Third Time Lucky? Italy Drop Into World Cup Qualifiers Playoffs for 3rd Straight Time, Eliminated in Previous 2 Attempts

In the concluded UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, Italy needed a victory by at least 9 goals to qualify directly but suffered a 4-1 home comeback defeat to Norway, finishing second in the group and missing ...

With this result, they have dropped into the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Playoffs for the third consecutive time.

In the 2022 UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Playoffs, they were beaten 1-0 by North Macedonia in extra time of the semi-finals after Trajkovski’s late winner, failing to reach the World Cup finals.

In the 2018 UEFA World Cup Qualifiers Playoffs, they lost 1-0 away to Sweden and were held to a 0-0 draw at home in the return leg, being eliminated 1-0 on aggregate and missing the World Cup finals.

Can they end their back-to-back playoff eliminations and return to the World Cup finals after 12 years with this third playoff appearance?