penalty box to seal a 2-0 complete victory.
Italy, the champion of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, has since been mired in a severe slump. Following the elimination of the 2010 South African World Cup group stage (two draws and one loss) and the failure to advance to the round of 16 at the 2014 Brazil World Cup (1 win and two losses), he suffered the humiliation of not even being able to make the final stage at all at the 2018 Russia World Cup and the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Italy is in a relatively easy group when advancing to the finals. If only Bosnia and Herzegovina is defeated, Italy will join Group B as the winner of the European PO Pass A and play in the group stage with host countries Canada, Qatar, and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, fierce competition for survival continued for the finals in other passes. In Pass B, traditional powerhouses Sweden and Poland survived and faced off. Sweden beat Ukraine 3-1 thanks to Victor Jockeres' one-man show with a hat-trick. Starting with the first goal in the 6th minute of the first half, Joquez scored in the 6th minute of the second half and the 28th minute of the second half (penalty kick) in succession to lead the victory. Ukraine had to be satisfied with Ponomarenko Matvi recovering one goal in the 45th minute of the second half to avoid defeat.
Poland also beat Albania 2-1 to join the final and face Sweden for a World Cup ticket.
In Pass C, Kosovo scored seven goals in an away match in Slovakia to win 4-3. Turkiye defeated Romania 1-0 to reach the final and face Kosovo.
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*This content was translated by AI.
