The European play-off semifinals for the FIFA World Cup 2026, held on March 26, 2026, delivered few surprises as traditional heavyweights like Italy and Sweden advanced to the final stages. With the number of European slots increased to 16, eight teams took one more step towards booking their tickets to the summer finale in North America.
PATH A: ITALY VS BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Italy book a final versus Bosnia and Herzegovina after a professional 2-0 victory over a young Northern Ireland team. After missing out on 2 consecutive World Cup finals, the Italians are a step away from finally breaking the rut they were stuck in, as they face a Bosnia and Herzegovina team which made the final by the skin of their teeth versus Wales, who have faced penalty heartbreak once again after their Euro 2024 qualification defeat on penalties.
The Bosnians were on the brink of elimination when their legendary talisman, the 40-year old Edin Džeko rose high to head in an equaliser in the 86th minute after Dan James had put the Welsh ahead in the 51st minute. A penalty shootout followed, where Brennan Johnson and Neco Williams missed in quick succession, handing the initiative to the Bosnians, who took full advantage despite missing first in the shootout, with Kerim Alajbegović slotting in the final penalty to break the home crowd’s hearts and send Bosnia into the final.
Italy exorcise demons vs Northern Ireland
Gennaro Gattuso’s men finally exorcised some of their World Cup demons with a professional 2–0 victory over Northern Ireland in Bergamo. The Azzurri lined up in a 3-5-2, with captain and goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma shoring up a young and versatile 3-man backline of Riccardo Calafiori, Alessandro Bastoni and Gianluca Mancini; an industrious midfield three of Manuel Locatelli, Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Barella; Federico Dimarco and Matteo Politano patrolling the wings with Mateo Retegui and Moise Kean leading the line.
Michael O’Neill’s young team also mirrored the Italian formation, with Jamie Donley and Isaac Price leading the line ahead of a midfield of Justin Devenny, Ethan Galbraith and Shea Charles with the experienced Paddy McNair marshalling the backline, as Premier League stars Conor Bradley and Daniel Ballard missed out due to injury.
The Italians began brightly, Irish goalkeeper Pierce Charles parrying an early shot from Dimarco which was then cleared before Tonali could pounce on it. However, the hosts could not muster any clear cut opportunities, with Bastoni’s on target header in the 34th minute being deflected and Retegui shooting straight at Charles as the first half drew to a close with the tie scoreless.
The second half began in the same vein as the first half, Retegui latching on to an errant back pass from Irish wing back Terry Devlin in the 53rd minute and bore down on goal, but a heavy touch allowed Charles to close down the angle and stop the Italians from going 1-0 up.
The hosts were getting close, with Charles pushing away a fierce Kean shot in the 55th minute after Galbraith lost the ball in the middle of the park. However, Charles was powerless to stop the inevitable as Tonali fired in a superb volley in the next minute after a cross from Politano was weakly cleared, putting Italy 1-0 up and setting off wild celebrations from the bench as the entire stadium heaved a sigh of relief.
Tonali was at it again as he played in Kean in the 66th minute, Charles stopping well again from the Italian forward. Kean went close again in the 79th minute, his acrobatic finish from Barella’s cross going just wide. However the Italian forward would get his reward just a minute later, as he collected Tonali’s lobbed pass before stepping past an Irish defender and shooting past a stranded Charles, the ball going in off the post.
That would be the last big action of the match, as the Italians professionally saw off the match without any risk from the Irish, marching into a final against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
PATH B: SWEDEN VS POLAND
Two star strikers have set up a final showdown, with Arsenal’s Viktor Gyökeres leading Sweden with a brilliant hattrick while Poland’s talisman Robert Lewandowski ensured his nation was still in contention to make their second successive World Cup finals.
Poland began unconvincingly, shockingly going behind in the 42nd minute when Arbër Hoxha rounded Thomas Strakosha and slotted into the empty net. The Poles attacked relentlessly in the second half, and eventually the equaliser came in the 63rd minute when Lewandowski rose highest to head home a corner. Poland struck a second dagger into Albanian hearts in the 73rd minute, when Piotr Zielinski lashed in the winner from deep after Strakosha made a brilliant save to keep the scores level just a minute before. Poland will now face Sweden for a spot in the World Cup after the Scandinavian nation strolled to a 3-1 win over Ukraine.
Sweden storm into final
While Arsenal fans have been divided over their opinions on Viktor Gyökeres, Swedish fans have no doubts about their love for their star striker. And at the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia in Spain, Gyökeres proved why he is Sweden’s talisman, with a brilliant hattrick which took the nation to the brink of qualification to the World Cup.
Sweden coach Graham Potter, without the Premier League’s most expensive player Alexander Isak due to a long-term injury, lined up in their customary 4-4-2. Anthony Elanga partnered Gyökeres up top with a midfield of Benjamin Nygren, Herman Johansson, Jesper Karlström and Yasin Ayari ahead of a 4-man backline of Gabriel Gudmundsson, Victor Lindelöf, Isak Hien and Gustaf Lagerbielke, with Kristoffer Nordfeldt protecting the goal.
