Switzerland seals World Cup berth with win over Bulgaria; Italy forced into playoffs

With an emphatic 4-0 victory over Bulgaria, Switzerland clinched the top spot in Group C and a place in next year’s tournament in Qatar. Meanwhile, Italy might be edging towards reliving their darkest moment from four years on — failing to qualify for the FIFA World Cup. The Azzurri were held to 0-0 at Northern Ireland in its final qualifier game on Monday and will now have to face the playoffs.

A revival had been seen under Roberto Mancini, who led the Azzurri to the Euro 2020 trophy in July, but they could miss out again on the premier footballing tournament. FIFA will make the playoffs draw on November 26 in Zurich and teams will need to advance past two opponents to reach the World Cup. Runners-up with the six best records will be drawn to play at home first in the semifinals. The three winners of the playoffs finals on March 29 will complete the lineup of 13 European teams in Qatar.

WC Qualifiers: Belgium seals FIFA World Cup berth after victory over Estonia

Italy and Switzerland were tied on points going into the final qualifiers, but the Azzurri led Switzerland 11-9 on goal difference.

Italy knew they would have to score in Belfast, but they also understood it would be difficult against a Northern Ireland team that had gone undefeated at home in the group, keeping a clean sheet in each game.

Without their key forward Ciro Immobile, who missed out due to injury, as well as other regular starters, Italy struggled to carve out opportunities against a Northern Ireland side that proved deft at closing down spaces.

Kylian Mbappe bags 4 goals as France qualifies for 2022 World Cup

Things appeared bright when Italy created an early opportunity with an inspired pass from Lorenzo Insigne to Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who tried to chip Bailey Peacock-Farrell but his effort was tipped away by the goalkeeper.

But that was to be Italy’s best chance of the first half as, though it dominated possession, it struggled to find the final ball. Insigne went close but his effort was too weak and easily saved.

Ronaldo gifts shirt to young fan during Portugal’s WC Qualifier | Watch

Finally, in the 63rd minute, Italy found a gaping opportunity to score from but it was squandered when Federico Chiesa curled an effort past the right post.

Meanwhile, for Switzerland, Noah Okafor opened the scoring while Ruben Vargas, Cedric Itten, Remo Freuler added three more to rout the Bulgaria side.

With inputs from the Associated Press