Italy will finish at worst in second place in their group, ensuring participation in the playoff bracket, after defeating the only opponents that could have potentially overtaken them, Israel, with a two-nil result, thanks to a brace by Mateo Retegui on Tuesday.The Azzurri can technically still leapfrog Norway, but they don’t control their own destiny. Beating the rivals in the head-to-head match-up wouldn’t suffice. The overall goal difference is the first tie-breaker. Their foes have an insurmountable advantage there. The first place would be on the line only if Erling Haaland and company lost against Estonia, which have collected just five points so far.Therefore, Italy are bracing for another playoff run. They will be hoping for a different outcome from the previous two, when they were defeated by North Macedonia and Sweden.The format is different from the past, so the Azzurri will have to wait until the final matches to learn their prospective opponents in the decisive fixtures in March, Sky informs. All the sides that finish second in their group and the four Nations League winners will be drawn into four four-team brackets with single-elimination matches.The participants will be divided into four pools ahead of the draw. Italy will be in the top one, along with Turkey, Ukraine, and Poland, based on the FIFA ranking. They will face one from the fourth one, which will comprise the outfits eligible because of their Nations League results. At this stage, they’d be Wales, Romania, Sweden, and Northern Ireland. The Azzurri will host the semi-final, then another draw will determine the site of the last act.
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