Last Word on Football brings you the latest team news and predicted lineups ahead of Italy vs Northern Ireland in their highly anticipated World Cup qualifier from The New Balance Arena, the home of Serie A club Atalanta. Italy will look to get their sixth win under head coach and World Cup winner, Gennaro Gattuso. Northern Ireland will be giving it their all to qualify for the World Cup and end their 40-year wait to reach the finals.
Read More: The True Cost of the World Cup for England Fans
Italy vs Northern Ireland – Battle for a Place in the World Cup
Date: Thursday, 26th March 2026
Venue: New Balance Stadium, Bergamo
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Last meeting: Italy 0-0 Northern Ireland (15th November 2021. World Cup Qualifier)
Current odds: Italy 1/4, Northern Ireland 19/2
Italy Team News
Italy are set to assess the fitness of Newcastle midfielder, Sandro Tonali, after he missed the Tyne-Wear derby on Sunday. Likewise, Arsenal left-back Riccardo Calafiori faces a late fitness test after feeling some discomfort during the League Cup final loss to Manchester City.
Read More: The Greatest Footballers of All Time – Part 2 (1918-1939)
Discussing the injuries, Gattuso stated, “Scamacca has an adductor problem; we evaluate him day by day, same as Bastoni. Tonali will train with a low workload today. Mancini has fatigue; no issues were seen from exams. Calafiori felt a little discomfort yesterday, but we hope he’ll be there.”
The Italy boss also confirmed that Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa has been sent home due to physical problems, labelling it “useless” for him to stay with the squad.
Northern Ireland Team News
Premier League stars, Conor Bradley and Dan Ballard are unavailable due to injury and will be a big miss in the defence. With that being said, midfielder Ali McCann believes that Northern Ireland have “got capable replacements all over the pitch.”
Jamal Lewis will also be unavailable to face Italy.
Italy Predicted Lineup
Donnarumma
Palestra
Bastoni
Mancini
Dimarco
Barella
Locatelli
Frattesi
Politano
Retegui
Esposito
Northern Ireland Predicted Lineup
Peackock-Farrell
Hume
McNair
Toal
McConville
Devenny
Lyons
Galbraith
McDonnell
Price
Charles
Featured Image Credit
CREDIT: IMAGO / NurPhoto
