Football Italia Live Blog
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Join us for all the build-up and action as it happens from the 2026 World Cup qualifier, as Italy host Israel and try to lock down that play-off spot.
It kicks off at the Stadio Friuli in Udine at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
The Azzurri are in second place behind runaway leaders Norway and the chances of beating their goal difference, even if finishing level on points, are very slim.
So this becomes a key fixture to secure the play-offs, having squeezed past Israel 5-4 last month.
Mateo Retegui’s brace and Gigio Donnarumma’s saves inspired Italy’s 3-0 win over Israel on Tuesday.
Click here for the full ratings.
Mateo Retegui is glad Italy are ‘absorbing the ideas’ of coach Gennaro Gattuso after beating Israel 3-0 to secure a World Cup play-off berth.
Click here for the full story.
The play-offs will start with semi-finals in March, and the draw will be made on November 21.
“We did well, because we all remember what happened a month ago, they made us wobble,” Gattuso told RAI Sport of that 5-4 thriller.
“I think we were more controlled tonight, they created a few chances too and Gigio made some big saves, but I saw the right spirit. Locatelli had a great game, the strikers struggled a little, but played the way we had to.
“We had it all to lose this evening, don’t forget that, so I feel we did well.”
Italy have scored at least three goals in each of Gattuso’s four games at the helm, something that predecessor Luciano Spalletti had really struggled with.
“There are few teams in the world now who can dominate matches, so we must be able to suffer under pressure, know how to push through with grit. Once we have the ball, we do have quality, but the most important thing we must improve is that centimetre by centimetre pushing hard.”
The Azzurri knew their chances of getting ahead of Norway in the group are very slim indeed, because even if they manage to win the head-to-head at San Siro next month, Erling Haaland’s men are so far ahead on goal difference.
“Now we’ve got to hope we don’t lose any more players to injury, we’ll meet again in November, and will try to give some new players a chance to shine. We want to create a solid unit that works well together, both on and off the field,” concluded Gattuso.
Mateo Retegui stepped up with two goals, plus Gianluca Mancini’s header, as Italy beat Israel 3-0 in a strange atmosphere to lock down that World Cup play-off place, but it was far from a convincing performance.
Click here for the full match report.
Corner was cleared at first, but came back in for the classic Mancini header! His first senior goal for Italy!
Piccoli and Cambiaghi makes their senior Italy debuts, replacing Retegui and Tonali.
Calafiori denied with a goal-line clearance, then so is the follow-up!
Tonali with the corner kick, Calafiori’s header at the back post was cleared off the line, then Mancini’s overhead kick from seven yards parried!
Into 4 minutes of added time.
Solomon and Eli Dasa off for Israel, Shua and Mizrahi on.
Tonali into the book for a mistimed tackle.
Spinazzola and Cristante on, Cambiaso and Locatelli off for Italy.
Glazer still getting treatment after that horrible collision.
Glazer got into a bit of a mess there on a back-pass intercepted inside the penalty area by Retegui, but then Glazer and a teammate flung themselves in the path of Esposito’s tap-in and they collided horribly.
That’s a bad miss from Esposito, mind you.
🙌#ItaliaIsraele#Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/yPsgpn8Cfs
— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) October 14, 2025
Donnarumma came off worse with a cut to the knee, but he seems fine to continue.
Erk!
Solomon found himself going clear as Donnarumma and Calafiori collided, but he had gone a bit too wide and from there could only hit the side-netting.
That is the fifth goal in the last four Italy games for Retegui.
Peretz off, Abu Fani on for Israel.
Finally, some quality from the Italy squad!
Retegui did it all himself too, robbed the Israeli defender Toriel in the final third, immediately bent a fantastic right-foot finish into the far top corner from the edge of the area, there was no stopping that!
Turgeman and Toriel on, Baribo and Khalaili off for Israel.
Retegui tries to pull across from the right, but it’s blocked, so is the Tonali cross from the left.
Ouch. Tonali charged down the ball with the inside of the thigh from point-blank range, trying to block the goalkeeper’s clearance. We say inside of the thigh. We mean the crotch. Ouch.
Won’t even call that a disallowed goal, because the offside position was too obvious for Cambiaso on the Pio Esposito assist. Nice finish into the far top corner from a tight angle, mind you.
Forza ragazzi! 🇮🇹#ItaliaIsraele#Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/8e6GHEZINl
— Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) October 14, 2025
Slightly better on the second corner, but Esposito only grazed his head to the ball.
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