Opponents on the road to qualifying for WC 2026 laugh at the Italians » “They are desperate! They are sick of dams”
Article by Daniel Scorpie – Published Friday, November 21, 2025, 5:49 p.m. / Updated Friday, November 21, 2025, 5:51 p.m.
The Italian national team risks missing the participation in the World Championship for the third time in a row. To avoid a historic underperformance, Gennaro Gattuso's side must beat Northern Ireland at home, then win away to the winner of the play-off semi-final between Wales and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Italians have their first chance in the semi-final with Northern Ireland, a team from the fourth prize pool (arrived as Romania from the Nations League route), which will be played in Bergamo on March 26. But the big worries arise for the final over five days, in which the Squadra Azzurra will perform on the field of the qualifier from the dispute Wales – Bosnia Herzegovina.
Their possible opponents in the match that will be contested with the qualification for the WC 2026 on the table gained courage. And the former winners (round-trip) of Romania in the preliminaries, and the Welsh took over the outclassed national team in both legs in the group by Norway.
The Barbarez selector will do an experiment in the match Romania – Bosnia-Herzegovina / Photo: Imago
Sergej Barbarez: “The only thing I wanted was to be able to play the final at home for World Cup qualification”
In Bosnia, captain and leader Edin Dzeko limited himself after Thursday's draw to a motivational quote and a photo on Facebook, taken by Manolo Zubiria (who ran the Zurich operation from the position of WC 2026 general manager and his former team manager at AS Roma).
“Shortly before, still disappointed by the 1-1 draw with Austria in Vienna, which saw Bosnia miss out on direct qualification, the current Fiorentina striker had spoken about “play-off nausea”, but assuring that he and his teammates will do their best to reach the final tournament in North America next summer”wrote Corriere dello Sport.
Coach Sergej Barbarez was more direct, stating that “the only thing I wanted was to be able to play the final at home”. If Bosnia-Herzegovina get past Wales in Cardiff, the 2026 World Cup decider will take place in Sarajevo.
For its part, Wales is convinced that the final will be played in Cardiff. The BBC consulted several experts, and many see Italy as a team “which is not the same as before. They lost 1-4 to Norway in Milan and after missing two World Cups they will be desperate.”
Wales – Belgium/ photo Imago Images
Danny Gabbidon: “I don't think we can complain about the draw. Anything can happen in Cardiff!”
Former defender Danny Gabbidon admits: “Italy will be doing everything they can to avoid missing out on a third World Cup in a row”, while former midfielder Jose Ledley says “going into the final, if we beat Bosnia, it would be a huge advantage to play at homebe it Northern Ireland or Italy.
We have two games at home, so I don't think we can complain. Anything can happen in Cardiff.
And well-known Welsh footballer Nia Jones is optimistic: “The prospect of the match between Wales and Italy reminds me of that magical night in Cardiff in 2002, where a certain Bellamy scored for a shock win.
Italy have not missed qualifying at the last two World Championships, so this desperation will turn them into a team I would prefer to avoid.”
