Italy 2
Northern Ireland 0
NORTHERN IRELAND’S WORLD Cup dreams were ended by Italy as Michael O’Neill’s young side fell to a 2-0 qualifying play-off semi-final defeat in Bergamo.
Northern Ireland battled superbly against an Italy side under immense pressure to deliver qualification after two consecutive failures to reach a tournament they have won four times, but were undone by second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean.
Having reached half-time with the match still goalless, Northern Ireland successfully ramped up the tension inside the Stadio di Bergamo, but it was released in the 56th minute when Tonali capitalised on a poor clearance from Isaac Price to thrash home.
Kean, a constant threat throughout the night, then settled it 10 minutes from time as his left-footed strike went in off the post.