November 16, (THEWILL) – After being held to a goalless draw by a tenacious Northern Ireland team, Italy will have to fight for a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar next November via the play-offs.
Italy needed to match Switzerland’s result to qualify for the Qatar World Cup automatically, but the Euro 2020 winners were unable to do so. Switzerland defeated Bulgaria 4-0, leaving the Azzurri in second position in Group C with 16 points.
In a tense first half, Northern Ireland held against Italy, who dominated possession and had five shots on goal.
Giovanni Di Lorenzo had the finest chance in the eighth minute. He got on the end of a lovely lofted reverse ball from Lorenzo Insigne at the far post, but Bailey Peacock-Farrell acrobatically turned his effort over the bar.
Northern Ireland came close to scoring in the 48th minute when Jamal Lewis squared the ball back for George Saville, but Gianluigi Donnarumma saved his close-range shot.
Italy continued to have a lot of possession, but they were unable to create a clear-cut goal-scoring opportunity. In the 80th minute, Emerson’s optimistic driven strike went wide, while Stuart Dallas’ stinging effort from outside the box went past the post at the other end.
Substitute Conor Washington could have won it for the hosts when he skipped past Donnarumma in the final seconds of normal time, but his tame shot was cleared off the line by Leonardo Bonucci.
It is a historic result for Northern Ireland, as they end their World Cup qualifying campaign without conceding a goal at home while the visitors, Italy, who are European champions, will face the uncertainty of the World Cup play-offs.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
