Italy is set to host Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifying playoff this March. To claim a spot in the tournament, Italy will need to secure a win on the road following this initial match—a crucial step after their two consecutive failures at this stage.
On Thursday, FIFA conducted a draw for the playoffs, which will determine the winner between the four-time champion Italy and the Northern Irish on March 26. That victor will then travel five days later to face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina. This playoff holds the key to a spot in the inaugural 48-team finals set to take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Italy has not participated in a World Cup since 2014, and their playoff position was secured after finishing second in a qualifying group dominated by Norway this month.
In other European playoff matchups, Ukraine will face Sweden, with the winner then playing at home against either Poland or Albania.
Kosovo aims for their first-ever World Cup, beginning with an away match against Slovakia, followed by a home match against either Turkey or Romania.
Ireland’s impressive consecutive wins over Portugal and Hungary have granted them a playoff semifinal against the Czech Republic, with the winner to host Denmark or North Macedonia.
FIFA has also revealed the draw for the six-nation intercontinental playoffs outside of Europe.
Iraq, which was seeded in the draw, must defeat Bolivia or Suriname in a one-off playoff in March to qualify.
Congo is also seeded in a different intercontinental playoff bracket and will face the winner of a decisive single-game semifinal between New Caledonia and Jamaica.
The intercontinental playoff matches will take place in Mexico from March 23-31 at venues in Guadalajara and Monterrey, which are also set to host four World Cup matches next June.
In total, six teams will advance from these two playoff sets in March to complete the lineup for the first 48-nation tournament.
The remaining 42 teams were confirmed this week following the completion of qualifying groups and playoff matches across four continents.
The World Cup draw will occur on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. During this event, the six unconfirmed playoff teams will be drawn as placeholders and will be categorized in the lowest-ranked teams’ pot.
A late penalty scored by Iraq in the 17th minute of stoppage time against the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday propelled coach Graham Arnold’s team into the global playoffs. Iraq’s 2-1 victory in Basra secured a 3-2 aggregate win in the two-leg Asian playoff.
Iraq’s last and only World Cup appearance was in 1986, and Arnold previously led his national team, Australia, in the 2022 tournament held in Qatar, reaching the round of 16.
New Caledonia enters the playoffs as the lowest-ranked team, sitting at No. 149 out of 211 FIFA member nations.
New Caledonia earned their playoff spot by defeating Tahiti 3-0 in March, despite losing the Oceania qualifying final against New Zealand. Since then, coach Johann Sidaner’s squad has only played one match, a friendly win against Gibraltar last month.