Overview
With a gap of 9 points over Norway and 2 matches left in hand, the Italian team entered the September international series with countless tasks under the new reign of coach Gennaro Gattuso.
The Azzurri started smoothly with a win over Estonia at Bergamo, before traveling to Hungary three days later to face Israel - a direct competitor for second place in the group and a play-off ticket.
The match was dramatic as Italy were behind twice, but made a spectacular comeback to take a 4-2 lead and seemed to be holding on to victory. However, mistakes in the defense caused them to concede 2 goals in the chaotic final minutes.
When hope seemed to be running out, Sandro Tonali promptly shone with the decisive goal in the extra time, sealing a thrilling 5-4 victory for Italy.
After the final whistle, the two teams collided, along with coach Gattuso and captain Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, before returning to Udine for the next round, Italy understood that they had to win both remaining matches against Estonia to maintain second place in the group.
Although Mateo Retegui missed a penalty and Donnarumma made a mistake leading to a goal, Azzurri still won 3-1 at tallinn, affirming a strong revival in form. Notably, young talent Francesco Pio Esposito ( Inter Milan) scored his first goal for the national team.
From a disappointing start with a heavy defeat in Oslo, the team from the Southern region has won all 4 recent qualifying matches, scoring 13 goals in just 3 matches under Gattuso. However, after two consecutive World Cup absences, Italy is still not completely assured as the risk of a third missed deadline still exists.
Standing third in the rankings, Israel still have a chance to participate in the play-off round, but they are forced to win the match against Italy to keep that hope.
Currently 3 points behind the Italian team, having played one more match and had a lower goal difference, coach Ran Ben Shimon's team needs a perfect sprint to keep their fragile opportunity.
The last time Israel participated in a World Cup was in 1970, and they will likely face another disappointment after their recent defeat in Oslo.
In the first leg, Israel lost 2-4 to Norway, in which Erling Haaland scored the fourth goal for the home team. In the second leg, the Israeli defense continued to show worrying form when conceding 5 goals. Haaland missed both penalties for Norway but still managed a hat-trick.
Personnel situation
Moise Kean will be absent from this important match of the home team. Gattuso also had to make a change in the defense when Alessandro Bastoni received a yellow card, leading to a one-match suspension. Gianluca Mancini is likely to be given a replacement opportunity.
The home team continues to be without striker Gianluca Scamacca, along with two wingers Matteo Politano and Mattia Zaccagni, who have withdrawn from the squad due to injury.
Giacome Raspadori and Riccardo Orsolini were given a chance against Estonia, but Gattuso could have a safer option with Leonardo Spinazzola and Andrea changeaso.
On the other side of the front line, Israel also suffered losses when Dor Peretz could not participate. After a heavy 1-5 defeat to Norway, Ran Ben Shimon is expected to make many changes to the starting lineup.
Expected lineup:
Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Mancini, Calafiori, Dimarco, Cambiaso, Barella, Tonali, Spinazzola, Raspadori, Retegui.
Israel: Skin. Peretz, Dasa, Baltaxa, Nachmias, Revivo, Abu Fani, E. Peretz, Khalaily, Gloukh, Solomon, Baribo.
The match between Italy and Israel takes place at 1:45 am on October 15 (Vietnam time).