“This Draw Didn’t Go Badly At All But Quite The Opposite”

In the late hours of yesterday, the draws for the group stage and knock out stages of next year’s FIFA World Cup was made and for Italy, despite not having their participation status confirmed yet, but will have to go through the play-off in March 2026 to qualify.

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The Azzurri will meet Northern Ireland in the semis on March 26 and, if they progress to the Final, they’ll face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Final on March 31 but they have now learned their potential group stage opponents as the tournament will hold in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

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Italy were placed in Group B alongside Canada, Switzerland and Qatar and former Italy defender Marco Materazzi believes that the Azzurri were lucky to end up in the ‘easiest’ World Cup group: “We ended in the easiest group, but now we must qualify for the World Cup,” Materazzi told Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview.

The 2006 World Cup winner went on to examine the Azzurri’s potential rival: “Canada, because they are one of the host teams. It’s never easy to face a national team playing at home, but watch out for Qatar too. They’ll be one of those sides that will do everything they can to make their country proud.” He continued.

The Azzurri could also meet again with Switzerland, who eliminated La Nazionale from the 2024 Euros. “They play good football, but beating them could be a sort of revenge for that match. Anyway, I think they’re among the ‘softest’ European opponents we could have drawn.”

“I repeat, this draw didn’t go badly at all, quite the opposite.” He further added. Italy will qualify for the World Cup if they beat Northern Ireland in the play-off semifinal in March and either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final. What will the Azzurri need to get their tickets for the USA, Canada and Mexico next year?

“Stay united, even in tough moments,” Materazzi replied. “We must take nothing for granted; the players on the pitch will have to give everything and above all, play without fear. We saw it last time against North Macedonia, every tiny detail can make the difference or cost us dearly.”

“Italy must play without fear and start strong right away. These kinds of matches need to be won immediately, and we must not repeat the mistake we made against North Macedonia, when we conceded at minute 90. At that point, you don’t have time to fix things anymore.”

Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso won the 2006 World Cup along with Materazzi. “As a coach, he has always given his teams a clear style of play,” said the ex-defender. “As for his personality, we all know him well. I hope he’s the right man to take us back to the World Cup.”

“It would be great for him, but more generally, for all of Italy, to finally return to the competition. We’ve been missing for too long. However, I think that if we don’t make it, it won’t be his fault. A failure for Italian football and above all for the entire system. If you fail to qualify for three consecutive editions, someone should raise their hand and say:

‘Sorry, I’ll step aside because I’m not up to the task.’” Lastly, Materazzi recalled Italy’s effort to win the World Cup in 2006. “We were only thinking about going out on the pitch as a tight unit in every match. It was a group of friends who felt good together. And we had great quality,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Samuele Ricci is confident that the Azzurri will qualify for the World Cup as they ‘must not be influenced by what happened in the past.’ The AC Milan midfielder was asked by Tuttosport whether Italy will qualify for the World Cup after falling short in 2018 and 2022:

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“Yes, and we must not be influenced by what happened in the past,” the Italian midfielder replied. Ricci made his senior Italy debut in June 2022 under Roberto Mancini and has collected 11 international appearances and he will be hoping to make it to the World Cup even if he hasn’t been playing regularly with Milan

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