Counting on the support of around 20 thousand fans who filled the stands at the Atleti Azzurri d’Italia Stadium, in Bergamo, Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0 this Thursday (26), in a duel valid for the European play-offs, and kept alive the chance of returning to a World Cup.
The Azurra team, led by former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso, now awaits the winner of Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who remain tied at 1-1, to find out their next opponent, in a duel on the 31st, which defines the last member of group B of the World Cup, alongside Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
Four-time champions, the Italian team has not competed in the World Cup since 2014, when it was eliminated in the group stage, after defeats to Costa Rica and Uruguay. In the 2018 edition, it still fell in the playoff to Sweden, and in the 2022 edition, to North Macedonia.
Under pressure to avoid being left out for the third time in a row, Italy —who played at home due to their better ranking— came out and put pressure on the Northern Ireland team from the start.
Despite the greater possession of the ball — 63% to 37% — and the countless balls crossed into the opponent’s area — there were twelve corners for the Italian team, compared to just three for the Northern Irish team —, the first goal of the game came just ten minutes into the second half, from the feet of Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, who hit a powerful shot from the edge of the box.
The second Italian goal would only come in the 34th minute, with Fiorentina striker Moise Kean taking advantage of Tonali’s own pass to hit a cross shot that hit the post before going in.
The victory represented a kind of revenge for the Italian team, which had been defeated by Northern Ireland in a 1958 World Cup qualifier in Belfast. The result classified the Northern Irish team, leaving the Italian team out of the World Cup for the second time, after their absence in the inaugural edition in 1930, when they refused the invitation to travel to Uruguay.
