Decisive day for struggling fourtime champion Italy in World Cup playoff at Bosnia ANDREW DAMPF Tue, March 31, 2026 at 9:04 AM UTC 0 1 / 0Bosnia Italy WCup SoccerItaly's head coach Gennaro Gattuso listens to the questions of journalists during the press conference ahead of the World Cup playoff final soccer match against Bosnia in Zenica, Bosnia, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut) () It's a decisive day for one of soccer's historic powers.
Decisive day for struggling four-time champion Italy in World Cup playoff at Bosnia
ANDREW DAMPF Tue, March 31, 2026 at 9:04 AM UTC
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1 / 0Bosnia Italy WCup SoccerItaly's head coach Gennaro Gattuso listens to the questions of journalists during the press conference ahead of the World Cup playoff final soccer match against Bosnia in Zenica, Bosnia, Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut) ()
It's a decisive day for one of soccer's historic powers.
Struggling Italy visits Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European qualifying playoffs on Tuesday with the four-time champion desperate not to miss out on a third straight World Cup.
Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia in qualifying playoffs for the last two World Cups and has not appeared at soccer's biggest event since 2014.
In last week's European playoff semifinals, Italy beat Northern Ireland 2-0. Bosnia eliminated Wales in a penalty shootout.
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Tuesday's other European playoff finals are: Sweden vs. Poland; Kosovo vs. Turkey; and the Czech Republic vs. Denmark.
All four matches are scheduled to kickoff at 8:45 p.m. local time (1845 GMT; 2:45 p.m. ET).
Italy's World Cup struggles began soon after its last title in 2006: The Azzurri were eliminated from the 2014 and 2018 finals at the group stage.
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AP soccer: https://ift.tt/StwbhBM
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: Sports
Published: March 31, 2026 at 05:27AM on Source: PRIME TIME
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