Italy keep World Cup dreams alive with 3-0 victory over Israel

ROME – The Italian men’s football team beat Israel 3-0 in Udine on Tuesday evening to keep their dreams of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup by securing their spot in the World Cup qualifier playoffs.

The Azzurri, who had beaten Israel 4-5 in September, faced a challenge in the game against Israel. A win would ensure that Israel could not qualify for the World Cup and Italy would secure at least second place – anything else would mathematically allow Israel to move above them if other results fell in their favour. Teams in first place automatically qualify for the World Cup and teams that finish in second place enter a play-off in a bid to get the last four European qualifying spots. 

 The previous match had been a hotly contested affair with clashes between players and coaching staff. A pro-Palestine protest occurred outside of the stadium just hours before kick-off, which authorities said descended into a clash between police and protesters involving tear gas and firecrackers.

With snipers on the roof of the stadium, only around 9,000 tickets had been sold with most seats in the 25,000-capacity stadium remaining empty. Italian manager Gennaro Gattuso labelled the Italian fans present as “heroes.”  A mixture of boos and cheers echoed around the Stadio Fruili as the Israeli national anthem was played, reflecting the wider atmosphere in the city.

In the first ten minutes the Italians seemed as if they were on the offensive, making several attempts at goal which went wide. However, their strength began to falter as the match progressed, and Israel seemed the stronger team.

Israel capitalised off the Italians’ mistakes and had multiple attempts at goal which were either saved by Italian goalkeeper and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma or glanced off the woodwork. As the first half drew towards a close, it seemed as if neither team would break the deadlock.

However, this was to change after Israeli player Matan Baltaxa made a reckless challenge in the box against Mateo Retegui and a penalty was awarded to Italy. Stepping up to the penalty spot, Retegui opened the scoring in the 45+2 minute.

The second half began with Italy 1-0 up as both teams settled into a comfortable rhythm. Although both teams continued with attempts at goal, neither team converted, with Donnarumma making a crucial save at the hour mark to deny Israel the opportunity to equalise.

In the 73^rd minute, the Azzurri saw their chance to score again. Israeli winger, Stuv Turiel, was dispossessed by Retegui following poor control of the ball. Retegui curled the ball into the top corner, out of reach of the Israeli goalkeeper Omri Glazer, to double Italy’s lead.

Italy settled comfortably into the lead, denying Israel anymore strong offensives. The Azzurri rounded the match off with a goal in the 90+3 minute, thanks to a Gianluca Mancini header following a corner kick. The game ended 3-0, giving Italy the much needed three points to prevent Israel mathematically being able to move above them in the table.

Gattuso extended his record breaking and successful start to his national team managerial career, winning four out of four matches. Speaking after the match, Gattuso said he was “satisfied” with the result, adding that Italy played “very, very well” and singled out goalkeeper Donnarumma for praise. Looking forward to the likely backdoor route of playoffs with other second place teams for World Cup qualification, Gattuso said he hopes that “God will be kind” to Italy.

Italy has two games left to play, in which they will attempt to move above group leaders Norway, who sit comfortably on 18 points. Although still mathematically possible for Italy to finish above Norway, the Azzurri would need to win their next two matches and Norway would need to lose both upcoming matches. Italy's next game in the World Cup qualifiers is Nov 13. against Moldova before rounding qualification off with a potentially group deciding match against Norway.