Italy vs Northern Ireland: How to watch the UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff single-elimination match

Many seasoned soccer fans will find it hard to believe that Italy, one of the historic powerhouses of the European game, last appeared in the World Cup finals back in 2014 and to make it to this summer’s tournament they must get through the playoffs.

For the third time in succession, Italy finished as runners-up in their qualifying group and missed out on automatically secured a place in the finals. To be fair, the Azzurri only lost two games (both to Norway) but find themselves once again in the playoffs. It’s mind-boggling when you think that Italy played in every single edition from 1962 to 2014, have lifted the trophy four times and starred in six finals.

Their rivals, Northern Ireland (ranked 69th) also want to log one of the four remaining European slots - just as much as Italy do if not more. It’s been 40 years since they have featured at the World Cup - curiously the 1986 edition which was held in Mexico.

“Brilliant game for us”

Michael O’Neill’s men finished third in Group A - a complicated group which Germany won with ease. “If this team can achieve this, it will be as good as anything that any Northern Ireland team has done - to go through two away games and get to a World Cup,” the manager explained. “Any game of football is winnable, we see that all the time. It’s a huge challenge but we have that opportunity, to write our name into the history of football here in Northern Ireland. It’s a brilliant game for us. Whilst it was probably the toughest draw we could have got, we have to embrace it, it is a massive challenge for us”.

O’Neill will be very aware of the weight of the stats when it comes to previous encounters - of the 11 meetings, Italy have won seven. Northern Ireland have only beaten Italy once - and that was a very long time ago, in January 1958. However, the most recent meeting, In November 2021, ended level.

When is Italy vs Northern Ireland

The UEFA World Cup qualifying playoff between Italy and Northern Ireland will take place at New Balance Arena in Bergamo, Italy on Thursday 26 March 2026 with kick-off scheduled for 3:45 p.m. ET / 12:45 p.m. PT.

Viewers in the United States will be able to stream the game live on FUBO TV and ViX.

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