Italy face N.Ireland in European playoffs, Sweden meet Ukraine

Italy will face Northern Ireland in the European playoffs in their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup while Sweden meet Ukraine as 16 teams learned the pathways that determine the four remaining European slots for the global tournament. Four-times world champions Italy again failed to secure direct qualification after finishing second in their group as they seek to qualify for the first time since the 2014 edition.

They were knocked out in the playoffs the last two times and enter the second round as top seeds, with a potential final against either Wales or Bosnia & Herzegovina to qualify.

Northern Ireland, on the other hand, have not qualified for the World Cup since 1986 and have beaten Italy just once in 11 meetings back in 1958. New Sweden boss Graham Potter’s side must first get past Ukraine, while Poland face Albania in the other semi-final in their pathway.

The Swedes reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2018 but did not qualify for the 2022 edition. Denmark face North Macedonia, the minnows who famously knocked out Italy in the playoffs last time. The Czech Republic will have a tricky task when they host Ireland, who booked a playoff spot with a last-gasp win over Hungary .

Turkey have not qualified for the World Cup since they shocked the world with a third-place finish in 2002. They face Romania who are seeking their first qualification since 1998.

Kosovo are attempting to qualify for the first time since they became a FIFA member as they take on Slovakia, who last played at the 2010 World Cup. The 12 group runners-up from the first round were placed in Pots 1-3 and seeded based on FIFA world rankings while the four teams that advanced via the UEFA Nations League were in Pot 4.

The single-leg knockout matches will take place in March, with the semi-finals on March 26 and the finals on March 31. The higher seeded teams (mentioned first) will host the semis while a draw was made to see who hosts each final.

Earlier, Iraq will have to beat Bolivia or Suriname in a one-game playoff next March to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

Iraq was seeded in a six-nation draw on Thursday at FIFA headquarters for the intercontinental playoffs that will send two teams to the 48-nation tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Congo was seeded in the other intercontinental playoffs bracket and will play the winner of a single-game semifinal between New Caledonia and Jamaica.

A separate draw for European playoffs brackets in March — involving 16 teams, including four-time champion Italy, playing for four World Cup places - was being made minutes later at FIFA.

The six intercontinental playoff games will be staged in Mexico from March 23-31 at stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, which each will host four World Cup games next June.

A total of six teams will advance from the two sets of playoffs in March to complete the first 48-nation lineup.

The other 42 teams were confirmed this week when qualifying groups and playoff games were completed on four continents.

The World Cup draw is on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. There, the six unconfirmed playoffs teams will be drawn as placeholders and should come out of the pot of lowest-ranked teams in the seeded draw.

A penalty scored by Iraq in the 17th minute of stoppage time against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday sent coach Graham Arnold’s team through to the global playoffs. Iraq’s 2-1 win in Basra sealed a 3-2 victory in the two-leg Asian playoff.

Iraq’s only World Cup appearance was in 1986, and Arnold coached his home nation Australia at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, reaching the round of 16.

New Caledonia is the lowest-ranked team in the playoffs, at No. 149 of the 211 FIFA member countries.

New Caledonia effectively advanced to the playoffs by beating Tahiti 3-0 in March, before losing the Oceania qualifying final against New Zealand. Coach Johann Sidaner’s team has played just one game since, beating Gibraltar in a friendly last month.

Agencies