On Thursday night, Italy and North Macedonia go head-to-head at Palermo’s Stadio Renzo Barbera as both nations attempt to edge one step closer to qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
At the end of March, the winner of this tie will face the winner of the clash between Portugal and Turkey for a place at Qatar 2022.
⚽️ Partitella a ritmi alti per gli #Azzurri 👀#Nazionale 🇮🇹 #VivoAzzurro #WCQ pic.twitter.com/uytANCx7c5— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) March 21, 2022
⚽️ Partitella a ritmi alti per gli #Azzurri 👀#Nazionale 🇮🇹 #VivoAzzurro #WCQ pic.twitter.com/uytANCx7c5
Italy find themselves in the play-off after finishing second in Group C – two points behind first-place Switzerland.
Although the Azzurri avoided defeat in Group C, they registered four wins and four draws. The four draws prevented them from challenging the Swiss for the top spot.
It is worth noting that Roberto Mancini’s side conceded just two goals in eight qualifying games, keeping six clean sheets along the way.
Let’s not forget that Italy won Euro 2020 less than a year ago. Since then, however, they have won just two of their seven matches across all competitions.
Having picked up on victory in their previous four outings, Mancini’s men must improve if they want to punch their ticket to Qatar.
Meanwhile, North Macedonia finished second in Group J – nine points behind first-place Germany and one point clear of third-place Romania.
The North Macedonians won five of their ten qualifying games, registering three draws and two losses in the process.
With 23 goals to their name, North Macedonia scored more goals in qualifying than Italy – as well as teams like Spain, Portugal and France.
North Macedonia have lost just one of their last seven games in all competitions, securing three wins and three draws during that period.
Head-to-head: Italy and North Macedonia have faced each other on just two occasions over the years. Those meetings came during qualification for the 2018 World Cup.
In 2016, Italy claimed a 3-2 victory in North Macedonia. A year later, the North Macedonians held the Azzurri to a 1-1 draw in Italy.
Team news: Maro Balotelli has been snubbed by Italy, despite making the squad back in January. Elsewhere, goalkeeper Pierluigi Gollini has replaced the injured Alex Meret.
As for North Macedonia, Aleksandar Trajkovski is in line to earn his 75th international cap. Meanwhile, Napoli’s Elif Elmas looks set to come up against some of his teammates.
Regardless of Italy’s status as European champions, North Macedonia will fancy their chances of upsetting the odds in Palermo.
Forebet predicts that Italy and North Macedona will play out a high-scoring draw inside 90 minutes.