Giorgio Chiellini will bring down the curtain on his international career this summer after Italy face Argentina in the so-called ‘Finalissima’ at Wembley, the site of his greatest career triumph.
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen scored Tuesday on his return to the Copenhagen stadium where he suffered a cardiac arrest last year as England and France also won the latest round of pre-World Cup friendlies.
Italy is once again reeling after failing to reach a second straight World Cup, throwing away automatic qualification before falling to a devastating defeat in the playoffs by North Macedonia. You may also like
Portugal have been well and truly warned not to take the threat of North Macedonia lightly as they face Italy’s conquerors in a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off on Tuesday.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini did not discuss his own future but told distraught fans on Saturday that “accepting even defeats in life is part of a healthy path of human and sports growth”.
Catch up with the highlights and reactions as Italy suffered a shocking 1-0 loss at home to Nort Macedonia ending their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 Qatar World Cup, while Portugal progressed with a 3-1 win over Turkey.
Italy will miss their second World Cup in a row after slumping to a shock 1-0 play-off semi-final defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday.
The World Cup hopes of the last two European champions are on a knife edge with Portugal and Italy on a collision course in decisive qualifying play-offs over the next week.
Italy are aiming for World Cup glory despite having to navigate a treacherous play-off path in order to get the 2022 tournament, with North Macedonia the first barrier standing in their way.
European champions Italy and Portugal could meet for a place at the 2022 World Cup after being drawn in the same play-off path on Friday.
