Italy legend Zoff: ‘We are better than our opponents but in these special games, who believes more wins’
Italy legend Zoff: ‘We are better than our opponents but in these special games, who believes more wins’ Dino Zoff has backed Italy to reach the World Cup but issued a pointed warning ahead of Thursday’s playoff semi-final against Northern Ireland, reminding the nation that quality alone is never enough when the stakes are this high. Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News – Free Trial – Click Here The 1982 World Cup winning goalkeeper, speaking to Corriere della Sera, via TuttoMercatoWeb , was confident in Italy’s superiority on paper but emphatic that belief would be the decisive factor. “If we play like Italy, we will definitely go through,” he said.
“We are stronger than Northern Ireland, and also Wales and Bosnia. We have more quality, better players, greater experience. But these are special games, whoever believes more wins.
So we must believe more. Otherwise…” UDINE – OCTOBER 14: Gennaro Gattuso interacts with Gianluigi Donnarumma after the team’s victory in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Italy and Israel at Stadio Friuli on October 14, 2025 in Udine, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images) World Cup winning goalkeeper Zoff: ‘We are Italy’ Zoff was unwilling to complete that sentence, and equally reluctant to dwell on the consequences of failure.
“You must not think about it,” he said firmly. “Fear never helps. You need to be concentrated, clear-headed, convinced, in a certain sense also calm, aware of your own strengths.
We are Italy. We play like Italy. Without thinking we have already won, or already lost.