Italy, it’s playoff draw day: all the possible rivals

Today Italy will know its fate: at 1 p.m. the playoff draw is scheduled to take place in which the twelve runners-up of the European groups plus the four best winners of the 2024/25 Nations League groups that did not achieve direct qualification or access to the playoffs through the group will take part.

The sixteen teams are distributed into four brackets. The twelve second-place teams from the rounds are divided into the first three brackets based on the November 2025 FIFA ranking: Italy will fall into the first bracket. In contrast, the four teams “repechaged” from the Nations League will make up the fourth bracket. In the semifinals, the first-tier teams will face the fourth-tier teams, while the second-tier teams will be matched with the third-tier teams.

First and second tier teams will play the semifinals at home. The final will then pit the winner of the first-fourth bracket duel and the winner of the second-third bracket duel against each other.

L’Italy, in the first bracket along with Denmark, Turkey and Ukraine, will play the semifinal at home against one of the four fourth-tier teams: Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland or North Macedonia.

If they win, the final would be against one of the second- or third-tier national teams. Possible rivals from the second bracket: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic and Slovakia. From the third bracket instead: Ireland, Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo.