Europe moved closer to deciding its final four places at the 2026 World Cup after a series of playoff semi-finals on Thursday, with several teams advancing to decisive matches next week.
Italy eased pressure on themselves with a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland in Bergamo, thanks to second-half goals from Sandro Tonali and Moise Kean, and will face Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31 for a place at the finals.
Turkey also progressed to their playoff path final with a 1-0 victory over Romania, Ferdi Kadioglu scoring the winner, and will next meet Kosovo after they edged Slovakia 4-3 in a thrilling encounter.
Poland came from behind to beat Albania 2-1 with goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski, setting up a decisive clash with Sweden.
Sweden booked their place in that final with a 3-1 win over Ukraine, powered by a Viktor Ukrich hat-trick, leaving them one match away from qualification.
Denmark took a major step towards securing a third successive World Cup appearance with a dominant 4-0 victory over North Macedonia in another playoff semi-final.
The winners of the playoff finals, to be played next week, will claim the last four European spots at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
