Italy's Moise Kean celebrates scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup qualifying play-off soccer match between Italy and Northern Ireland, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

By The Canadian Press

Italy beats Northern Ireland 2-0 in World Cup playoff semifinal. Gyökeres gets hat trick for Sweden

Mar 26, 2026 | 2:05 PM

Italy finally won a match in the World Cup playoffs. Now the four-time champion needs to win one more to avoid failing to qualify for a third straight time.

The Azzurri beat Northern Ireland 2-0 in the European semifinals on Thursday.

Sandro Tonali broke the deadlock with a half-volley early in the second half for Italy at home in Bergamo and then set up another goal for Moise Kean.

“After taking the lead, we cleared our minds,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said. “We put in a good performance. This should be a confidence boost for Tuesday. … We have to win. We have no other choice.”

Also advancing to the playoff finals scheduled for Tuesday were Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, Poland, Turkey, Kosovo, Denmark and the Czech Republic.

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Italy next visits Bosnia and Herzegovina needing another victory to reach the upcoming tournament in North America and avoid going at least 16 years without even playing a match at soccer’s biggest event.

Bosnia beat Wales, and the Czech Republic beat Ireland in penalty shootouts.

The other finals matchups are: Sweden vs. Poland; Turkey vs. Kosovo; and Denmark vs. the Czech Republic.

Italy was eliminated by Sweden over two winless legs in the playoffs for the 2018 World Cup then was stunned by North Macedonia in the semifinal round in 2022.

Italy’s World Cup struggles go back all the way to 2010 and 2014, having failed to advance from its group on both occasions.

The Azzurri’s last World Cup knockout match was when they won the title in 2006 by beating France in a penalty shootout.

Italy produced seven shots on goal while Northern Ireland had none.

For the second goal, Tonali’s cross-field pass set up Kean, who made an expert control and finish.

“We didn’t have many moments of quality, but we did well to make the most of them when we did,” Tonali said. “We focused on not giving them their strengths and were concentrated on the set plays, so when we do that, it’s unlikely we’ll concede to this kind of team.

“We’ve been feeling positive since the coach arrived, we’ve got to continue like this, there’s no other option but to win,” Tonali said of Gattuso, who replaced the fired Luciano Spalletti in June.

Gyökeres scores three for Sweden

Viktor Gyökeres hit a hat trick to send Sweden past Ukraine 3-1 despite not having scored for his country since 2024. Until Thursday, Gyökeres was scoreless and Sweden winless in a miserable qualifying group campaign.

The game was played in Spain because Ukraine hasn’t hosted international games since the Russian invasion of 2022.

Sweden will face Poland after 37-year-old Robert Lewandowski scored a crucial header in a 2-1 win over Albania, keeping alive the Barcelona striker’s bid to reach a third World Cup.

Albania took the lead through Arber Hoxha just before halftime after a defensive blunder by Poland. Lewandowski’s header at a corner got his team back into the game before Piotr Zielinski’s goal put Poland in front.

Kosovo is a game away from its first-ever World Cup after twice recovering from a goal down to upset Slovakia 4-3. That sets up a playoff with Turkey for a World Cup spot.

Gustav Isaksen scored twice in two minutes in a Denmark’s 4-0 win over North Macedonia.

Lucescu’s Romania eliminated

In an early match, Turkey beat Romania 1-0 and will face either Slovakia or Kosovo for a spot at its first World Cup since a third-place run in 2002.

Turkey took the lead shortly after the break when Ferdi Kadioglu was set up in front of the goal with a long, accurate pass from Arda Guler, a 21-year-old winger for Real Madrid who could become one of the World Cup’s younger standouts.

Vincenzo Montella’s Turkey squad reached the quarterfinals of the 2024 European Championship.

Romania’s elimination means that 80-year-old Mircea Lucescu won’t get a chance to coach at the World Cup for the first time. Lucescu captained Romania at the 1970 World Cup. He previously coached Turkey.

Nicolae Stanciu hit the post for Romania in the second half in Istanbul.

“We knew it would be a tough match. Lucescu knows us well and prepared accordingly,” Turkey captain Hakan Calhanoglu said. “In the first half, we could have made better runs in behind. In the second half, Ferdi scored with a ball in behind. … From then, it was ours.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Andrew Dampf And James Ellingworth, The Associated Press