The looming possibility of a third consecutive World Cup absence is unthinkable for a nation with Italy’s pedigree. Their previous two failures came in the most painful manner imaginable, play-off losses to Sweden in 2018 and a shocking defeat to North Macedonia in 2022. But O’Neill believes it is vital for his squad to avoid becoming distracted by Italy’s anxieties.
“The Italian team of now is not going to be the Italian team of eight years ago,” he said.
“Not all their players are going to carry the burden of having been unsuccessful in play-off games. As a nation, they carry that burden, and the expectation of their crowd will be that they go to a World Cup. They have won it four times and are one of the heavyweights of world football, but those things are out of our control and our focus will be on how we are.”
O’Neill expects a passionate Italian side to take the pitch and added: “Italy away is going to be a massive game, a great game for us to be involved in. The expectation and pressure is very much on the Italians, so we will need to use that in our favour. I know they’ve lost home and away to Norway and the bulk of their squad is based in Serie A. Gattuso is their manager, so you will expect them not to be lacking in passion.
“We have four months to prepare for this and look at Italy in close detail, so the work will start today and tomorrow. I suppose we would have preferred one of the other teams in Pot One, but to get to the World Cup, you’re going to have to beat two good teams.”