Politano: Italy ‘deserve’ World Cup qualification, ‘stay with us, cheer us on’
Politano: Italy ‘deserve’ World Cup qualification, ‘stay with us, cheer us on’ Matteo Politano insists that Italy ‘deserve’ to get to the 2026 World Cup but says that he and his teammates have to prove their worth on the pitch first, and has emplored supporters to ‘stay with’ the national team and to cheer them on through their final challenge against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night. Politano previews Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Italy World Cup play-off final Italy is the highest-ranked nation in the world not to have a spot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup wrapped up.
They finished second behind Norway in their qualification group, which condemned them to the play-offs for the third tournament cycle in a row. Since then, Italy have beaten Northern Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo in order to qualify for Tuesday’s play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina, who beat Wales on penalties in Cardiff on Thursday night to complete the tie. This match will be played in Zenica on Tuesday evening at 19.
45 BST. “The guys are focussed, we’re happy after achieving this first goal, now we have a couple of days to recover our strength and prepare as best as we can for this battle,” said Politano in an interview with Vivo Azzurro TV (via TMW ). Italy looked a touch nervous during their first half against Northern Ireland on Thursday evening, but the pressure seemed to lift the second that Sandro Tonali’s second-half strike hit the back of the net.
“It was essential for us to free ourselves from the weight we had on us during that game,” the Napoli winger said. “There was fear and we saw some ghosts in the first half. But we broke the deadlock after we scored, we did it the right way.
” He continued: “We’re doing well. We’re calm even though we’re aware of what we’re playing for. Especially for me and some of the others who are no longer young guys, it’s the last opportunity we have and we’re particularly keen to take advantage of it.