Both Italy and Bosnia & Herzegovina are fighting to reach the World Cup for the first time since 2014 as they face each other in the UEFA Qualification Playoffs Path A Final for the FIFA World Cup 2026 at Zenica on Tuesday.
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Italy Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 31 March 2026/ Wednesday, 1 April 2026
KO Time: 20:45 (CET), 00:15 (IST)
Venue: Stadion Bilino Polje, Zenica
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Italy Match Preview
With many tipping Wales to make the final of the playoffs of their pathway due to overall quality and the home advantage in Cardiff, it was visitors Bosnia & Herzegovina who silenced the home support as they seized the opportunity by winning on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes of football. The home side were a tad bit better in the game, also taking the lead through former Manchester United winger Dan James early in the second half, but Bosnia remained firm as they got their equaliser from none other than their legendary forward Edin Dzeko. Still scoring at the age of 40, the striker rose to head in the corner delivered by Kerim Alajbegovic just four minutes from time to force extra-period with the latter then scoring the winning penalty at the tender age of 18. It was euphoria for the Bosnian supporters to silence their doubters but a far bigger test lies ahead before they could relish their dream to be in their second World Cup in history. Sergej Barbarez's side will take on Italy in the final who are also desperate to end their drought of qualifying to the main event in the inter-confederation final, where they will have a huge chance to book a ticket for the first time since 2014 in front of their own fans. With video surfacing of Italian players celebrating Bosnia's victory over Wales, it would be a further motivation factor for the side to prove that this won't be a winnable fixture as the opposition think.
Overcoming the horrors of losing to North Macedonia in the playoffs semifinal of the UEFA qualifiers for the previous World Cup at home, Italy defeated Northern Ireland 2-0 in a nervy but job done victory to progress to the UEFA playoffs Path A final with just a win away to end their long drought from the global stage. Not letting the early anxiety of not breaking the deadlock in the first-half, Sandro Tonali became the hero of the evening at Bergamo after slamming home just five minutes after the break before setting up Moise Keane, who haven't scored in a month for his club Fiorentina, to finish expertly to clinch the much-wanted victory and settle early nerves. Genaro Gattuso's men will be joyful about their efforts but cannot be complacent as the job is half-done as they now have to travel away for the playoff final against a youthful Bosnia side who will be doing everything to make them suffer at this stage again. However, the Azzurri have not suffered defeat in five meetings with the Dragons since losing their first meetup in 1996, also winning in the last visit back in 2020. But the team has suffered massively in away games in these qualifiers, also hoping that their post-semifinal antics don't put additional pressure on an already tense occasion. Italy failed in the previous two qualifiers and they will be desperate to avoid any circumstances that will let them crumble again to leave them without a World Cup appearance for 12 years, which will be a huge blow for the four time winners of the competition.
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Italy Predicted Lineups
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Nikola Vasij; Amar Dedic, Nikola Katic, Tarik Muharemovic, Sead Kolasinac; Esmir Bajraktarevic, Ivan Sunjic, Benjamin Tahirovic, Amar Memic; Ermedin Demirovic, Edin Dzeko
Italy
Gianluigi Donnarumma; Gianluca Mancini, Alessandro Bastoni, Ricardo Calafiori; Matteo Politano, Nicolò Barella, Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali, Federico Dimarco; Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Italy Match Prediction
Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-2 Italy
Missing the World Cup for the third time in a row will be catastrophic for Italy as a big chunk of the current generation will live through without seeing them at the showpiece event. It is an all too familiar situation for the Azzurri as the playoff final will remind them of the failures against Sweden and North Macedonia and it remains to be seen if they learn from the ghosts of the past with redeeming their prestige by delivering at the most crucial stage. Bosnia & Herzegovina will give a severe fight as they did against Wales being on the unexpected branch which they will be on again having the home advantage now. The unnecessary controversy the visitors embroiled themselves would only motivate them, a situation that has let to their downfall before. As manager Gattuso, who was part of last World Cup winning squad of 2006, stressed that Italy have to behave as a unit more than talent and tactics which will be their moto to get the job done and end their exile which we believe they will be just able to achieve in a huge evening at Prestina.
