How to watch Italy vs Northern Ireland live: World Cup playoff stream, TV channel, team news, prediction
Six spots in the 2026 World Cup are still up for grabs, with the final four European places set to be decided this week beginning with Path A, pitting Italy against Northern Ireland in one semifinal.
With only 79 days until the start of the 2026 World Cup, six spots in this summer's tournament are still up for grabs, with the final four European places set to be decided this week beginning with Path A, pitting Italy against Northern Ireland, and Wales against Bosnia Herzegovina, on Thursday. The winners of those single-leg semifinals will meet next Tuesday in a winner-take-all showdown for one of those places. MORE — UEFA World Cup playoffs schedule | World Cup inter-confederation playoffs Italy (13th in FIFA rankings) finished 2nd in Group I, six points (and 23 goals in the GD column) behind winners and automatic qualifiers Norway.
The Azzurri only dropped points in two of eight loss — a pair of defeats to Norway, who went a perfect 8-for-8 on the back of Erling Haaland's staggering 16 goals (11 more than anyone else in the group, and eight more than all players from all groups). Striker Mateo Retegui, who currently plays for Saudi side Al-Qadsiah after leaving Atalanta last summer, led Italy with five goals during qualifying. Former Everton and current Fiorentina forward Moise Kean chipped in with four, while Giacomo Raspadori and Pio Esposito scored three each.
Northern Ireland (69th in FIFA rankings) finished 3rd in Group A and advanced to the playoff round via their performance in the UEFA Nations League. The Green and White Army were one of the best four Nations League group winners that finished outside the top-two in their qualifying group, alongside Romania, Sweden and North Macedonia. Group winners Germany scored more goals (16) than the other three teams combined (14), including Northern Ireland's seven, which were scored by seven different players (Sunderland's Trai Hume and Crystal Palace's Justin Devenny among them).
For live updates and highlights throughout Italy vs Northern Ireland, check out PST's live blog coverage below. How to watch Italy vs Northern Ireland live, stream link and start time Kick off time : 3:45 pm, Thursday (March 26) Venue : New Balance Arena — Bergamo, Italy TV Channel / Streaming : Paramount+ Italy team news, focus OUT: Federico Chiesa (undisclosed), Gianluca Scamacca (muscular) | QUESTIONABLE: Sandro Tonali (thigh), Gianluca Mancini (calf) Northern Ireland team news, focus OUT: Alistair McCann (ankle) | QUESTIONABLE: Daniel Ballard (hamstring) Italy vs Northern Ireland prediction Northern Ireland will set up to defend like their lives depend on it (they only conceded six goals during group play), but the combination of Italy's home-field advantage and a wide array of goal-scoring options will take them one step closer to qualification after missing the last two World Cups in 2018 and 2022. Italy 1-0 Northern Ireland