Dima analyzes the prospects of Italy s World Cup qualifiers: at least there will be play-offs, and may play against Wales and other teams

June 7 Not long ago, Dimazio's official website published an article to analyze Italy's prospects in the World Cup.

After the first group stage, the Italian national team seemed to have to prepare for the playoffs in the World Cup. The Blues defeated Norway in the first game of the group stage, which was not only a direct dialogue for the right to qualify, but also a big score loss put the goal difference at a disadvantage, which is a factor that cannot be ignored.

Now, Norway led by Haaland firmly ranks first in the group, while Italy, coached by Spaletti, can only catch up in the rear. It is almost impossible to overtake and regain the first place in the group.

Therefore, Italy is likely to be on the play-off road again, as it did in the past two matches against Sweden and North Macedonia.

Playoff rules:

World Cup Qualifiers European play-offs will have 16 teams participating, they will be divided into 4 small knockout areas, with 4 teams participating in each area, two semi-finals and one final, and 4 teams will be finalized.

The participating teams are the 12 teams ranked second in each group in the World Cup, and four teams that failed to enter the top two in the group but performed best in the UEFA Nations League.

Therefore, even if Italy did not even get the second place in the World Cup final, there is still a high probability that it will qualify for the playoffs through the European League rankings. Italy is one of the top 8 teams in the European League, and the top 4 teams in the European League are likely to win the first place in the World Cup finals.

If you advance to the second place in the group, Italy will likely be the seed team of the playoffs, or at least in the second place; but if you rely on the UEFA Nations League to enter the playoffs, Italy will not only fall to the fourth place, but also play away.

Potential Opponent Analysis

To sum up, if Italy wins second in the World Cup group, they will face relatively weak opponents. At present, what they may encounter are: Wales, Montenegro, Albania, Romania or Finland.

If Italy can only advance to the playoffs through the UEFA NBA results, then Italy's draw will be more challenging and may have to face a much stronger opponent than the above.