Ukraine took to the field in a 4-1-4-1 shape, Anatoliy Trubin donning the keeping gloves with Oleksandr Tymchyk and Vitalii Mykolenko patrolling as full backs, while Illia Zabarnyi partnered Valeriy Bondar in the heart of the defence. Ivan Kalyuzhnyi sat in front of the defence, while Viktor Tsygankov, Yehor Yarmolyuk, Heorhiy Sudakov and Oleksandr Zubkov lined up behind the lone striker Vladyslav Vanat up front.
Sweden started at a breathtaking pace, with the first of Gyökeres’s three goals coming as early as the 6th minute when Nygren whipped in a delicious cross from the left which the Arsenal striker tapped in from close range. A stunned Ukraine had no reply to the Swedish salvo, and although they dominated the possession statistics, they created no meaningful chances throughout the first half.
Potter had set his team up to attack, and it paid off in the 51st minute when Gyökeres doubled his tally with a wonderful side-footed finish over Trubin after Ukraine failed to clear a long ball from Nordfeldt, which the Sweden no.17 controlled and then finished after finding no opposition from the Ukraine defence.
Ukraine’s defence performed terribly on the night, with Gyökeres troubling them with his pace and physicality time and again. In the 73rd minute, he latched onto a weakly hit back pass on the halfway line and broke through on goal, where Trubin took him down once he took the ball past the Ukrainian keeper. The striker stepped up and converted his penalty, Trubin powerless to stop it from going in despite getting a hand to it.
However, the Ukrainian crowd did not go home empty-handed, as substitute Matviy Ponomarenko crashed in a header to pull back one goal for the ‘home’ team in the 90th minute, giving something to cheer for the war-torn country. The remaining minutes were seen off easily by Sweden, who booked a final against Poland for a spot in the World Cup finals.
PATH C: TURKEY VS KOSOVO
The third round of matches led to a final showdown between Turkey and surprise package Kosovo, who will start off as huge underdogs despite an exhilarating 4-3 win over Slovakia. Although Slovakia started well and took the lead twice, both early in each half, Kosovo fought back well. Kreshnik Hajrizi’s 72nd minute goal turned out to be the crucial winner, as David Strelec made the scoreline 4-3 and set up a nervy finish. However, Kosovo held on and is now on the cusp of history for the young nation.
Resurgent Turkey move closer to World Cup
After their third place finish at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Turkey had flattered to deceive in every successive qualifying campaign since, failing to make the finals ever since. But this time, “The Crescent-Stars” are on the brink of a historic return as they made the final against Kosovo with a dominating 1-0 win over Romania.
Turkey, led by captain Hakan Çalhanoğlu, lined up in a 4-2-3-1 with Kerem Aktürkoğlu leading the line and supported by the creative duo of Kenan Yıldız and Arda Güler behind him. Romania countered with a 4-3-3 shape to counter the 2-man midfield of Turkey, with Ianis Hagi taking up the creative mantle for his nation.
Turkey began brightly, Çalhanoğlu firing over from a free-kick in the 17th minute. While the home team dominated the possession, the visitors had a good chance in the 23rd minute when Hagi’s shot was deflected just over. The 32nd minute brought a glorious chance for Turkey when the ball was cut back to Güler on the edge of the box but the Real Madrid star shot over.
The game’s only goal came when Turkish left back Ferdi Kadıoğlu dashed into a gap left by the Romanian defence. Güler found him with a delightful ball over the top which the Brighton defender controlled superbly and finished smartly past Ionuț Radu.
The Romanians could hardly land a punch on the Turks, as the home team choked the game with their possession-heavy approach and ensured they reached the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
PATH D: DENMARK VS CZECHIA
Czechia and Denmark set up the final for the last remaining European spot for the FIFA World Cup in contrasting fashion. While Czechia won a thrilling semi-final against Ireland via a penalty shootout, Denmark made light work of Macedonia in a 4-0 thrashing at home. In front of a capacity crowd in Copenhagen, Gustav Isaksen led the show with a quick-fire brace, while Mikkel Damsgaard and Christian Nørgaard added to the tally. The Danes, seeking to make the World Cup finals after missing out in Qatar, were rarely troubled by the Macedonians and will now face off against the spirited Czechs.
Czechia clinch penalty thriller
Despite being blessed with wonderful technicians like Ballon D’or winner Pavel Nedvěd, Tomáš Rosický, Jan Koller and Milan Baroš, Czechia had disappointed on the global stage. With a solitary appearance in 2006, Czechia have been absent from the FIFA World Cup since the separation of Czechoslovakia.
2026 has seen a resurgent Czechia, and the hard-fought victory over the Irish has galvanised the whole country. Despite going 2-0 down within the first half hour, the Czechs fought back superbly. Often Bayer Leverkusen’s saviour, Patrik Schick turned up for his nation again in the 27th minute with a penalty. And while the Irish had held on valiantly, Ladislav Krejčí turned up to break their hearts in the 86th minute. With the home crowd spurring them on, the Czechs fought hard but the Irish held firm, taking the game to a penalty shootout.
However, the home crowd did not have to suffer heartbreak, as the Czechs held their nerve in the shootout despite having the first miss. As Jan Kliment slotted in the final penalty, the Irish fell to their knees while the entire stadium erupted in joy. Czechia will now face Denmark in their goal to create history.
(The author is Consultant at On Record India)
