World Cup 2026 Play-Offs: Italy, Wales, Poland and More Fight for Final Spots

World Cup 2026 Play-Offs: Italy, Wales, Poland and More Fight for Final Spots The last six places for the 2026 FIFA World Cup , co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, will be up for grabs this month. Four European teams can secure a spot through the play-offs, which consist of single-leg semi-finals followed by a one-off final, with all eight last-four ties scheduled for Thursday, 26 March. Let’s look at each match-up.

Italy vs Northern Ireland After missing out on the last two tournaments, Italy are desperate to banish the ghosts of their most recent qualifying play-offs. The four-time world champions were bested by Sweden and North Macedonia in their last two attempts to navigate the play-offs, so manager Gennaro Gattuso will be under immense pressure to get it right this time around. During his recent interview with ESPN , Arsenal star Riccardo Calafiori said that “Gattuso calls me more than my mother,” perhaps best illustrating the former AC Milan midfielder’s ambition to reach the World Cup finals.

Enjoying the home comforts of Atalanta’s New Balance Arena, Gli Azzurri take on Northern Ireland, whose last appearance at the most prestigious international tournament came in 1986. However, the visitors can perhaps take heart from the fact that co-hosts Mexico staged that edition, as they must defy the odds to halt their eight-game unbeaten streak against the Italians. Turkey vs Romania Despite featuring in the last three UEFA European Championships, the Turks are still waiting for their return to the grandest international scene, having last competed at a World Cup in 2002.

Buoyed by back-to-back multi-goal margin wins on home soil, head coach Vincenzo Montella should be confident about ending the Crescent-Stars’ drought, but he would be wise not to underestimate Romania. It has been almost nine years since these two nations last faced each other, with the Romanians emerging 2-0 victors in an international friendly back in November 2017, maintaining a potentially ominous trend in this fixture. Turkey and Romania have alternated between wins and losses in their last five meetings, which bodes well for the hosts, who also bring a promising four-game unbeaten run into this showdown.