Northern Ireland will play Italy in a World Cup play-off semi-final in March, it has been confirmed.
The play-off semi-final will be staged in Italy on 26 March, with the venue TBC.
And if Northern Ireland defeat the Italians they will play the winners of the semi-final between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina in a play-off final on 31 March - and that game will also be away from home.
The play-offs draw was held at FIFA headquarters in Switzerland earlier today.
Italy were the highest ranked team in the draw. They are rated as the 12th best international team in the world just now, while Northern Ireland are in 69th position in the latest FIFA Coca-Cola World Rankings, which were published yesterday.
Wales (ranked 32nd) were a Pot 2 team in the draw. Bosnia and Herzegovina, who finished as runners-up in their qualifying group, were a Pot 3 team (ranked 71st).
The 16 teams in the play-offs include the 12 runners-up in the group stage of the European qualifiers and the four best-ranked teams from last year’s UEFA Nations League who failed to finish in the top-two in the first qualifying round.
Northern Ireland, who qualified for the play-offs via the Nations League route, were in Pot 4 for today’s draw, while Italy were a Pot 1 team based on FIFA’s latest world rankings.
Today’s draw split the 16 teams aiming for a place at the FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico into four pots.
Each of the four paths in the play-offs features one team from Pot 1, one from Pot 2, one from Pot 3 and one from Pot 4. And each path features semi-finals and a final.
The semi-finals (a single leg knockout match) will see the Pot 1 team face the Pot 4 team, and the Pot 2 team face the Pot 3 team, with the Pot 1 and 2 teams at home.
The two semi-final winners from each path will then meet in the final (home advantage was decided in today’s draw) and the winner of that encounter qualifies for the World Cup.
Information regarding tickets will be shared in due course, following confirmation of the venue.
