{"id":564218,"date":"2026-03-25T21:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564218\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T21:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:59:08","slug":"italy-and-northern-ireland-target-return-to-international-footballs-top-table-world-cup-2026-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/564218\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy and Northern Ireland target return to international football\u2019s top table | World Cup 2026 qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The shorter wait is the one worthy of considerably more attention. Four decades have passed since Northern Ireland<\/a> appeared at a World Cup, which was their second tournament in succession. Any disappointment at finishing third in a group also involving Brazil and Spain was offset by hope of an imminent return. There has been no further seat at international football\u2019s top table.<\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s World Cup hiatus involves failure to qualify in 2018 and 2022 (their previous two experiences were only marginally less miserable). For four-time winners of the tournament and a nation obsessed with the sport, this constitutes an affront. It brings intense pressure. One of Italy<\/a> and Northern Ireland will retain the aspiration of 2026 participation when the full-time whistle shrieks in Bergamo on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Nobody connected with Gli\u00a0Azzurri is willing to play down the significance of what lies in front of them. \u201cThis is the most important game of my coaching career so far,\u201d says Gennaro Gattuso. \u201cOur aim is to get back to where we were for many years and have a starring role\u00a0there, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The theme was replicated by Mateo Retegui. \u201cThis is the most important week of the entire season for each and every one of us,\u201d the striker says. Retegui\u2019s domestic commitment is in the Saudi Pro League but this was still quite the statement. \u201cNow is the time to show everyone exactly who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gattuso was a notoriously bad sleeper when a player. It is perhaps unfair, then, to infer increased anxiety at this juncture. Italy\u2019s team doctor received pre\u2011match thanks from Gattuso for night aids. \u201cThe older I get, the more help I need otherwise at 4.30am or 5am I\u00a0am wide awake, like a bat,\u201d Gattuso says. \u201cI am prepared. Believe me, I am thinking positively. I want to think big.\u201d It is just that the 48\u2011year\u2011old looks like a man carrying a heavy burden, a mere half dozen games into coaching Italy. Even if Northern Ireland are seen off, Wales or Bosnia away will be no formality.<\/p>\n

The head coach concedes it has been a \u201cshock\u201d to Italian systems to endure prolonged World Cup absence. He lifted the trophy in 2006<\/a>, for goodness sake. Gattuso refused to blame Italian fans for taking a dim view of their national team; the playing of this tie at the home of Atalanta, where the capacity is less than 25,000, feels like a story of indifference.<\/p>\n

Italy would surely have tried to rattle Northern Ireland with the atmosphere in Milan, Naples or Rome if they sensed they could. In beautiful, elegant Bergamo you must go some to realise a football match is ever taking place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe supporters don\u2019t have any responsibility, it is up to us,\u201d Gattuso says. \u201cThere have been two huge disappointments in the past but now is not the time to look at what didn\u2019t work. Now is about what our target is. This is crucial for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Atalanta will host the crucial World Cup playoff between Italy and Northern Ireland. Photograph: Michele Maraviglia\/EPA<\/p>\n

Gattuso turned heads among visiting journalists by pointing towards the likely approach of Northern Ireland. \u201cThey typically \u2018toss the ball into the box\u2019, as they say in the British Isles. They get eight or nine men in the box and thrive on latching on to second balls. Direct, vertical football. I haven\u2019t seen a team that is necessarily going to be keeping the\u00a0ball and dragging you around\u00a0in\u00a0midfield.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gattuso \u2013 who was never compared to Michel Platini in his on-field pomp \u2013 means no offence. His analysis was perfectly fair. \u201cItaly play a lot of long diagonal passes as well,\u201d the Northern Ireland manager, Michael O\u2019Neill, says with a smile.<\/p>\n

His side would be considered outsiders even with Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard available. Bradley\u2019s absence was factored in by O\u2019Neill long ago but the loss of Ballard, who sustained a hamstring injury after this squad was named, feels significant. O\u2019Neill has regularly worked wonders with his country given the lack of available resource, and back\u2011up to what he has is decidedly thin. Even taking into account the heat on Italy to finally deliver, it would be a monumental shock if Northern\u00a0Ireland progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important thing for us is to play the game and not think about what is at stake,\u201d O\u2019Neill says. \u201cThe expectation clearly lies with the home nation. I have a lot of belief in this group. It will be a young team; the benefit you get with youth is a lack of fear. We have everything to gain. This will be a huge test but one I believe we are ready for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Italian victory would almost certainly end O\u2019Neill\u2019s competitive reign, with the manager for now juggling duties with trying to extend the stay of Blackburn in the\u00a0Championship. Longer term, a\u00a0dual role is impractical.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are masters of our own fate,\u201d Gattuso says. \u201cWe know very well what we need to do. We also need to be fully aware that we will be up against players that will be foaming at the mouth. We must not\u00a0underestimate the opposition. Yes, they are Northern Ireland \u2026 but how did they get this far?\u201d Should they get any further Italy will encounter its latest, shuddering football fallout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The shorter wait is the one worthy of considerably more attention. Four decades have passed since Northern Ireland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":564219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-564218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}