Haaland and Norway run. Italy, the first will already be decisive

The lack of contemporaneity of the commitments, due to the additional round of the Nations League in which the Azzurri were involved, has in short produced a situation that, combined with the excellent start in the groups of Haaland, Ødegaard and teammates, immediately puts the national team in front of a decisive challenge: a failure to win against Norway would force Spalletti's troops to chase, presumably, until November, when the return match will be played in Italy, the last one of the group. Net of surprises against the three less equipped teams (more Israel than Estonia and Moldova, the latter hosted in Italy on June 9), Oslo will already be a turning point, considering that only the top-placed teams in each of the 12 groups will obtain direct qualification for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will have to go through the play-offs scheduled in a year, in March 2026.

Yes, the play-offs, where in 2018, the Azzurri were eliminated by Sweden and in 2022 by North Macedonia. So, while Italy lives in balance between Spalletti's optimism ("we know what to do to qualify", his words after the draw in Germany) and the nightmare of missing out on a third World Cup in a row, so far seven (out of 48) national teams have a guaranteed place at the World Cup. In addition to the three hosts, namely the United States, Mexico and Canada, four have booked their place in the last week.

The first was Japan, which had secured its passage last Thursday with three days to spare before the end of its group, then, again from Asia, mission accomplished for Taremi's Iran, whose national team will play its seventh World Cup, the fourth consecutive. The qualification of New Zealand was a given in the Oceanic confederation, which will return to play the World Cup 16 years after South Africa 2010 (it will be its third World Cup). Objective already achieved for Argentina too: for the reigning champions, first in the South American group, qualification came in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, after the 4-1 over Brazil. Lionel Messi, in short, will be there, he who in the States – where he won the Copa America last summer with the Albiceleste – is now at home.