World Cup Playoffs 2026: Bosnia-Italy, likely lineups

The day of judgment, sportingly speaking, is here: Italy is at the last hurdle toward the 2026 World Cup but it will not be at all easy to overcome Bosnia and Herzegovina, designated as the host country for the final as far as the UEFA playoff Path A is concerned. The rules are simple: the winner qualifies for the World Cup and joins Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B, while the loser will have to watch all 104 matches scheduled from June 11 to July 19 from home.

The Bosnians are coming from their painful semifinal success against Wales: down from 51′ due to Daniel James’ goal, the Balkan national team took back the game by the hairsbreadth with veteran Edin Dzeko, author of the equalizer in the 86th minute, before prevailing on penalties 4-2 thanks to goals by Tabakovic, Basic, Hadziametovic and Alajbegovic (Demirovic’s first penalty error was irrelevant). Dzeko, inevitably, is the point of reference but keep an eye on Muharemovic and Alajbegovic, two names that can be protagonists in the upcoming soccer market.

Italy, on the other hand, arrives on the strength of its 2-0 success against Northern Ireland in Bergamo, a match unlocked, after a rather opaque first half, by Tonali’s torpedo at 56′ and closed by Moise Kean ten minutes from the 90th minute. Coach Gattuso restarts from the certainty linked to the module, the 3-5-2, relying again on Retegui despite the fact that the former Genoa and Atalanta man has suffered a bit from the forced stop in the league in which he plays now, the Saudi one. Pio Esposito, therefore, is expected to start from the bench, barring any surprises.

Probable lineups

Bosnia (3-5-1-1): Vasjli; Muharemovic, Katic, Kolasinac; Memic, Tahirovic, Alajbegovic, Sunjic, Dedic; Dzeko, Demirovic. Technical Commissioner Barbarez.

Italy (3-5-2): Donnarumma; Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco; Retegui, Kean. Technical Commissioner Gattuso.