Goals and Highlights: Northern Ireland 0-0 Italy in Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers
Italy draws goalless against Northern Ireland and with Switzerland's 4-0 drubbing against Bulgaria, the Azzurri team loses the leadership of group C and with it its direct pass to Qatar 2022. Italy will play in the play-offs.
Suiza goleó 4-0 a Bulgaria y obligó a Italia a ganar por tres. ¡Ni uno le pudieron hacer a Irlanda del Norte y se van por el camino difícil a Qatar 2022! 😰
Match ends. Northern Ireland and Italy draw goalless and with the results of Switzerland vs Bulgaria, the Italians drop to second place and lose their direct pass to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Chiesa's left-footed shot is flicked on by Berardi in the box. The ball goes wide of the goal line.
Italy, Andrea Belotti comes on, Nicoló Barella off.
Insigne finds the space on the last line but does not connect properly. Federico Chiesa also tries on the rebound but the ball does not give way. Italy keeps possession of the ball and presses Northern Ireland in their own half.
Italy missed the 1958 World Cup at the hands of Northern Ireland when they lost 2-1 in Belfast, and this afternoon Italy must win to avoid worries that Switzerland could snatch the lead and send them to the play-offs.
This is what the venue for this match looks like minutes before kick-off, a soccer stadium located in Belfast (Northern Ireland) United Kingdom. It is the usual home ground of the Linfield FC club and the Northern Ireland national soccer team.
On the other hand, Northern Ireland has only won twice in its last five matches: against Estonia and Lithuania, both times by the narrowest of margins. They lost to Switzerland and Bulgaria, 2-0 and 2-1, respectively, and held Switzerland to a 0-0 draw.
In the last five knockout matches, Italy has only been able to win two of its games. They have drawn two and lost one. Those two wins came against Belgium by a score of 2-1 and against Lithuania by a 5-0 scoreline. They lost to Spain and drew twice against Switzerland.
Italy leads Group C of the UEFA qualifiers and is practically qualified for the World Cup, however, today's match against Northern Ireland is not to be trusted because in case of an adverse result and a goal by Switzerland, they could be knocked out of the first position.
In a few moments we will share with you the starting Northern Ireland vs Italy live, as well as the latest information from Windsor Park. Stay tuned for up-to-the-minute live coverage of the match on VAVEL.
The team coached by Roberto Mancini is in first place in the group with 15 points (only ahead of Switzerland on goal difference), after four wins and three draws; they have scored 13 goals and conceded two.
The team led by Ian Baraclough is in third place with 8 points, the result of two wins, two draws and three defeats; they have scored 6 goals and conceded 7.
Northern Ireland and Italy will play their last game
This Monday afternoon, in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland and Italy will meet again to play their last match of this phase; while the locals no longer have any aspirations of attending the World Cup, the Italians are in search of advancing directly to the World Cup, thus avoiding a playoff that will be very close.
The representatives of Northern Ireland and Italy are in the third group of this stage, together with Switzerland, Bulgaria and Lithuania; the first and second places will be decided between the Italians and the Swiss.
This round of the qualifiers of the Union of European Football Associations, which consists of a group stage, awards 10 tickets to next year's World Cup, and the winners of these will be the teams that are at the top of their respective sectors after the ten rounds have been played.
Subsequently, the second-best placed teams in each sector will have access to a kind of playoff, in which the three remaining tickets for Qatar 2022 will be available to this confederation.
Welcome to VAVEL.com’s coverage in matchday 10 of the First Round of UEFA's 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar qualifiers: Northern Ireland vs Italy Live Updates!
My name is Alan Rodriguez and I’ll be your host for this game. We will provide you with pre-game analysis, score updates, and news as it happens live here on VAVEL.
