Italy end Northern Ireland's World Cup hopes

Italy are one game away from a first World Cup since 2014 as they ended Northern Ireland’s dream of reaching the finals with a 2-0 win in the play-off semi-final in Bergamo.

Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali broke Northern Ireland’s resolve, and the growing tension at the New Balance Arena, with a thunderous effort from the edge of the area in the 55th minute.

As Northern Ireland pressed forward, Mosie Kean added a second off the inside of the post to secure the win with 10 minutes remaining.

Prior to that, Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland side – with the second-youngest average age since World War Two at just 22.5 – had not only frustrated the hosts but had good spells going forward, but a lack of end product in the final third proved to be costly.

Northern Ireland were aiming to qualify for a first World Cup in 40 years, and only for the fourth time in history.

But it was Italy, under huge pressure not to become the first winners to miss out on three tournaments in a row, who ended a dream for a visiting side without three key players in the form of Conor Bradley, Dan Ballard and Ali McCann.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side will now travel to Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina, who are currently level, on Tuesday and the winner will be rewarded with a place in Group B at the World Cup alongside co-hosts Canada, Switzerland and Qatar.

For Northern Ireland, they now face a dreaded friendly in either Cardiff or Zenica as the dust from the World Cup play-off settles.

Italy analysis – Gattuso’s rallying cry pays off

Even though they won the delayed 2020 Euros, Italy have had a dismal World Cup record since their 2006 triumph with two group stage exits in 2010 and 2014, and they failed to even qualify for the next two editions after shock play-off defeats to Sweden and North Macedonia.

Through Gattuso, the Italians had built up the passion and team spirit in the side before kick-off and, after a rousing rendition of the home anthem, they started with real intent.

Tonali, who had earlier headed over a corner, had a golden chance to open the scoring but Trai Hume denied the Newcastle midfielder a simple tap-in after Federico Dimarco’s effort was parried away by Pierce Charles.

But as Northern Ireland stood firm the noise started to fade and it was not long until the 1,600 travelling supporters made their voices heard.

O’Neill’s side did venture forward but the lack of end product was beginning to frustrate the NI manager in his technical area as Ruairi McConville, Ethan Galbraith, who elected to shoot instead of playing in Isaac Price, and Jamie Donley could not make create the openings required.

The strike duo of Mosie Kean and Mateo Retegui both had efforts in the opening 45 minutes, and Bastoni headed over from a corner as Italy failed to breach a resolute defence.

Italy were second best at the start of the second half but, just as the game opened up and Mateo Retegui spurned a huge opportunity, Tonali’s thundering drive from the edge of the area released the tension that had been building in Bergamo.

Kean was twice denied by the impressive Charles, but he finally got the better of the Sheffield Wednesday keeper when he cut inside Ruairi McConville and finished off the post with 10 minutes remaining.

That was enough to secure Italy’s place in the play-off final, but the job is not done for Gattuso’s side as they face a tricky game at either Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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