Italy and Switzerland look to the World Cup ticket on Friday, teams in a close race for the ticket for Qatar 2022
Italy will face Switzerland in an important group game for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Rome on Friday.
Italy versus Switzerland is one of the big games in this week’s World Cup qualifiers as both Azzurri and Nati have 14 points each to stay in Group C.
You are in tough competition for the top spot in this group, as the winning team will automatically qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
However, the runners-up in the groups are facing the playoffs to battle for limited tickets for Qatar 2022.
Italy lead Group C by goal difference. Azzurri scored 12 goals but conceded one of six games to make a difference of 11 goals.
Nati has now scored ten goals in this group. Similar to Italy, Switzerland conceded a goal.
Switzerland drew 0-0 against Italy on matchday five in Basel when Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer parried Jorginho’s penalty in the second half.
There will be two more games in this group, which will be played by five teams.
Italy will play runner-up Switzerland at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Friday, then face Northern Ireland in Belfast on November 15 to end the group stage.
On the same day, Switzerland received Bulgaria in Lucerne.
Bulgaria took eight points in seven games and finished third, which means they have already been eliminated.
Northern Ireland has five points and Lithuania three points in Group C.
Italy could come under pressure in Switzerland’s important game as Roberto Mancini’s team cannot afford another World Cup failure.
Switzerland has been one of the emerging football nations since the 2000s, as it has regularly qualified for the last four World Cups.
At the 2006, 2014 and 2018 World Championships, Nati reached the round of 16. But in South Africa 2010, Switzerland was eliminated in the group stage.
As a four-time world champion in 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006, Italy shocked the whole nation when it failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
The European football powerhouse came under fire for its previous fiasco, but Italy won UEFA EURO 2020 in the summer of 2021 to please its fans.
It was a long-awaited big title for the Italians, as Azzurri had won the 2006 World Cup in Germany before their EURO 2020 triumph in July.
Italy were crowned EURO 2020 winners after beating England on penalties in London.
– Italy may lack real estate in Switzerland
The home team of Friday’s showdown, Italy, will have to do without their striker Ciro Immobile, who left the national team’s camp on Tuesday due to a muscle injury.
The Italian national team previously said in a statement that Immobile retired from the squad after medical tests showed there was pain in the soleus or calf of the 31-year-old’s left leg, which came from the previous game in the Italian league .
Sassuolo striker Gianluca Scamacca has been called up for the national team to replace the regular Lazio property.
Immobile, who scored 161 goals to become the all-time top scorer for Lazio, has been productive in the 2021-22 football season, scoring 11 goals in 15 games for his club.
That summer he helped Italy win the EURO 2020 title.
– Turkey plays against outsider Gibraltar
In Group G, Turkey will host the underdog Gibraltar on Saturday at Istanbul’s Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.
Third-placed Turkey, who scored 15 points in eight games, should win the game against Gibraltar first and then wait for Norway and the Netherlands to make mistakes.
In this group, Turkey fights against second-placed Norway and the front runner, the Netherlands, for the top spot.
Norway have 17 points ahead of the Netherlands, who have accumulated 19 points in eight games.
This means that the Netherlands currently hold the aces for the top position in the group.
The Turkish midfield regular Cengiz Under suffered a hamstring injury in his right leg that he would not have available in the next two games against Gibraltar and Montenegro.
Olympique Marseilles winger Under, 24, has scored five goals in 15 club appearances this season.
Guests Gibraltar lost all eight games against bottom group G
After the Gibraltar game in Istanbul, Turkey will visit Montenegro in Podgorica on November 16 to complete the group stage.
Montenegro has 11 points in fourth place in this group.
Latvia and Gibraltar have already been eliminated.
In addition, on Matchday 10 of Group G there will be a critical match between the Netherlands and Norway on November 16 at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam, which may decide the winner of this group.
– World Cup qualifiers
Thursday:
Group a:
Azerbaijan – Luxembourg
Ireland – Portugal
Group B:
Georgia – Sweden
Greece – Spain
Group H:
Russia – Greek Cypriot Administration
Malta – Croatia
Slovakia – Slovenia
Group J:
Armenia – North Macedonia
Germany – Liechtenstein
Romania – Iceland
Friday:
Group C:
Italy – Switzerland
Northern Ireland – Lithuania
Group F:
Moldova – Scotland
Austria – Israel
Denmark – Faroe Islands
Group I:
Andorra – Poland
England – Albania
Hungary – San Marino
Saturday:
Group D:
Bosnia and Herzegovina – Finland
France – Kazakhstan
Group E:
Belgium – Estonia
Wales – Belarus
Group G:
Norway – Latvia
Turkey – Gibraltar
Montenegro – Netherlands