FOOTBALL – Italy moved within one win of ending their 12-year World Cup absence with a 2-0 qualification playoff semi-final victory over Northern Ireland last night thanks to second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean.
The breakthrough arrived in the 56th minute when Tonali pounced on a cleared cross, letting the ball bounce once before firing into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
Kean effectively ended the contest in the 80th minute, latching onto a Tonali pass and ghosting past his marker before dispatching a low strike into the net.
The four-time world champions will on Tuesday face Bosnia & Herzegovina, who beat Wales 4-2 on penalties, for a place at the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico in June-July.
Meanwhile, the Czech Republic clinched their place in a qualification playoff final after edging past Ireland on penalties in a thrilling encounter that finished 2-2 after extra time.
Jan Kliment scored the winning penalty to send the Czechs through to Tuesday’s final where they will play Denmark.
Troy Parrott put the Irish ahead in the 19th minute from the spot after a VAR review determined that Czech midfielder Vladimir Darida had caught Nathan Collins’ foot when contesting a loose ball in the area.
The visitors doubled their lead four minutes later when an attempted clearance from defender Vladimir Coufal went into his own net.
The Czechs responded in the 27th minute through a Patrik Schick penalty and then sent the match to extra time when captain Ladislav Krejci headed home in the 86th minute.
Kosovo twice came from behind to beat Slovakia 4-3 away in a thrilling playoff semi-final and ensure a decisive home clash against Turkiye on Tuesday for a World Cup berth.
The Balkan nation have only been playing international football since 2014 and have never qualified for a major tournament, but are now one game away from a place in the finals.
They will host Turkiye at home in Pristina on Tuesday for a place in Group D at the World Cup where Australia, Paraguay and the United States await.
Turkiye won the other European playoff Path C semi-final earlier yesterday with a 1-0 home win over Romania in Istanbul.
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