Norway takes down Estonia: first place secured, Italy in playoffs

Norway lives up to its prediction and smashes a poker at Estonia (4-1) on the penultimate day of Group I of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. At Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion it all happened in the second half: a double by Sorloth and one by Haaland in the space of 12 minutes sealed the talks, with Saarma scoring the flag for the guests.

Thanks to this victory, Norway climbs to 21 points in the standings, securing the first place in the group and direct qualification to the rainbow review. Italy, in fact, chases six points behind, but even in the event of victories with Moldova and the Nordics themselves, it will be condemned to the playoffs.

The Norwegian team will be condemned to the playoffs.

In the event of finishing tied on points with Stale Solbakken’s men, the Azzurri would finish second due to a worse goal difference. The national team currently has 18 goals scored and 8 conceded, while the Norse have scored as many as 33 goals while conceding only 4.

The Italian team’s goal difference is the worst.

To finish first in the round Italy would need to get two wins over Moldova and Norway by scoring a whopping 20 goals and keeping the goal unbeaten on both occasions. In short, a completely unrealistic scenario for the Azzurri, who will play for World Cup access in the playoffs.