The Italian men s football team, which has basically locked up qualification for the play-offs, faces the crisis of missing out on three consecutive World Cups.

The Italian men's national football team defeated Estonia 3-0 at home in the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers on October 14, local time. The move has ensured them a top two finish in the group. At present, the Italian team has played 6 games, with a record of 5 wins, 1 loss and 15 points. Israel, which ranks third with 9 points from 7 games, has been left behind by them. Leader Norway has played the same number of games and has 18 points. If Italy can win in the final round of direct dialogue, the points will be tied with its opponents.

The Italian national team has locked in the top two qualifications in the group.

However, Italy's goal difference is +10, which is far away from Norway's +26. Therefore, unless Norway loses points against Estonia at home in November, it will be difficult for Italy to climb to the top of the group that can directly advance to the main draw.

If they qualify second in the group, the Italian men's football team will enter the World Cup qualifying play-offs. As we all know, the play-offs have become Italy's "ghost gate" in recent years. They lost to Sweden in the 2018 World Cup preliminaries in Russia; they lost to North Macedonia in the 2022 Qatar World Cup preliminaries, causing Italy to miss the World Cup for two consecutive years.

For Italy, which is eager to avoid being eliminated from three consecutive World Cup qualifying rounds, which opponent it will encounter in the play-offs will naturally become the focus of attention. "Gazzetta dello Sport" reported that according to the current situation, Italy's possible opponents in the first round of the play-offs include Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia and Northern Ireland.

As mentioned earlier, Italy has just lost to Sweden and North Macedonia in the past two World Cup qualifying play-offs. Because of this, the newspaper commented that these opponents are "like ghosts in fairy tales with no happy ending. Please let them go." It believes that these are "natural enemies" and troublesome existences that need to be avoided urgently. "Gazzetta dello Sport" further pointed out that there is still time before the play-offs are held in March next year, and the situation may change during this period. Because of this, it is crucial to win the last two qualifiers in November. "The most important thing is that Italy must unload the burden of painful memories. Those are all in the past. Put them aside. Then, go all out to qualify for the World Cup. "

With four World Cup titles, second only to Brazil and tied with Germany for the number of championships, can the Italian men's football team avoid the embarrassment of missing the World Cup for three consecutive years? It is reported that the play-off draw ceremony is expected to be held on November 21.