Italy and Northern Ireland target return to international football’s top table

Gli Azzurri start favourites in the World Cup playoff on Thursday but Michael O’Neill says his young team will show no fear

The shorter wait is the one worthy of considerably more attention. Four decades have passed since Northern Ireland appeared at a World Cup, then for the second time in succession. Any disappointment at finishing third in a group also involving Brazil and Spain was offset by hope of an imminent return. There has been no further seat at international football’s top table.

Italy’s World Cup hiatus involves failure to qualify in 2018 and 2022 (their previous two experiences were only marginally less miserable). For four-time winners of the tournament and a nation obsessed with the sport, this constitutes an affront. It brings intense pressure. One of Italy and Northern Ireland will retain the aspiration of 2026 participation when the full-time whistle shrieks in Bergamo on Thursday night.