Italy defeated Northern Ireland 2-0, giving them momentum to qualify for their first Men’s World Cup since 2014. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Poland, Turkiye, Kosovo, the Czech Republic and Denmark also won in the European playoff semi-finals.
Four-time champions Italy, who were eliminated in the playoffs in 2018 and 2022, will travel to Bosnia for the final on Tuesday, with a win qualifying them for tournaments in Canada, Mexico and the United States in June and July.
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In the second half of a tense one-shot semi-final in Bergamo on Thursday, Sandro Tonali fired in a superb shot from the edge of the box that was saved by Moise Kean.
“It was a bit difficult for us, but we found our rhythm in the second half,” said Italy coach and 2006 champion Gennaro Gattuso. “We’re going to play the finals now. We know it’s going to be difficult. The nervousness we feel will be felt by our opponents.”
Bosnia drew 1-1 after extra time in Cardiff and defeated Wales on penalties.
Daniel James used his pace to open the scoring for the hosts early in the second period, while Karl Darlow made an incredible save from Elmedin Demirovic’s header. Edin Dzeko, 40, drew level in the second half of normal time.
In the shootout, Darlow made another save from Demirovic, but Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams both missed.
Kosovo have never played in a World Cup, but they advanced to Tuesday’s play-off final at home against Turkiye after a hard-fought 4-3 win against Slovakia.
The Kosovars erased the difference twice and Krešnik Hadjiriji’s goal in the 72nd minute proved the difference.
A second-half goal from Ferdi Kadioglu gave Turkiye a 1-0 home victory over Romania.
Kadioglu calmly scored in the 53rd minute after a magical assist from Arda Güler at Besiktas Stadium in Istanbul.
Romania’s 80-year-old coach Mircea Lucescu, who also counts Torkier as his former manager, expressed regret that Nicolae Stanciu hit the post as the Tricolors missed out on their seventh straight World Cup appearance.
Tolkier was third in 2002, but has not played in a men’s World Cup since then.
Victor Jiqueres scored a hat-trick in Sweden’s 3-1 win over Ukraine in Valencia. Ukraine has not played at home since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than four years ago, missing out on the World Cup.
Coach Graham Potter’s Sweden squad will next face Poland. Poland came from behind to beat Albania 2-1 in Warsaw.
Arbul Hoxha pounced on Jan Bednarek’s mistake in the 42nd minute as Albania dreamed of getting closer to qualifying for their first World Cup. However, Poland’s record scorer Robert Lewandowski equalized and Piotr Zielinski sealed the victory with a goal from long range.
Gustav Isaksen scored twice in two minutes as Denmark beat North Macedonia 4-0 and set up an away game against the Czech Republic, who needed penalties to beat Ireland in Prague.
Troy Parrott, Ireland’s heroic hero when they reached the play-offs in the group stage at the end of November, opened the scoring with a penalty and an own goal summed up the Czechs’ poor defending.
However, the hosts pulled one back through a penalty from Patrik Schick and a second-half header from Ladislav Krejci, making it 2-2 after a tough extra-time period, with the Czech Republic winning on penalties.
This year’s tournament, to be held in North America in June and July, will expand the number of participating teams to 48, allowing more countries to qualify.
Twelve European countries have already advanced through the group stages. The playoffs will consist of the second-place team and the teams that performed well in the previous Nations League.
Bolivia beats Suriname, Jamaica beats New Caledonia to advance to play-off final
Bolivia rallied to defeat Suriname 2-1 in FIFA’s intercontinental play-off match on Thursday to qualify for the final qualifying play-off against Iraq.
Liam van Gelderen’s goal in the 48th minute gave Suriname the lead, but Moises Paniagua equalized in the 72nd minute, and Miguel Terceros scored the winning goal with a penalty in the 79th minute, clinching victory for Bolivia, who are aiming for their second World Cup appearance.
Bolivians have only previously played in the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Suriname was aiming to qualify for the tournament for the first time.
Bolivia will play Iraq next Tuesday in Monterrey, with the winner qualifying for Group I with France, Norway and Senegal.
In Thursday’s other match, a first-half goal from Wrexham striker Bayley Cadamarteri gave Jamaica a 1-0 victory over New Caledonia and a place in the international play-off final against Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Reggae Boys have only participated in one World Cup, in 1998 in France. New Caledonia, a team from Oceania, had a chance to play in the World Cup for the first time.
Jamaica will face DRC next Tuesday at Akron Stadium in Guadalajara. DRC defeated Nigeria in the African Playoffs to qualify for the playoffs.
The winner in Guadalajara will play in Group K of the tournament along with Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan.
