Bosnia and Herzegovina v Italy: World Cup playoff – live
Key events
Pre-match postbag. “Bosnia play in Zenica, not the capital Sarajevo where there is a far bigger stadium, as it tends to rattle visiting teams. I saw them hold Portugal to a very creditable 0-0 in a Nov 2011 Euro qualifier first leg, despite Ronaldo hitting the bar in the last minute. Maybe the ground got to the visitors: however, they tonked them 6-2 in the second leg. No second leg tonight though” – Bob Kurac
“Isn’t Signor Gattuso married to a Scottish woman? Should his charges fail to qualify tonight, he will face a hard summer of watching the other team in blue go into battle to the cheers of his other half. Even if the jibes and banter will inevitably stop after three games” – Justin Kavanagh
Kit Watch. Bosnia and Herzegovina get first-kit dibs as the home side, so they’re playing in their blue shirts with yellow trim …
… and so the Azzurri are forced into second-choice white. Italy have always cut a dash in white shirts – see also Enzo Bearzot’s beyond-stylish sports jacket at the 1982 World Cup – so no complaints there. But there’s something slightly off about that redesigned shield. Not pointy enough at the bottom. Italy wearing adidas doesn’t sit right either. Come back, Diadora, make the world right again.
Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez makes one change to the side that started in Cardiff, replacing Benjamin Tahirović with Ivan Bašić in midfield. Sead Kolašinac, an injury concern after picking up a knock, starts in defence. Former Manchester City striker Edin Džeko, 40, leads their attack.
Italy boss Gennaro Gattuso names exactly the same starting XI. He’ll be keeping his fingers crossed that Sandro Tonali, who will set the tone in midfield, can last the full 90.
The teams
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Vasilj, Dedic, Muharemovic, Katic, Kolasinac, Bajraktarevic, Sunjic, Basic, Memic, Demirovic, Dzeko.
Subs: Hadzikic, Zlomislic, Mujakic, Celik, Tahirovic, Tabakovic, Radeljic, Alajbegovic, Burnic, Hadziahmetovic, Bazdar, Gigovic.
Italy: Donnarumma, Mancini, Bastoni, Calafiori, Politano, Barella, Locatelli, Tonali, Dimarco, Kean, Retegui.
Subs: Carnesecchi, Meret, Palestra, Spinazzola, Buongiorno, Raspadori, Pisilli, Esposito, Cristante, Frattesi, Gatti, Cambiaso.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France).
Preamble
Boznia and Herzegovina want to get to the 2026 World Cup finals just as much as Italy. But we don’t write the rules, and this story is all about the Azzurri, who are in danger of becoming the first of the World Cup behemoths to fail to qualify for three tournaments in a row. Uruguay, France, Spain and England have all missed two on the bounce, but a third consecutive failure for a footballing nation of this import would be unprecedented. And no, the pre-totaalvoetbal Dutch don’t count.
Italy weren’t particularly good against Northern Ireland last week. But then neither were Bosnia and Herzegovina as they squeezed past Wales, and the four-time winners have a good record against the men from the Balkan Peninsula. Bosnia and Herzegovina won the first meeting between the countries, in 1996, but since then it’s been pretty much all Italy, with four wins and a draw from the five matches played between 2019 and 2024. So on balance, you’d expect Rino Gattuso’s team to make it to North America this summer … but then most folk thought they’d see off Sweden to get to 2018 and North Macedonia ahead of 2022, and look what happened there. Kick-off is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
