Italy gets unblocked: against Moldova, the last three points tagged Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti’s adventure on the bench of the Italian national soccer team ends with the first three points of the 2026 World Cup qualifying round: in fact, Italy beats Moldova 2-0 in Reggio Emilia and puts behind it the bitterness of the defeat to Norway on Friday night, although the gap from Haaland and his teammates, simultaneously victorious 1-0 in Estonia, remains 9 points (with two matches less played by the Azzurri).
The start, in front of the crowd at Mapei Stadium-Città del Tricolore in Reggio Emilia, actually rekindles the fears of insiders and fans of the Azzurri meglia: on 9′; in fact, Nicolaescu goes into the net with a header, but fortunately for the national team, the Heerenveen striker was beyond the line of the penultimate defender and referee Schnyder cancels on a Var signal.
Italy gained confidence minute by minute and on 17′ came close to taking the lead: the ball hit by Raineri’s header, however, was printed on the crossbar. The pressure rises further but it is necessary to wait until the 40′ to break through: Ranieri′s cross repelled by Ionita, the ball reaches Raspadori who with a precise right-footed shot beats an immobile Avram. It’s the goal of the 1-0, the’only one of the first half.
In the second half, which began with Orsolini and Barella taking over from Dimarco and Ricci, it took Italy five minutes to score again: the very newcomer Orsolini skipped past Reabciuk and put into the center, Cambiaso was in a perfect position to finish on net and make it 2-0, a goal that in fact closed the accounts in a widely anticipated manner.
The last phase of the match is pure academy for the Azzurri, although a couple of interesting chances arrived that were not materialized by Tonali at 64′ Frattesi at 73′ (a minute after Lucca entered in place of Retegui). At 77′ Maldini takes over from Raspadori, six minutes later Coppola picks up his second Azzurri appearance by taking over from Ranieri. Six minutes of recovery time, during which nothing relevant happens: it ends 2-0 for Italy.
