Official: Italy confirm venue for World Cup play-off vs. Northern Ireland

The FIGC has confirmed that the World Cup play-off semifinal against Northern Ireland on March 26, 2026, will be played in Bergamo.

Atalanta’s New Balance Stadium will host the World Cup play-off semifinal between Italy and Northern Ireland next March, the FIGC said in a statement on Thursday.

“Six months after the 5-0 landslide victory over Estonia last September, which marked Gennaro Gattuso’s debut as head coach, the Stadio di Bergamo will once again host the Azzurri for the World Cup play-off semi-final on Thursday, 26 March at 20:45 CET, when the Azzurri will take on Northern Ireland,” the Italian Football Federation said.

“The national team are unbeaten in Bergamo with two 5-0 victories (the other was in their first game against Malta in January 1987) and two 1-1 draws (in a friendly against Turkey in November 2006 and in the Nations League game against the Netherlands in October 2020).

“Italy and Northern Ireland have played each other eleven times previously, with a record of seven wins for the Azzurri, three draws, and a single defeat: the 2-1 loss on 15 January 1958 in Belfast, which stopped Italy from qualifying for the Swedish World Cup. The most recent encounter was also in Belfast, which ended in a 0-0 draw in the final Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifying match that forced Italy into the play-offs.”

Italy finished as the Group I runners-up, so they’ve been forced to go through the qualifying play-off for the third consecutive time.

If the Azzurri progress to the Final, they’ll visit the winner of Wales-Bosnia and Herzegovina.