Football, World Cup qualifiers: Italy–Northern Ireland on 26 March in Bergamo

Rome, Dec. 4 (LaPresse) – Six months after the 5–0 win over Estonia last September, on the day of Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as head coach, the Bergamo Stadium will once again host the National Team for the World Cup play-off semifinal on Thursday, March 26 (8:45 p.m.), when the Azzurri will face Northern Ireland. Italy is unbeaten in Bergamo: four previous matches, with two 5–0 victories (the other in the first encounter with Malta in January 1987) and two 1–1 draws (in the friendly against Turkey in November 2006 and in the Nations League match against the Netherlands in October 2020). There have been 11 previous meetings with Northern Ireland, with a record of 7 wins for the Azzurri, 3 draws, and only one defeat — the 2–1 loss on January 15, 1958 in Belfast, which cost Italy its place at the Swedish World Cup. The most recent meeting between the two teams was also held in Belfast: a 0–0 draw in the final 2022 World Cup qualifying match, which forced the Azzurri into the play-offs.