How Gattuso plans to prepare Italy for World Cup play-offs in March

Italy’s spot in the World Cup play-offs has been confirmed following a 4-1 defeat at home against Norway on Sunday evening, but how will head coach Gennaro Gattuso prepare his players with no more international breaks remaining between now and March? 

Italy finished in second place in Group I of UEFA’s World Cup qualifying. The Nazionale finished on 18 points from eight matches, made up of six wins and two defeats, both of which came against Norway. 

Norway, meanwhile, kept their 100% World Cup qualifying win record intact thanks to their 4-1 win in San Siro on Sunday night, scoring a whopping 37 goals over their eight qualifying matches. 

That means that Norway have qualified directly for the World Cup finals in the summer of 2026, while Italy have had to settle for a place in the play-offs. 

The play-off draw takes place on Thursday afternoon at 12.00 GMT (13.00 CET). The semi-finals are due to be played on March 26 and the finals on March 30. 

There has been a lot of discussion over the last few weeks as to how Italy can best prepare for the World Cup play-offs, given that they will have just one or two training sessions at the beginning of the March international break before taking part in the semi-final. 

Despite suggestions, it is unlikely that Serie A matches will be postponed in order to give the Azzurri more time to prepare for the play-offs, according to various outlets. 

However, According to Corriere dello Sport, there remains a possibility that the Italy squad meet up in the new year to, perhaps, squeeze in an extra training session or two ahead of the play-offs in March. 

Early February is a likely date if this mini-camp does go ahead.

Gattuso, meanwhile, is expected to spend the next few months watching as much of his Italy players as possible. 

As per TMW, Gattuso will attend around 15 different matches between now and mid-January, including a trip to Saudi Arabia to watch Inter, Milan, Napoli and Bologna in the Supercoppa Italiana.